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Крадец на сърца
Катлийн Тейлър е сърдечен хирург. Патрик, неин наставник в професията и най-добър приятел умира, освен ако не се намери донор на костен мозък. Неговият брат близнак Джеси би могъл да му помогне. Но горчиво и болезнено предателство прекъсва връзката преди много години…За да спаси своя приятел, Катлийн предприема дълго и опасно пътуване….
270 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
10 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
About the author
Katherine Stone
72 books115 followersKatherine Stone is the New York Times bestselling author of twenty-two novels, including her new Christmas novel, SLEIGH BELLS RING.
Katherine's books have been translated into twenty languages and are sold worldwide. A physician who now writes full-time, she lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, physician and novelist Jack Chase (Fatal Analysis, Mortality Rate, The Magruder Transplant.
Katherine's website is www.katherinestone.com.
Jack's website is www.medicalthriller.com.
Katherine's books have been translated into twenty languages and are sold worldwide. A physician who now writes full-time, she lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, physician and novelist Jack Chase (Fatal Analysis, Mortality Rate, The Magruder Transplant.
Katherine's website is www.katherinestone.com.
Jack's website is www.medicalthriller.com.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 18, 2013
If I had to sum up this novel in one sentence, this is how I would do it:
There are too many italicized words and too few sex scenes.
Here's the long version -- I love what this book tried to do, but I feel like in a lot of ways, it fell short of its goal. The good twin is dying and the "evil" twin is living in seclusion, writing erotic novels (that's his profession). The heroine, who is close to the good twin in a little sister kind of way, must visit the evil twin and ask for his help, since he's the only matching donor. Doesn't it sound hot? It is in some ways and it is not at all hot in others. It's too gentle and family-oriented. The characters, despite their family-angst-ridden pasts, are surprisingly flat. Perhaps the only thing I liked was Jesse, the evil twin-- I thought the explanation for his hostility and seclusion was well done, anyway, though I don't need to watch ER to know that going through a bone marrow harvest without anesthesia and then getting up and walking away is frankly ridiculous.
Note: In a twist of fate, this novel, which I criticized for its lack of sex, shares its title with at least one porn film, which I discovered while Googling for a cover image.
There are too many italicized words and too few sex scenes.
Here's the long version -- I love what this book tried to do, but I feel like in a lot of ways, it fell short of its goal. The good twin is dying and the "evil" twin is living in seclusion, writing erotic novels (that's his profession). The heroine, who is close to the good twin in a little sister kind of way, must visit the evil twin and ask for his help, since he's the only matching donor. Doesn't it sound hot? It is in some ways and it is not at all hot in others. It's too gentle and family-oriented. The characters, despite their family-angst-ridden pasts, are surprisingly flat. Perhaps the only thing I liked was Jesse, the evil twin-- I thought the explanation for his hostility and seclusion was well done, anyway, though I don't need to watch ER to know that going through a bone marrow harvest without anesthesia and then getting up and walking away is frankly ridiculous.
Note: In a twist of fate, this novel, which I criticized for its lack of sex, shares its title with at least one porn film, which I discovered while Googling for a cover image.
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July 8, 2025Wow! Katherine Stone’s Thief of Hearts is pretty graphic and detailed. I’m squeamish, so I skipped over some of the surgery details and the horrors that these characters went through.
But Stone knows how to tell a story. She knows how to be mean to her characters. This makes for exciting storytelling. I just didn’t realize it would be so graphic.
Twins. Doctors. Hospital drama. Family drama. The need for romance in one’s life. The need for closure. We are in the heads of the primary characters of this unfolding romantic drama. Dr. Caitlin Taylor and Dr. Patrick Falconer are heart surgeons. The author knows what a physician’s life is like at hospitals, being a doctor herself. Then she adds the trials and dramas of a knowledgeable author, Patrick’s estranged twin, Jesse Falconer, someone with his own dark soul of secrets. Add a psychiatrist, Dr. Amanda Prentice, with her own demons and you have the perfect story. How will these four characters ever survive their demons and connect with each other to find happiness?
Because of the attention to detail given in this novel, you see the author’s expertise shining through. But the drama within the medical detail draws the reader in and won’t let her go. If you’re looking for an exciting authentic medical drama with romance thrown in, you can’t do better than Thief of Hearts by Katherine Stone.
But Stone knows how to tell a story. She knows how to be mean to her characters. This makes for exciting storytelling. I just didn’t realize it would be so graphic.
Twins. Doctors. Hospital drama. Family drama. The need for romance in one’s life. The need for closure. We are in the heads of the primary characters of this unfolding romantic drama. Dr. Caitlin Taylor and Dr. Patrick Falconer are heart surgeons. The author knows what a physician’s life is like at hospitals, being a doctor herself. Then she adds the trials and dramas of a knowledgeable author, Patrick’s estranged twin, Jesse Falconer, someone with his own dark soul of secrets. Add a psychiatrist, Dr. Amanda Prentice, with her own demons and you have the perfect story. How will these four characters ever survive their demons and connect with each other to find happiness?
Because of the attention to detail given in this novel, you see the author’s expertise shining through. But the drama within the medical detail draws the reader in and won’t let her go. If you’re looking for an exciting authentic medical drama with romance thrown in, you can’t do better than Thief of Hearts by Katherine Stone.
May 12, 2018
I like the description in some scenes. But it made me confused at some parts because of the changes in POV and the italics.
October 19, 2019
I enjoy Katherine Stone books.
September 15, 2020
Not a very believable story. Too many sad stories and mysteries that are all “magically” resolved in the end.
January 20, 2024
Very good book. Although the outcome was easily discerned, it was a good read to get there
March 16, 2024
I expected this book to be much more romantic. It's like the characters falling in love was rushed at the end just to have some kind of ending.
March 10, 2011
Jesse and Patrick Falconer are twins, estranged since they were 19. Patrick is now a surgeon and Jesse writes 'erotic thrillers.' Caitlyn Taylor, whose mother died of heart problems when she was 16 and never knew her father, is also a heart surgeon and Patrick's 'adoptive' little sister. ('Adoptive' is in quotes, because this is an agreement between them and not a legal-type adoption). Caitlyn's friend from college, Amanda Prentice is a psychiatrist at the hospital where Patrick and Caitlyn work as well. When Patrick gets sick and needs a marrow transplant, Caitlyn tracks Jesse down to convince him to be Patrick's donor.
Each of these characters have a secret and horrific past that is revealed throughout the book, through excessive and sometimes confusing flashbacks. It's not always clear what information exactly is being revealed to the other characters who are present at the time of the flashback, and what is just revealed to the reader. Also, these characters have an inexplicable tendency to imagine and articulate what is about to happen, in a way that is not evidently clear that these are speculations, and not what is actually happening next. However, despite these things, the plot is excellent and the characters are intriguing, with fascinating back stories. Actually, I'm kind of sorry that there aren't two books, one with Patrick and Amanda as the focus, and one about Caitlyn and Jesse. My only other...not complaint, so much...maybe reservation, is that the interconnectedness of all the individuals in the book is a little too coincidental to be believed. It's just a little too convenient and pat. I have to say, though, I that I thoroughly enjoyed the book anyway. A couple parts even brought tears to my eyes. Stone is an imaginative and evocative writer, whose only fault may be being a little too...imaginative.
Each of these characters have a secret and horrific past that is revealed throughout the book, through excessive and sometimes confusing flashbacks. It's not always clear what information exactly is being revealed to the other characters who are present at the time of the flashback, and what is just revealed to the reader. Also, these characters have an inexplicable tendency to imagine and articulate what is about to happen, in a way that is not evidently clear that these are speculations, and not what is actually happening next. However, despite these things, the plot is excellent and the characters are intriguing, with fascinating back stories. Actually, I'm kind of sorry that there aren't two books, one with Patrick and Amanda as the focus, and one about Caitlyn and Jesse. My only other...not complaint, so much...maybe reservation, is that the interconnectedness of all the individuals in the book is a little too coincidental to be believed. It's just a little too convenient and pat. I have to say, though, I that I thoroughly enjoyed the book anyway. A couple parts even brought tears to my eyes. Stone is an imaginative and evocative writer, whose only fault may be being a little too...imaginative.
October 12, 2013
I really didn't dislike this book. But I didn't like it, either.
It was like going to an art gallery. You step before a picture, study it, learn it, understand the meaning, grasp the story of it. Then you move to the next picture, and do it, again. Then again, with another picture. And as you move along, you're actually seeing a story unfold, but it's complicated layers of story, with some of the 'portraits' as flash backs, some flash-forwards, a couple flash-sideways-es, and even a flash diagonal.
It wasn't that it's a bad story. It's a beautifully told story, each petal painted with the most detailed of eyes. BUT in that is also the problem - it was too much. Which is a funny thing for me to be saying, since everything written 2010 or newer has *NO* flesh at all. This one was obese, the fat rolls and layers making it almost too much. But then, that was romance novels in the 80s.
It's two stories - Caitlin and her surrogate brother Patrick, both doctors. Patrick has fallen ill, and needs an immediate bone marrow donation to survive. There are no matches... except the twin brother that he hasn't seen in years, who had allegedly tried to kill him. Caitlin goes to beg the twin to help his brother... and falls in love. Her best friend Amanda has been asked to visit Patrick in Caitlin's absence, and they fall immediately in love. The conflicts keeping everyone apart are so vast and numerous, I couldn't possibly go into them, but like a Robert Altman film, all of the characters are intertwined in such a way that everything comes full circle and locks into place, by the end.
Which I loved. But the book? I did not love.
It was like going to an art gallery. You step before a picture, study it, learn it, understand the meaning, grasp the story of it. Then you move to the next picture, and do it, again. Then again, with another picture. And as you move along, you're actually seeing a story unfold, but it's complicated layers of story, with some of the 'portraits' as flash backs, some flash-forwards, a couple flash-sideways-es, and even a flash diagonal.
It wasn't that it's a bad story. It's a beautifully told story, each petal painted with the most detailed of eyes. BUT in that is also the problem - it was too much. Which is a funny thing for me to be saying, since everything written 2010 or newer has *NO* flesh at all. This one was obese, the fat rolls and layers making it almost too much. But then, that was romance novels in the 80s.
It's two stories - Caitlin and her surrogate brother Patrick, both doctors. Patrick has fallen ill, and needs an immediate bone marrow donation to survive. There are no matches... except the twin brother that he hasn't seen in years, who had allegedly tried to kill him. Caitlin goes to beg the twin to help his brother... and falls in love. Her best friend Amanda has been asked to visit Patrick in Caitlin's absence, and they fall immediately in love. The conflicts keeping everyone apart are so vast and numerous, I couldn't possibly go into them, but like a Robert Altman film, all of the characters are intertwined in such a way that everything comes full circle and locks into place, by the end.
Which I loved. But the book? I did not love.
February 13, 2013
I wish the book was longer. The twins needed separate stories. There was too much to cover. I really enjoyed it, though. Overall, it was an angst-full story about hope and redemption. I really liked the four main character, Jess, Caitlin, Patrick and Amanda.
SPOILER
I wish Gabrielle had paid for what she did. It's unfair that she destroyed someone's life and never paid for it. The author should have come up with a way to make her pay.
SPOILER
I wish Gabrielle had paid for what she did. It's unfair that she destroyed someone's life and never paid for it. The author should have come up with a way to make her pay.
February 15, 2016
Granted this was my first book I have read by Katherine so may not be her finest work. The story had a promising start with Caitlin's mother's story---there could have been 3 complete books with that-& Patrick/Amanda-- then Jesse/Caitlin....all seemed unfinished so when J&C got together I actually missed it. Plus the first part seemed like Katherine had to be paid by the word since she was overly descriptive--or felt she needed to overuse her Thesaurus.
February 17, 2015
Romance and medical drama rolled into one. Fraternal twins Daniel and Jesse had been estranged since they were 19. Jesse's daughter needed surgery, and only Daniel's "sister" was a heart surgeon who could perform it. Add to that Daniel's illness that required a bone marrow transplant and Jesse was the only possibility of a match.
April 15, 2019
Por Dios!! Qué densa sos Katherine!!! Un suplicio lograr saber qué pasaba con la historia con tanto pensamiento sufrido que no se decía. Tanta repetición de nombre, tanta repetición de intenciones. "Ámame fulano, no, no te conviene, no, no es conveniente, no lo es... blabla blabla bla" Ahhhh!!! Decilo Enzo decilo!! Decime qué pasa después por favooorrrr!!!
March 18, 2008
One of her earlier books -- more medical addition -- a good romance. . .
June 22, 2011
For the most part I liked it. It's a little darker than I like to read a bit depressing. though it comes out well and kept me reading.
October 1, 2011
Une fois encore, KS nous prend au coeur!
January 27, 2016
contemporary romance
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews