Too often, fiction writers commit medical malpractice in their stories. Unfortunately, these mistakes can sink an otherwise well-written story. The ones I repetitively see include:
Bang, Bang, You're Dead: Not so fast. No one dies instantly. Well, almost no one. Instant death can occur with heart attacks, strokes, extremely abnormal heart rhythms, cyanide, and a few other "metabolic" poisons. But trauma, such as gunshot wounds (GSWs) and blows to the head, rarely cause sudden death. Yet, how often has a single shot felled a villain? Bang, dead. For that to occur, the bullet would have to severely damage the brain, the heart, or the cervical (neck) portion of the spinal cord. A shot to the chest or abdomen leads to a lot of screaming and moaning, but death comes from bleeding and that takes time. Sometimes, a long time.
Ask any emergency physician or nurse. GSW victims reach the ER with multiple holes in their bodies and survive all the time. This is particularly true if it's Friday night (we called it the Friday Night Knife and Gun Club), during a full moon (yes, it's true, a full moon changes everything), or if the victim is drunk. You can't kill a drunk. That's a medical fact. They survive everything from car wrecks to gunshots to falling off tall buildings. The family van they hit head-on will have no survivors, but the drunk will walk away with minor scratches, if that.
Sleeping Beauty: I call this the "Hollywood Death." Calm, peaceful, and not a hair out of place. As if simply asleep. Blood? Almost never. Trauma? None in sight. The deceased is nicely dressed, stretched out on a wrinkle-free bed, make-up perfect, and with a slight flutter of the eyelids if you look closely. Real dead folks are not so attractive. I don't care what they looked like during life, in death they are pale, waxy, and gray. Their eyes do not flutter and they do not look relaxed and peaceful. They look dead. And feel cold. It's amazing how quickly after death the body becomes cold to the touch. It has to do with the loss of blood flow to the skin after the heart stops. No warm blood, no warmth to the touch.
Sleeping Beauty also doesn't bleed. You know this one. The hero detective arrives at a murder scene a half hour after the deed to see blood oozing from the corpse's mouth or from the GSW to the chest. Tilt! Dead folks don't bleed. You see, when you die, your heart stops and the blood no longer circulates. It clots. Stagnant or clotted blood does not move. It does not gush or ooze or gurgle or flow or trickle from the body.
Trauma? What Trauma?: You've seen and read this a million times. The hero socks the bad guy's henchmen in the jaw. He goes down and is apparently written out of the script, since we never hear from him again. It's always the henchmen, because the antagonist, like most people, requires a few solid blows to go down. Think about a boxing match. Two guys that are trained to inflict damage and even they have trouble knocking each other out. And when they do, the one on his back is up in a couple of minutes, claiming the other guy caught him with a lucky punch. Listen to me: Only James Bond can knock someone out with a single blow. And maybe Jack Reacher or Mike Tyson. A car-salesman-turned-amateur-sleuth cannot.
And what of back eyes? If a character gets whacked in the eye in Chapter 3, he will have a black eye for two weeks, which will likely take you through the end of the book. He will not be "normal" in two days. A black eye is a contusion (bruise) and results from blood leaking into the tissues from tiny blood vessels, which are injured by the blow. It takes the body about two weeks to clear all that out. It will darken over two days, fade over four or five, turn greenish, brownish, and a sickly yellow before it disappears. On a good note, by about day seven, a female character might be able to hide it with make-up.
Similarly, what of the character who falls down the stairs and injures his back? He will not be able to run from or chase the bad guy or make love to his new lover the next day. He will need a few days (or maybe weeks) to heal. And he will limp, whine, and complain in the interim. And if he breaks something, like an arm or leg, he'll need several weeks to recover.
I Can Run, and Jump, and Fight Like an Olympian: The typical fictional PI (maybe real ones, too) drinks too much, smokes too much, and eats donuts on a regular basis. He is not training for the Olympics. He will not be able to chase the villain for ten blocks. Two on a good day. And hills or stairs will reduce that to a very short distance. Yet chase montages in movies and books often seem to cover marathon distances. And then a fight breaks out.
Of course, some characters can do all this. Not the PI mentioned above but maybe Dustin Hoffman can. Remember "Babe" Levy (Dustin Hoffman) in Marathon Man? He had to run for his life as Dr. Christian Szell (Sir Laurence Olivier) and his Nazi bad guys chased him endlessly. But early in the film we learn that he runs around the reservoir in Central Park every day. He constantly tries to increase his distance, improve his time. He could run for his life.
Hopefully when you run across medical malpractice in your reading you'll be forgiving and enjoy the story anyway. But maybe not.
Suspense Radio host Tracey Devlyn dives into the darker side of dating with R.G. Belsky and Bonnie Traymore, co-authors of SWIPE-a gripping thriller about secrets, swipes, and survival.
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A serial predator. A vigilante dater. A deadly game of cat and mouse.
When a confrontation turns deadly, one woman scrambles to hide her tracks-while a disgraced journalist inches closer to exposing her. But a hidden threat lurks in the shadows, and both may be next.
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Show Notes: https://SuspenseMagazine.com
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R.G. BELSKY is a crime fiction author and a journalist in New York City. He has published 24 novels, most recently the Gil Malloy and Clare Carlson mystery series. He also writes thrillers under the pen name Dana Perry. As a journalist, Belsky has been managing editor of the New York Daily News; Metropolitan Editor of the New York Post; news editor of Star Magazine; and a managing editor at NBC News.
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BONNIE TRAYMORE is a psychological thriller and crime writer. She has published eight novels featuring strong but relatable female protagonists who peel back the layers of suburban American life and give readers a peek inside. She's also a historian with a doctorate in history. She's from the New York City area, but resides in Honolulu with her family.
Suspense Radio host Tracey Devlyn sits down with Kimberly Belle, Layne Fargo, Cate Holahan, and Vanessa Lillie to talk about their newest collaboration-DESPERATE DEADLY WIDOWS, an Amazon Audio Original bestseller, now available in ebook and paperback.
High heels. High stakes. Higher body count.
In 1987 Providence, four unforgettable widows are back-and when a honey-pot scheme goes sideways, they're thrust into a scandal involving the city's sleaziest mayor, buried secrets, and explosive betrayals. With loyalties fraying and revenge in the air, these women must decide if friendship is worth dying for.
Show Notes: https://suspensemagazine.com
Suspense Radio host Tracey Devlyn sits down with New York Times bestselling author Nita Prose to chat about her new release-THE MAID'S SECRET.
A stolen treasure. A hidden past. When a priceless heirloom disappears during a bold hotel heist, Molly Gray must uncover long-buried family secrets to solve the mystery-before looming threats become deadly. With help from her friends and her gran's forgotten love story, she races to protect both her future and her heart.
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Show Notes: https://suspensemagazine.com/blog2/2025/04/14/interview-with-nita-prose/
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NITA PROSE is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Maid, which has sold more than two million copies worldwide, The Mystery Guest and The Mistletoe Mystery. A Good Morning America Book Club pick, The Maid won the Ned Kelly Award for International Crime Fiction, the Fingerprint Award for Debut Novel of the Year, the Anthony Award for Best First Novel, and the Barry Award for Best First Mystery. The Maid was also an Edgar Award finalist for Best Novel. https://NitaProse.com
Suspense Radio host Tracey Devlyn sat down with New York Times bestselling author Katy Hays to chat about her new literary thriller-SALTWATER.
Sun-soaked paradise or a gilded cage of deception???A long-buried crime resurfaces, shaking a fractured family to its core. When the past refuses to stay buried, trust is shattered-and survival isn't guaranteed.
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Love the episode? Please like or subscribe to this podcast! Show Notes: https://suspensemagazine.com
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Katy Hays is a Californian, writer, and cake aficionado. She lives in the shadow of the Sierra with her husband and their dog, Queso. In addition to writing, Katy works as an adjunct Art History Professor teaching rural students from Truckee to Tecopa. She holds an MA in Art History from Williams College and pursued her PhD in Art History at UC Berkeley. When not writing (or eating cake) Katy is a skier, cyclist, trail runner, eastern Sierra enthusiast, and-well, reader.
Suspense Radio host Tracey Devlyn sits down with debut author Francesco Paola to chat about his new release-LEFT ON RANCHO.
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A failing entrepreneur. A desert town full of secrets. When Andrew Eastman takes on a risky cannabis venture, his search for answers drags him into a deadly world of corruption, smuggling, and betrayal-where every choice comes with a price, and survival means deciding what he's truly willing to lose.
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Show Notes: https://suspensemagazine.com/blog2/2025/02/11/interview-with-francesco-paola/
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FRANCESCO PAOLA was born in Turin, Italy, and was raised in Italy, Thailand, and Australia before moving to the US, where he earned an engineering degree from MIT and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. He is an accomplished technology entrepreneur, and has written technical blogs, white papers, and articles for over twenty-five years as an executive in the tech-startup ecosystem. He and his wife Jackie have called New York City home since 1999.
Suspense Radio host Tracey Devlyn sits down with Eric P. Bishop to chat about his new military thriller-BABYLON WILL RISE.
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A stolen nuke. A rogue arms dealer. When two long-missing nuclear weapons resurface, the Omega Group is thrust into a global race against time-where every move could trigger catastrophe. With a new operative on board and the enemy rewriting the rules, failure isn't an option. The world's survival hangs in the balance.
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Show Notes: https://suspensemagazine.com/blog2/2025/02/08/interview-with-eric-bishop/
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ERIC P. BISHOP grew up in Connecticut, and relocated to the South after college. After becoming restless moves to the Rockies and the Pacific Northwest occurred before finally heading back East to raise a family. The wanderlust has never left Eric and he's always yearning for the next adventure.
After many years in corporate America, he decided to turn his passion for the written word and dreams of crafting a novel into reality. Eric's debut novel The Body Man came out in 2021, the sequel Breach of Trust in 2024, and the third book in The Body Man Series titled Supreme Justice will be out July 2025. Eric also has released two books in The Omega Group Series: Ransomed Daughter and Babylon Will Rise.
Eric lives in the foothills of Western North Carolina with his kids. You can normally find him exploring the great outdoors most weekends, traveling the world when possible, and grilling out on his back deck, all the while dreaming up the next great novel.
Suspense Radio host Tracey Devlyn sits down with USA Today bestselling author Alison Gaylin to chat about her newest psychological thriller-WE ARE WATCHING.
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A tragic accident. A twisted prophecy. As a grieving mother becomes the target of a violent conspiracy tied to a decades-old novel, she must uncover the truth behind her husband's death and confront a fanatical group determined to destroy her family-before fiction turns fatal.
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Show Notes: https://suspensemagazine.com/blog2/2025/01/28/interview-with-alison-gaylin/
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ALISON GAYLIN is the USA Today and international bestselling author of thirteen books, including the stand-alones The Collective and If I Die Tonight (winner of the Edgar Award) and the Brenna Spector series: And She Was (winner of the Shamus Award), Into the Dark, and Stay With Me. Nominated for the Edgar four times, she has also been a finalist for numerous awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Strand Book Award and the ITW Thriller, Macavity and Anthony Awards. She lives with her husband in Woodstock, New York.
Suspense Radio host Tracey Devlyn sits down with New York Times bestselling author Jayne Anne Krentz to chat about her new romantic thriller-SHATTERING DAWN.
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A stalker in the shadows. A night lost to memory. When Amelia Rivers hires private investigator Gideon Sweetwater, their search for answers unleashes buried secrets, dangerous chemistry, and a deadly conspiracy tied to psychic experimentation. To survive, they must unravel the truth-before the past claims them both.
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Show Notes: https://suspensemagazine.com/blog2/2025/01/07/interview-with-jayne-anne-krentz/
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The author of over 50 New York Times bestsellers, JAYNE ANN KRENTZ writes romantic-suspense in three different worlds: Contemporary (as Jayne Ann Krentz), historical (as Amanda Quick) and futuristic (as Jayne Castle). There are over 35 million copies of her books in print.
Suspense Radio host Tracey Devlyn sits down with USA Today bestselling author Alex Segura to chat about his newest thriller-ALTER EGO.
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Lost legends. Buried secrets. When a visionary creator finally gets the chance to reimagine her favorite childhood hero, she uncovers a web of lies, power plays, and a truth darker than any comic book plot. Passion meets peril in this thrilling homage to creativity, legacy, and the stories that shape us.
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Show Notes: https://suspensemagazine.com/blog2/2024/12/03/interview-with-alex-segura/
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ALEX SEGURA is the USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of Secret Identity, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Mystery/Thriller and a New York Times Editor's Choice and an NPR Best Mystery of the Year. He's also the author of the Pete Fernandez series, as well as the Star Wars novel, Poe Dameron: Free Fall, and a Spider-Verse adventure called Araña/Spider-Man 2099: Dark Tomorrow. He lives in New York City with his family.
