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Steven Piskula is an award-winning screenwriter, former journalist, and passionate thriller author. His interest in storytelling was sparked in his early teens when he discovered the page-turning paperbacks of Stephen King, and he’s been hooked ever since. His love of words led him to study English and journalism before earning a Master of Fine Arts in screenwriting. But he has never forgotten the gripping stories and exhilarating action in the books that started it all.
A native of Wisconsin, Steven now enjoys living in Southern California with his wife and child. They frequently travel to Spain, where he has found his second home while visiting his wife’s family. When he’s not writing, Steven is busy attempting to learn Spanish, perfecting his paella recipe, and trying to keep up with his young son.
Reviewed by Viga Boland for Readers' Favorite
Is it too early for me to say that The First Harm by Steven Piskula is the best medical thriller I’ve read this year? Perhaps…but it’s going to take a far more chilling and better-written novel than this one to supplant it. Firstly, too many medically-based thrillers are so heavy on medical jargon I end up skipping pages. Secondly, I rarely, if ever, read a 300-plus page in 2 days, but this one kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish! Now that’s my kind of novel, regardless of genre.
Picture if you will, a brilliant, but smug scientist hell-bent on saving mankind from succumbing to crippling old age by modifying weaknesses in our basic DNA. A noble mission, but getting the formula perfect is a challenge without being able to use humans. It’s also expensive and ultimately requires the use of nefarious methods. When Tanna, a first-year med student, spots an anomaly during a dissection and shares her discovery with her roommate, her world is turned upside down. Suddenly Tanna is on the run from a hired assassin out to silence her. Who wants her and Jason, her unexpected protector, dead?
With the skilled eye of an award-winning screenwriter, Steven Piskula takes Tanna, Jason, and readers on a thrilling motorcycle ride through traffic-clogged streets as the pair, now suspected of murder, race to get proof of their innocence into the hands of those who can exonerate them. Piskula makes it so easy to experience all the exciting action as if it were on the big screen. What a fabulous movie this would make! Marvelous visuals, snappy dialogue, and nasty characters contrast sharply with Tanna’s innocence and the burgeoning romance between Jason and Tanna. And then there is that clever twist at the end that lets you close The First Harm with a satisfied sigh. This is superb writing from a skilled author whom I am delighted to have discovered. So, as I asked at the beginning of this review, is it too soon to consider this the best medical thriller I’ve read this year? Don’t think so!
