Der Vierte Tag

Dr. Felix Hoffmann #4

by Christoph Spielberg

Dr. Hoffmann ermittelt auch in unserer eigenen Sache. Und er macht es mit für deutsche Verhältnisse erstaunlicher Ironie und Lakonie

Genres: Mystery, Medical, Crime

Paperback

First published September 7, 2011

About the author

Cardiologist and Agatha Christie prize-winning author Christoph Spielberg lives in Berlin, Germany, where his mystery novels have gained national notoriety. Spielberg was awarded the prestigious Friedrich Glauser prize from the German Crime Writers Association for The Russian Donation, the first in his ongoing Dr. Hoffmann crime series, and his books have been translated into both English and Japanese.

Critical acclaim for the Dr. Hoffmann series has prompted the German ZDF television network to produce a run of TV movies based on the novels. Today, Spielberg continues to draw from his medical experience, writing novels, short stories, and providing medical care to his patients

Reviews

[Zoeytron · Rating 2 out of 5]

At a hospital in Berlin, Germany, two doctors, two nurses, and three ICU patients are held hostage in an ICU unit by a crazed gunman. Oh, and the kidnapper is blind with a seeing eye dog named Stinky. Sounds promising, doesn't it? This is the fourth in the author's Dr. Hoffmann series.

I was looking forward to seeing how the dynamics played out in this setup, but the story just fell flat for me. The back cover touts Dr. Hoffmann's acerbic wit, but the stabs at humor seemed forced and, well, not very funny. The plot was more contrived than I like, and the characters did not really stand out to me in any way.

On the 'up' side, I learned a new word. Autodefenestration - the act of throwing oneself out of a window. This is merely coincidental, finishing the book did not make me contemplate any such thing, of course. The writing just didn't click with me.

This was a first-reads giveaway, thank you.

[Cheryl · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up a copy of this book because it piqued my interest. Sadly, this book did not turn out to be interesting. I was not impressed by any of the characters in the book. In fact, I found most of them to get on my nerves. Also there was very little action taking place in the story. After about reading a third of the way into the book, I jumped forward to the last three chapters to see how the story ended and the reason for the man holding up the hospital and staff hostage. Once I learned the reason, I would have felt sorry for the man but he was not caring in one way or another so he got no sympathy from me.

There was nothing new about this story that I have not read before. I was just hoping with the picture of the dog on the front cover and the words "This gun is loaded" that this book were have been good. Also, it had nothing to do with the fact that this book was translated.

[Joanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the first third of the book I had trouble getting into the plot and the characters. I continued plodding along. The last third of The Fourth Day is very fast paced. The medical mystery wasn't what I expected. What happens to Stinky, the dog? Does he appear in another Dr. Hoffmann Mystery?

[C.E. DeJoria · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hostage suspense story

A little over written for my taste. A suspenseful story should just fall off the pages and make you keep reading long after your bedtime. Not the case for me and this book.

[Bethann Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow start but Christoph always comes through with an awesome plot!

[Dale · Rating 2 out of 5]

This Thriller Does Not Have Much Sizzle

Originally published in Germany in 2002.
Re-published by Amazon Crossing in 2013.
Translated from German to English by the author (Christoph Spielberg) and Christina Henry de Tessan

Amazon.com's publishing house Amazon Crossing is designed to bring popular authors who do not write in English to an English-speaking audience. Award-winning German author Christoph Spielberg has brought his Dr. Hoffman series to this program. This series is quite popular in Germany, even spawning a series of made for TV movies.

Dr. Hoffman is a wise-cracking doctor in a down and out hospital. He has just got done with a very long shift and was planning to head home after one more consultation in the Intensive Care Unit when a blind gunman with a bunch of explosive charges comes in with a seeing eye dog and takes the room hostage, along with two doctors, two nurses and several patients.

While this would certainly seem to be an exciting premise for a thriller, this thriller just is not all that thrilling after the first 20 pages or so. As the hostages and the hostage-taker settle into a routine the book does too and it just becomes a waiting game until the arrival of the "fourth day" indicated by the title of the book.

There is a mildly interesting medical mystery that goes hand-in-hand with the story of the hostages but on the whole this book just sort of fizzles out.

Note: I received this book for free as a part of the Amazon Vine program in exchange for an honest review.

See all of my reviews at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/

[Charmain · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book from the goodreads giveaway.

The only complaint I have about this book is that the ending was rushed. Throughout the book, the story was evenly paced, not too rushed and not too drawn out, and then we get to the ending and things start speeding up and then next thing you know, the book has ended, leaving you scratching your head and wondering what just happened.

The Fourth Day is about two doctors and two nurses, along with a few patients, who are being held hostage by a blind man and his dog in the ICU. At first it seemed like all the blind man wanted was money, but Dr. Hoffman began to suspect that there was something much deeper at stake.
For those who are expecting a dashing detective to be running here and there as he tries to solve the mystery, should look elsewhere. The mystery itself is rather slow paced given that the doctor has very little to work with and can only communicate with the outside world by phone or computer.

There were a lot of medical terms that for the most part were explained by the doctors, though occasionally the doctors would be talking amongst themselves and not bother to explain to their host what was going on. Luckily, I was able to keep pace with them and not get confused.

I attribute that to my parents though. Both of them are nurses and sometimes I'll listen to them talk to each other about their day.

I rated this book three out of five stars.

[Ronald Roseborough · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the fourth book in the Dr. Hoffmann mystery series to be translated from the German and published by Amazon Crossing which specializes in bringing books from around the world to the attention of American readers. I was pleased with the first of the series, The Russian Donation. I did not find this book, The Fourth Day, to be quite as entertaining, although it is still a good read. This book involves a hostage drama that takes place inside the ICU of a major Berlin hospital where Dr. Hoffmann works. He finds himself trapped, along with a few of his colleagues and three patients, in the ICU by an armed gunman who seems to be blind. He is wearing dark glasses and a yellow arm band with three black dots worn by some people in Germany to identify the blind. He also has at his side a very imposing German Shepard. It is up to Dr. Hoffmann to discover why this man has picked this hospital and specifically this iCU to hold hostage. The story is very slow to unravel. There is very little action or violence in this book. The touches of humor I found entertaining in the first book of the series is for the most part missing in this book. The book is entertaining as Dr. Hoffmann tries to find a solution the hostage taker’s demands and get everyone safely out of this situation, but in a very low key way. Book provided for review by Amazon vine.

[Haven Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this from a goodreads giveaway and I absolutely loved it. It's exactly the kind of book I'm interested in!

[Jeff]

Thank you. I just won this book in a first reads giveaway. I will read and comment once I get the book.

[Angie Boyter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good read! See my amazon review.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R11DCJ7C...

[Vickie Schroyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the book!!!