The Law of Similars: A Novel
Written by Chris Bohjalian
Narrated by David Birney,
3.5/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
From the number one bestselling author of Midwives comes this riveting medical thriller about a lawyer, a homeopath, and a tragic death. When one of homeopath Carissa Lake's patients falls into an allergy-induced coma, possibly due to her prescribed remedy, Leland Fowler's office starts investigating the case.
But Leland is also one of Carissa's patients, and he is begining to realize that he has fallen in love with her. As love and legal obligations collide, Leland comes face-to-face with an ethical dilemma of enormous proportions. Graceful, intelligent, and suspenseful, The Law of Similars is a powerful examination of the links between hope and hubris, love and deception.
Chris Bohjalian
Chris Bohjalian is the author of twelve novels, including the New York Times bestsellers, Secrets of Eden, The Double Bind, Skeletons at the Feast, and Midwives. His work has been translated into twenty-six languages. He lives in Vermont with his wife and daughter. Visit him at www.chrisbohjalian.com or www.facebook.com .
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Reviews for The Law of Similars
263 ratings11 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chris Bohjalian's great talent is to bring his readers into the lives of ordinary people at the moment that those lives begin to unravel. With great compassion and suspense, he demonstrates the struggles that ensue. You embrace every character in their very human nature.
In THE LAW OF SIMILARS he introduces you to yet another moral dilemma; alternative medicine, specifically, homeopathy. How much are we responsible for our own decisions for our health? When things go wrong how far will we go to desperately protect someone we love?
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Five stars again for Chris Bohjalian. I have read nearly all his books, and most are five-star, some four. This one, THE LAW OF SIMILARS, is a book he wrote nearly 20 years ago. Leland is a deputy state prosecutor. He is also a widower with a four-year-old daughter. For what appears to me to be psychological reasons, he develops a sore throat that just won’t go away. This leads him to Carissa, a homeopath.In short order (ridiculously short order, in my opinion), Leland falls in love with Carissa (or maybe mistakes sexual attraction for love). He is so overwhelmed by this love (attraction) that he ignores all ethics of his profession when she is investigated for the murder of one of her other patients.For a book to merit five stars, it must be unputdownable, and this one is. Even though I say that Leland doesn’t think with his brain, it’s still a darn good read.
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5This is the first Chirs Bohjalian book I've read. I couldn't stand the main character Leland. Or the homeopath for that matter. What made this book interesting for me was thinking about what I would do in the same situation.
I thought Leland put everything in his life on the line for this woman he had just met despite the fact he's a single father to a young daughter. I couldn't get past that but I do like the way Bohjalian writes and I felt like he gave more details of the characters surroundings than the characters themselves. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5While I think it was interesting to hear this story from Leland's point of view, I think it would have been more powerful to hear the story from Carissa's point of view. However, maybe Bohjalian felt more comfortable with Leland's pov or was trying to explore using a more limited perspective. I might read some more of his books, but, based on this, they're not high on my priority list.
September 2007 COTC Book Club selection. - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I am a big fan of Bohjalian and while this is not my favorite of his books, I highly recommend it, particularly if you have interest/experience with homeopathic medicine. It is likely to encourage you to learn more about homeopathy.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Very reminiscent of Bohjalian's novel, Midwives, with alternative medicine at the center of unfortunate deaths, followed by legal action. Painful and unsettling.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This is the third of Bohlaian's books I've read and I find him an easy and graceful storyteller. As always, the tale and characters drew me and held me wrapt for the length of the book. I was particularly interested in his examination of culpability: legal, medical and moral. That I didn't rate it higher has mostly to do with discomfort over the protagonist's actions. As a lawyer and former prosecutor, I couldn't imagine anyone in my acquaintance so violating the legal canon of ethics. Nor can I imagine a committed and caring single parent traversing a path most likely to lead to disbarment or worse. While it might make for good storytelling, I couldn't empathize with Bohjalian's main character as we are meant to do. Haven't read Midwives yet and wonder if I will have similar issues with that book.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Two for two! Loved Midwives (many years ago), and this story was awesome. Young widowed State's District Attorney falls for his homeopath who comes up on charges due to her patient's accidental death. His wife is on the war path because she is convinced that the homeopath told her patient to abandon his steroids and inhalers for his asthma so that her remedy had a chance to do its job. He then has an acute attack and ends up in a coma. This story took a really unexpected Stephen Kingish sinister turn when the attorney abandons his ethics and hatches a plan to cover up any liability on her part and his involvement with her. Cool!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Interesting story about homeopathy, romance, and responsibility. I found the story a bit disjointed for the second half, but interesting enough to finish.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A book based on an interesting justa-position between the law and homeopathy. The two major characters being practitioners of these fields. The subject was interesting but the narration failed to fully exploit the potential of the story.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Wonderful story about a lawyer/widower with a child who falls in love with his homeopath who is responsible for another patient's death, and how they try to cover it up. One of those books whose characters stay with you. I didn't want it to end. (The plot is oddly similar to that of Midwives - makes me wonder if Bohjalian has some unresolved issues!)