For readers who prize procedural authenticity in their medical thrillers, Last Patient of the Night delivers a meaningful differentiator: Gary Gerlacher is a practicing pediatric emergency physician, and that insider knowledge renders the ER setting as a specific occupational environment rather than the generic hospital of TV shorthand. The novel's dual structure — thriller investigation alongside episodic ER vignettes — gives it tonal variety that works against the relentlessness of pure action narratives. The key caveat is that, as a series opener, the protagonist and supporting cast are still being established; the full payoff for character relationships is likely to accumulate across the six planned volumes rather than land entirely in this first book.

Last Patient of the Night: An AJ Docker Thriller (An AJ Docker

by Gary Gerlacher

$15.95 on Amazon Read our full review

At a glance

First published2023

SettingContemporary Houston, Texas emergency room

AudienceAdult

ISBN1685133290

About the Author

Gary Gerlacher

2 books reviewed

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Last Patient of the Night

Name: Last Patient of the Night: An AJ Docker Thriller (An AJ Docker by Gary Gerlacher
Author: Gary Gerlacher
ISBN: 1685133290

An AJ Docker Thriller (An AJ Docker

by Gary Gerlacher

LuvemBooks Verdict

Best for: Readers of medically grounded crime fiction who want a series protagonist with genuine occupational credibility — an ER physician turned amateur investigator — and enjoy thriller narratives that balance dark criminal stakes with lighter, episodic workplace humour.

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Last Patient of the Night: An AJ Docker Thriller is Gary Gerlacher's debut medical thriller following Houston ER physician Dr. AJ "Doc" Docker, whose refusal to let go of an unnamed patient's death pulls him — alongside a policeman friend and a police dog — deep into the criminal underworld. Gerlacher's real-world career as a pediatric emergency physician gives the ER scenes a procedural authenticity that sets the series apart from generic hospital thrillers, while the novel's blend of action-driven investigation and lighter episodic ER vignettes creates genuine tonal variety. Ideal for fans of medically grounded crime fiction, though prospective readers should know the novel carries graphic violence, torture, and sexual violence — this is firmly dark-thriller territory, not a cozy.

Is it worth reading?: For readers who prize procedural authenticity in their medical thrillers, Last Patient of the Night delivers a meaningful differentiator: Gary Gerlacher is a practicing pediatric emergency physician, and that insider knowledge renders the ER setting as a specific occupational environment rather than the generic hospital of TV shorthand. The novel's dual structure — thriller investigation alongside episodic ER vignettes — gives it tonal variety that works against the relentlessness of pure action narratives. The key caveat is that, as a series opener, the protagonist and supporting cast are still being established; the full payoff for character relationships is likely to accumulate across the six planned volumes rather than land entirely in this first book.
Similar books: Readers who enjoy Last Patient of the Night are well served by the related titles curated below. Gerlacher's own Sin City Treachery: An AJ Docker and Banshee Thriller continues the same series and shares the same protagonist. For thriller readers drawn to investigative tension and dark criminal subject matter, Elle Gray's The 7 She Saw and Alex North's The Whisper Man both offer similar propulsive momentum. Laura Dave's The Last Thing He Told Me and Mary Kubica's Every Last Lie round out the selection for readers who enjoy character-driven domestic-leaning suspense alongside their crime plotting. Alex Michaelides' The Silent Patient is another natural companion for fans of psychologically charged crime fiction, though it is not currently in the LuvemBooks catalogue.
Who should read this?: Last Patient of the Night is best suited to readers of medically grounded crime fiction who want procedural ER authenticity alongside a morally charged investigation. Fans of character-driven ensemble series with a consistent protagonist — particularly those who enjoy the tone suggested by the MAS*H and Harry Bosch comparison — will find the structure rewarding. Readers who want a series they can enter at multiple points without strict reading-order requirements are also well served, as the publisher has designed each AJ Docker and Banshee book to stand alone. Given the novel's graphic violence, torture, and sexual violence, it is squarely adult thriller territory.
How dark does it get?: Quite dark. The SuperSummary study guide notes that the source text includes depictions of graphic violence and torture, physical abuse, sexual violence, substance use, and death. The criminal underworld Doc Docker enters is described as carrying "genuine darkness," and the novel is explicitly not designed for readers seeking a cozy or restrained thriller experience. The lighter episodic ER vignettes provide tonal relief, but they do not soften the novel's darker investigative throughline.
How does this compare to Sin City Treachery?: LuvemBooks has reviewed both Last Patient of the Night and Sin City Treachery: An AJ Docker and Banshee Thriller, making Gerlacher one of the few debut thriller authors with multiple entries in the catalogue. Last Patient of the Night is the series opener and carries the inherent limitation of a debut establishing its protagonist and ensemble for the first time; Sin City Treachery is the next instalment, built on the same foundation of Gerlacher's ER background and the pairing of Doc Docker with Banshee. Since the publisher notes each book is designed to be read in any order, neither is a strict prerequisite for the other.
How long is the series?: The AJ Docker and Banshee series is planned as a six-book run, with Last Patient of the Night as the first entry. The publisher notes that each volume is designed to function as a self-contained entry point, so readers are not required to follow a strict reading order. LuvemBooks has reviewed Sin City Treachery: An AJ Docker and Banshee Thriller, the next book in the series, for readers ready to continue with Doc Docker and Banshee.

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Last Patient of the Night introduces Dr. AJ "Doc" Docker, an emergency room physician in Houston who becomes fixated on the death of a nameless young woman who passes through his ER. Unable to return to his routine, Doc teams up with a policeman friend and a police dog named Banshee to pursue justice, drawing all three deeper into the criminal underworld than anticipated. The novel weaves that investigative thriller throughline together with lighter, standalone vignettes from everyday ER life, creating a dual-register narrative that moves between genuine darkness and moments of levity — all grounded in author Gary Gerlacher's own experience as a pediatric emergency physician.

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Age & Reading Level

Recommended age

Adult

Reading level

Adult

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Content to know about

graphic violence and torture

sexual violence

physical abuse

substance use

on-page death

Best for: Adults — the novel contains graphic violence and torture, sexual violence, and physical abuse; unsuitable for younger readers.

Skip if you're looking for a cozy or restrained thriller without graphic depictions of violence and abuse.

Editorial Review

Gary Gerlacher's debut medical thriller introduces Dr. AJ "Doc" Docker, a Houston ER physician whose determination to identify and seek justice for an unnamed young woman who dies in his emergency room pulls him into the criminal underworld — with his policeman friend and a police dog at his side.…

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Books like Last Patient of the Night

Curated picks for readers who enjoyed Last Patient of the Night, with our reasoning for each match.

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In our catalogue

Sin City Treachery: An AJ Docker and Banshee Thriller

Gary Gerlacher

Picks up directly with Dr. AJ Docker and police dog Banshee — same procedural authenticity, higher stakes, new city.

If you finished Last Patient of the Night and immediately wanted more of Dr. AJ Docker, Sin City Treachery is exactly what to read next. Gary Gerlacher moves the action from Houston to Las Vegas, but the core formula that makes the series work — a medically credible ER doctor pulled into violent criminal investigations alongside a canine partner — stays firmly in place. Readers who loved the way Gerlacher grounds chaos in real emergency-medicine detail will find the same texture here, now layered over a Vegas underworld backdrop. For anyone searching for books like Last Patient of the Night or wondering what comes after the AJ Docker debut, this is the direct continuation and the most natural next step on your reading list.

If you liked Last Patient of the Night

In our catalogue

The Last Thing He Told Me

Laura Dave

Ordinary protagonist pulled into a violent criminal conspiracy; same relentless momentum and reluctant-investigator tension as Docker's case.

Readers who responded to the way Last Patient of the Night puts a non-detective at the center of a dangerous criminal investigation will feel right at home with Laura Dave's bestseller. Just as Dr. AJ Docker refuses to let a patient's unexplained death go and finds himself drawn deeper into organized crime, Hannah Hall in The Last Thing He Told Me follows a thin thread of truth about her missing husband straight into a federal witness-protection nightmare. Both books move fast, keep the protagonist perpetually a step behind the threat, and deliver their tension through character stubbornness rather than professional spy craft. If you're looking for thrillers like Last Patient of the Night that center an everyday person unraveling a very dangerous secret, this is a top pick.

In our catalogue

The Whisper Man

Alex North

A dark, procedurally grounded thriller where a violent cold case bleeds into the present — shares Docker's gritty crime-investigation atmosphere.

Fans of the criminal-underworld investigation at the heart of Last Patient of the Night will find a similarly unsettling atmosphere in Alex North's The Whisper Man. Where Gerlacher roots his dread in a Houston ER and the aftermath of graphic violence, North builds his around a serial-killer cold case that refuses to stay cold, trapping both a grieving father and a veteran detective in its orbit. Both novels use the procedural investigation as an emotional pressure cooker, and both are unflinching about the human cost of violent crime. The pacing is controlled but relentless, making it a strong recommendation for readers searching for what to read after Last Patient of the Night who want literary crime fiction that doesn't flinch from darkness.

In our catalogue

The 7 She Saw

Elle Gray

FBI procedural with a driven female protagonist pursuing a violent case — appeals to the same action-forward, investigation-heavy readership as the AJ Docker series.

If what hooked you in Last Patient of the Night was the relentless forward drive of a protagonist who refuses to walk away from a dangerous case, Elle Gray's Blake Wilder series delivers the same energy from a law-enforcement angle. The 7 She Saw opens Gray's FBI thriller series with a high-stakes case, crisp chapter pacing, and a lead character defined by tenacity under pressure — qualities that mirror what Gary Gerlacher builds into Dr. AJ Docker. While the setting shifts from a Houston emergency room to federal investigation, the reader experience is comparable: short chapters, mounting tension, and a protagonist constantly navigating institutional friction alongside physical danger. Readers asking 'if I liked Last Patient of the Night, what FBI thriller should I try?' will find this a satisfying answer.

Not your thing?

In our catalogue

Every Last Lie

Mary Kubica

If Last Patient of the Night's graphic violence and dark tone were too heavy, this domestic thriller delivers strong suspense and investigation with less brutality.

Last Patient of the Night doesn't hold back — graphic torture, sexual violence, and on-page death are woven into the fabric of the story, and that intensity is not for every reader. If you found the darkness overwhelming but still loved the premise of an ordinary person refusing to accept the official version of events and pulling at dangerous threads, Mary Kubica's Every Last Lie is a strong alternative. Here, a widow becomes convinced her husband's fatal car crash wasn't an accident, and the investigation that follows builds genuine dread through psychological tension rather than graphic brutality. The pacing is tight, the stakes feel personal, and the sense that the protagonist is getting closer to something she may not want to know mirrors the best of what Last Patient of the Night does — without the heaviest content.