2. Impression of O'Reilly

[Carol]

2. Barry’s first encounter with Dr. Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly is surprising, to say the least. What is your initial reaction to O’Reilly? Does your opinion of him change along with Barry’s as the book progresses?

[Pam]

I loved him from the first! Crotchety on the outside, a teddy bear on the inside. I loved how he taught and complemented Barry. He treated him more like a son/grandson. His mad driving skills made me laugh more than once!!

[Carol]

I too liked him from the start. He was well known as a very good doctor with a very good reputation. I appreciated him more and more as the book progressed. I read this book the first time about five-six years ago, and have read it 3 times since. I really like the charm of it, and there are others books written by Patrick Taylor that fit into the series, and he taps into different aspects of all their lives. I really like it a lot.

[Cindy]

I liked Dr O'Reilly very much too. I loved him saying: "Never, never let the customers get the upper hand!" I can see that when everyone knows where you live and even comes to your home for treatment, that you'd have to set boundaries and not be a pushover.

[Chelsea]

Like Barry, I wasn't sure what to make of him at first. Pushing a patient into a bush? He was very brash and pushy in more ways than one. But he did grow on me as the book progressed.

[Barb]

He's my kind of character! He's been around the block a time or two. I'm sure he started out as idealistic as Barry, but became a realist in order to survive.