Doctors and Friends

By: Kimmery Martin

Narrated by: Shannon McManus, Dorothy Dillingham Blue, Cassandra Campbell

“Three female doctors and friends remind the reader of the heart-wrenching tragedies and impossible choices that make such a cast not only heroic but human.” (Kristina McMorris, New York Times best-selling author of Sold on a Monday)

Hannah, Compton, and Kira have been close friends since medical school, reuniting once a year for a much-needed vacation. Just as they gather to travel in Spain, an outbreak of a fast-spreading virus throws the world into chaos.

When Compton Winfield returns to her job as an ER doctor in New York City, she finds a city changed beyond recognition - and a personal loss so gutting, it reshapes every aspect of her life.

Hannah Geier’s career as an ob-gyn in San Diego is fulfilling, but she’s always longed for a child of her own. After years of trying, Hannah discovers she's expecting a baby, just as the disease engulfs her city.

Kira Marchand, an infectious disease doctor at the CDC in Atlanta, finds herself at the center of the American response to the terrifying new illness. Her professional battle turns personal when she must decide whether her children will receive an experimental but potentially life-saving treatment.

Written prior to COVID-19 by a former emergency medicine physician, Doctors and Friends incorporates unexpected wit, razor-edged poignancy, and a deeply relatable cast of characters who provoke both laughter and tears. Martin provides a unique insider’s perspective into the world of medical professionals working to save lives during the most difficult situations of their careers.

©2021 Kimmery Martin (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Doctors and Friends is an astounding achievement. It's both an eerily timely portrait of a world in the grips of a deadly pandemic and a poignant dive into the interior lives of the medical workers at its forefront. I was profoundly affected by these characters. I became emotionally attached to them and deeply invested in the outcome of their stories. I know they will stay with me for a long time.” (New York Times best-selling author Cristina Alger)

“The beating heart of this fast-paced and intensely moving novel is the warm, life-sustaining friendship between a group of doctors on the frontlines of a global pandemic. Martin shines a sharp, compassionate light on the lives of the women behind the masks and scrubs during a crisis that is both achingly familiar and punctuated by twists and turns you won’t see coming. I couldn’t put it down!” (USA Today best-selling author Meg Donohue)

"Doctors and Friends is a stunning medical drama that will resonate with readers everywhere. I was riveted. Kimmery Martin's sharp, smart writing is infused with compassion, emotion and a belief in the healing power of friendship, love, and hope." (New York Times best-selling author Jayne Ann Krentz)

Entertaining and fun....

Imagine if Covid had not happened... that's the premise of this book about another viral pandemic and the friends who not only at the core, but who all suffered greatly along the way. I loved the descriptions of the viral biology and epidemiology conquests. The plot twists were entertaining as I tried to second guess the outcomes. Some of the accents were a bit off but overall, the narrators were really on the ball. A great read.

Wow!!

I have enjoyed several books by this author but this one was ….WOW! If you are filled with anxiety about Covid, you may want to avoid listening as this really hits close to todays world. The author wrote in many things that after writing come close to what’s going on now and it really makes you wonder. Plenty of feelings, both good and bad and the readers did a wonderful job in portraying the characters. I look forward to Kelly Rimmers next book!

Incredibly insightful

Incredibly insightful & engaging book, considering the majority of it appears to have been written prior to the Covid-19 pandemic onset.
I was fascinated by the telling of all the details as pertaining to the pandemic in the book.
The only little tiny pet peeve I have about the narration: the character of Vani (who is supposed to be of East Indian descent) is voiced by a non-Indian person. And it is difficult to listen to.
As an Indian American, I have one of two suggestions: either allow East Indian characters living in the US to just have an American accent (as do the vast majority of us who were raised in the US) OR get a person of Indian descent with a more authentic voice to do the Indian accent.
Otherwise, i thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book.

Fascinating read

I loved Kimmery Martin’s latest book. I can’t believe she wrote about a pandemic before we actually had one! Her characters are smart and witty. The group of friends reminds me of my college friends. I definitely recommend this book!

She does it again! Wow!

What an incredible portrayal of the true heroes in medicine who also play the part of hero Mom, wife, and friend. Kimmery again delivers an incredible literary work of developing characters and building the plot. The use of 3 narrators adds to the suspense and connects the reader to the women. Although a tough topic due to Covid-19- this is a great book. Add it to your list!

New Favorite

Amazing book! Beautiful weaves together so many topics: parenthood, friendship, grief, burnout. Kept me on my toes and left me in tears at times. So excited to reread Doctors and Friends. (Only gave a 4 for performance because a few of the accents were a little off.)

I’m torn…

I think I would’ve liked this book a lot more if it weren’t for the Covid pandemic - so, it’s not really fair to give it fewer stars just because we’re all SO OVER the pandemic and she happened to be psychic. If I had read the description I probably would not have listened to the book- but I liked her other books so much that I bought it without looking at the content. I enjoy hearing about this group of doctors and can’t wait for Vonnie’s story. The choice to use multiple points of view was an excellent one - as using one single voice would not have explored as many facets of the story.

Author did as good a job as possible of leaving the politics out of the book - as she mentioned in the epilogue that she was shocked by how politicizing medicine/science became during the pandemic. Without delving into my thoughts on that, I appreciated minimal comment on that aspect of the pandemic.

Narrators were excellent.

Good but couldn't finish...

It's well written and well narrated but I couldn't finish it... I just didn't care enough about the characters. It seemed the author wanted to present "all the angles" of living through the pandemic and as a result had too many characters that were at times hard to keep sorted. When there are too many characters the reader doesn't get to know them well enough to care. Another issue is that the world just lived through (and is still living through) a pandemic so in many ways, the book just felt like real life. It's rare for me to quit a book once started but with only three hours remaining, I gave up. I feel duped reading the stellar reviews for this book. It's hard to believe that everyone loved it. I'm giving 5 stars for the narration but only 2 stars for the story.

Post COVID

As I listened to this story, eerily echoing the COVID pandemic although it was written prior, I was thinking that the book would have been much more effective if we hadn’t just faced a global pandemic that was far worse, in many ways, than the pandemic described here. I also found the characters to be either unsympathetic ( Kira) or sappy ( Hannah and Georgia). Each of these female MDs were ultra successful, ultra gorgeous, and supremely smart. Just too unrealistic.