This book would be great even if it weren't a true story, but being a true story makes it even more outstanding. The reader goes with Dr. Brendan Reilly, a modern master of medicine, as he rounds in a big-city hospital and his small-town office, meeting patients and teaching residents and medical students, treating each one of them as an individual with his/her own story. He teaches medicine to the reader and to his younger colleagues, and he shows us how he guides patients through their illnesses, sometimes to wellness and other times not. This book is unique in how it blends clinical medicine and scientific research with overarching stories about his patients and himself. It is truly a gripping read and I highly recommend it.