Books By My Friends

Fatal Intent: A Novel by Tammy Euliano

Welcome to Books By My Friends, Tammy! You have a medical thriller to tell us about, so let's get started!

JH: What’s the blurb for your book Fatal Intent?

TE: When her elderly patients start dying at home days after minor surgery, anesthesiologist Dr. Kate Downey wants to know why. The surgeon, not so much. "Old people die, that's what they do," is his response. When Kate presses, surgeon Charles Ricken places the blame squarely on her shoulders. Kate is currently on probation, and the chief of staff sides with the surgeon, leaving Kate to prove her innocence and save her own career. With her husband in a prolonged coma, it's all she has left. Aided by her eccentric Great Aunt Irm, a precocious medical student, and the lawyer son of a victim, Kate launches her own unorthodox investigation of these unexpected deaths. As she comes closer to exposing the culprit's identity, she faces professional intimidation, threats to her life, a home invasion, and, tragically, the suspicious death of someone close to her. The stakes escalate to the breaking point when Kate, under violent duress, is forced to choose which of her loved ones to save—and which must be sacrificed.

JH: What inspired you to write Fatal Intent?

TE: The idea of managing the end-of-life has fascinated me since way before any kid should think about such things. We had a debate in my 5th-grade class about the fate of Karen Ann Quinlan, a young woman in a persistent vegetative state whose parents wanted her ventilator disconnected, while the State of New Jersey disagreed. I don’t recall what side my 10-year-old-self argued, but the question never left me. Medical technology and the ability to keep the body alive have far out-paced our ethical ability to deal with the implications. In medical school and residency, the question resurfaced repeatedly, while watching families’ extended mourning in the ICU, and anesthetizing patients for innumerable procedures despite little to no hope of a meaningful recovery. Meanwhile, the absurd cost of medical care in the US frequently made the news, especially expenditures in the last few months of life and final hospitalization. Years later, the characters of Fatal Intent took up residency in my head, invading my sleep, and even my waking hours. It was time to give them a voice. Once I found my tribe of writing supporters and teachers and editors, at last, it came together and I couldn’t be happier to finally share Kate and her crew with the world.

JH: What one thing do you love most about writing?

TE: When a plot comes together and the characters seem to just take over and write themselves. I haven't been in that state of "flow" often, but it is thrilling (see what I did there?) when it happens.

JH: What’s next for you in the way of writing/publishing?

TE: As I (hopefully) finish up the third in the Kate Downey series. I hope to find a publisher for another series that I absolutely love. Pre-covid I wrote about a bioengineered virus that destroyed the fertility of humans and other primates. Sort of Children of Men-ish, minus the soul-crushing fate of mankind that PD James described. Anyway, I LOVE the themes, the characters, and the challenging topics raised, but have yet to interest an agent or publisher. Finally, a short story I had published a couple years ago keeps wanting to be fleshed out into a novel. Oh, and a biography of my mentor...and...

JH: How can readers contact you?

TE:

www. teuliano.com

Tammy Euliano

BIO:

Tammy Euliano, MD is a professor of anesthesiology at the University of Florida with 20+ years’ experience primarily with obstetric patients, including research, teaching and numerous professional publications. She's written an introductory text of anesthesia (Essential Anesthesia: from science to practice) now in its second edition and has a YouTube channel of teaching videos with >100K views. In 2021, she officially launched her encore career as a medical thriller author with the publication of Fatal Intent by Oceanview. It received terrific blurbs by Lee Child, Tess Gerritsen and Kathy Reichs. The sequel, Misfire, comes out January 2023.

JH: Thanks so much for visiting BBMF, Tammy! Fatal Intent sounds like a nail-biter; a good one! Please, please, please keep us updated on your other writing projects. They sound amazing and you sound busy!

All good things,

Joy

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