I was excited to get by hardback copy last month. I follow Dr. Fitzharris all over the place -- her YouTube channel, Instagram feed, and Twitter. I find her medical history posts fascinating, smart, funny, and top quality. When she announced the book, I pre-ordered my copy right away and then endured months of waiting.

Part of the appeal of Dr. F's contributions on social media is the imagery. Pictures tell a thousand words. She posts pictures of antique medical instruments and paintings and photos of patients and procedures. It is brutal stuff. Sometimes, there is gore, but much more often she leaves it to your imagination to wonder what it would be like to be treated with THAT thing.

There are no pictures in the book. However, Dr. F's talent for crafting vivid descriptions of scenes, people, and actions carries the day. Her prose is tight but descriptive. Quickly, I got immersed in the filthy operating theaters and grimy streets of Victorian Scotland and England. As I read, I was often reminded of the scenes of the doctor's surgery from the Master and Commander movie with its filth, blood, and buckets and sawdust on the floor to collect the volumes of blood and amputated parts.

But this is not a book that sells itself on gore, though there are several passages that made me cringe. This is a smart, tight biography as well as a scientific thriller where the action surges and falters in step with Lister's successes and setbacks.

I'm very happy with the book, and I look forward to Dr. F's next.