I didn’t like Ian Williams’ first book, The Bad Doctor, as much as his second mostly because he doesn’t give his main character, Dr Iwan James, much to do. Iwan is sort of mildly interested in his colleague, the lady doctor, but not really actively pursuing her – and that’s about it!
There are numerous flashbacks to his past dealing with OCD, which, as someone who doesn’t suffer from the illness, were insightful and interesting, but also repetitive as they were basically the same thing over and over. Meanwhile, he bikes with his mates in the valleys and… yeah there’s not much else! He’s a “bad” doctor not because he’s bad at being a doctor (he isn’t) but because his younger self had thoughts he believed to be morally “wrong”, like thinking Christians are idiots, so it’s tied into the OCD.
Like The Lady Doctor, the patients play a big part in the book though they weren’t as funny. There’s an intense goth dude who scares Iwan, an old lady who pisses herself constantly and an elderly closeted gay guy. Meh…
The Bad Doctor isn’t a bad book - there was enough going on to keep me reading – but it’s not that great either. I’d recommend Ian Williams’ other book, The Lady Doctor, instead for a similar, but more engrossing, read.
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