The Good Nurse

A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder

By: Charles Graeber

Narrated by: Will Collyer

Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

Coming to Netflix this fall starring Eddie Redmayne and Jessica Chastain⁠—a “stunning book...that should and does bring to mind In Cold Blood” and takes you inside the mind of America's most prolific serial killer, whose 16-year long "nursing" career left as many as 400 dead. (New York Times)

After his December 2003 arrest, registered nurse Charlie Cullen was quickly dubbed "The Angel of Death" by the media. But Cullen was no mercy killer, nor was he a simple monster. He was a favorite son, husband, beloved father, best friend, and celebrated caregiver. Implicated in the deaths of as many as 300 patients, he was also perhaps the most prolific serial killer in American history.

Cullen's murderous career in the world's most trusted profession spanned sixteen years and nine hospitals across New Jersey and Pennsylvania. When, in March of 2006, Charles Cullen was marched from his final sentencing in an Allentown, Pennsylvania, courthouse into a waiting police van, it seemed certain that the chilling secrets of his life, career, and capture would disappear with him. Now, in a riveting piece of investigative journalism nearly ten years in the making, journalist Charles Graeber presents the whole story for the first time. Based on hundreds of pages of previously unseen police records, interviews, wire-tap recordings and videotapes, as well as exclusive jailhouse conversations with Cullen himself and the confidential informant who helped bring him down, The Good Nurse weaves an urgent, terrifying tale of murder, friendship, and betrayal.

Graeber's portrait of Cullen depicts a surprisingly intelligent and complicated young man whose promising career was overwhelmed by his compulsion to kill, and whose shy demeanor masked a twisted interior life hidden even to his family and friends. Were it not for the hardboiled, unrelenting work of two former Newark homicide detectives racing to put together the pieces of Cullen's professional past, and a fellow nurse willing to put everything at risk, including her job and the safety of her children, there's no telling how many more lives could have been lost.

In the tradition of In Cold Blood, The Good Nurse does more than chronicle Cullen's deadly career and the breathless efforts to stop him; it paints an incredibly vivid portrait of madness and offers a penetrating look inside America's medical system. Harrowing and irresistibly paced, this book will make you look at medicine, hospitals, and the people who work in them, in an entirely different way.

©2013 Charles Graeber (P)2013 Hachette Audio

Nurse Charlie Cullen filled a cemetery!

Any additional comments?

This is the most disturbing book I have read in years...since Coma. This is a true crime story and I barely got thru the first couple of chapters because of the graphic details of a burn ward.
After finishing this book, I kept wondering about how many other nurses, aids and doctors are out there killing patients and when caught or suspected, receive walking papers with a good or neutral recommendation for their next job.
Charlie Cullen obsessed with killing himself with attention seeking suicide attempts found a way to satisfy his driving need for self harm by proxy. He killed patients with a roulette type system of infusing glucose bags with deadly doses of insulin. He also directly injected patients with a drug that makes the heart stop...for good. New Jersey Poison Control Center detectives are the people that cared enough to go after this man and stop him permanently. It is estimated that Charlie killed around 400 people (conservative number) during his career. Hospital administrators and their attorneys are responsible for Charlie's 16 year long career of killing people. He should have been stopped YEARS ago! I can't help but be cynical and paranoid when walking into a hospital now.

Engaging

Good read to listen to. Surprising it's a real life story, which made it that more intriguing.

Exceptional

Draws you in and keeps you there for the whole book. Leaves the reader in a weird sense of amazement that this is a reality for all the families/people this 1 person stole by taking their love ones life. It would be even more interesting to hear how the life of "The Good Nurse" turned out in prison?

Bad Narrator

The story was interesting and shocking, but the narrator was CRINGE. The buildup to catching the serial killer was super slow and even got boring, I guess I didn't see what all of the "hype" was about.

Excellent

What did you love best about The Good Nurse?

That it is based on fact.

What did you like best about this story?

The conflict surrounding the ethical decison of whether or not to allow Charlie Cullen to donate a kidney.

What about Will Collyer’s performance did you like?

Good job.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Repeated mispronounciation of a drug was a bit irritating. Other than that, excellent.

Chilling

First half of the book wears you down, listening to what he did and how he did it. When it gets to part 2 you'll be glad you made it through.

Gripping

This was my third book on audible and my second purchased one. After listening to this book I thought to myself finally I found one that deserves four stars this book was gripping and grabbed my attention, the narration was excellent, and I breezed through it in a matter of days I couldn't stop listening it was a great book!

Be Afraid! A Chilling Tale

Would you listen to The Good Nurse again? Why?

I WILL listen to The Good Nurse again! This story is as frightening as any other about a serial killer - don't be taken in by the fact that this man was a nurse. He is very scary! The most frightening thing about Charlie Cullen is his disconnection with humanity and his ability to hide behind his professional persona. I am a nurse and I almost didn't purchase this book because I didn't want to "know". But, now I'm glad I did, Charlie's crimes have fascinated me in twisted way and I may never be the same again.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

The narrative spoke in a direct, assertive style. He was the "anti-charlie" and the contrast between him and the main character created a stark tension right from the start! I don't think I would have felt this contrast so strongly just by reading the written text. The narrator really picked up some nuances that helped move this story of deception along the road to it's conclusion.

Have you listened to any of Will Collyer’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No, but I wouldn't mind hearing him again.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Like an injection of ice in your veins!

Sad story

This story is true which makes it even more horrifying. Well written and detailed. A character study.

Fascinating story.

Horrifying and sad, this story was well told and the voice performance was great. Definitely recommend for those who like true crime.