Record-setting reviewer Harriet Klausner ranks hospital murder thriller, then dies

Harriet Klausner, Amazon.com's most prolific reviewer, has died of a surfeit of raves:

Klausner, a former acquisitions librarian living in Morrow, Georgia, began writing reviews for Amazon in the late 90s, right after the site first launched. (Amazon’s founder, Jeff Bezos, is owner of the Washington Post.)  She has described herself as a “freaky kind of speed reader,” capable of tossing back at least a couple books a day. It helped that her favorite genres tend toward the potboiler and bodice-ripper variety: “You ever read a Harlequin romance?” she asked the New York Times in 2012, “You can finish it in one hour.”

“I enjoy a heated romance, especially written by the Sandras — Chastain and Brown. I love science fiction and fantasy when the realm feels real. Horror is entertaining to me when the vampires seem as if they are another living (dead?) species. [Dean] Koontz remains my king. However, I particularly take pleasure from almost all the sub-genres of mystery to include comic books starring Batman and Ms. Tree,” Klausner once said.  

Yet there were books that simply didn’t hold the Georgia resident’s interest. 

“I do not enjoy nonfiction,” she said, “especially biographies (boring) or most westerns.”

Klausner's relentlessly upbeat scoring- virtually everything she reviewed got five stars- led major publishers to suck up to her relentlessly:

“I’m sure there are people who go online and think, ‘I wonder what Harriet has to say about this book,'” Knopf publicity director Nicholas Latimer told the Wall Street Journal in 2005. He said he sent Klausner every fiction title published at Knopf “because I’d like her to weigh in. There are authors she covers that don’t get covered by a lot of major review outlets because of space limitations. Harriet’s their champion.”

Her son sold most of the tidal wave of books his mom received. Getting "Klausnered" was a mark of distinction for new authors, as a good word from the Queen of Good Words did wonders for sales. One grateful author, John Birmingham, even named a character in his novel “Designated Targets” after her, though Klausner failed to disclose this fact when she reviewed the book.

Klausner's peak came in 2006, when Time Magazine named her a person who had significant impact on the information age. In a fit of populism, the magazine gushed,

Klausner is part of a quiet revolution in the way American taste gets made. The influence of newspaper and magazine critics is on the wane. People don't care to be lectured by professionals on what they should read or listen to or see. They're increasingly likely to pay attention to amateur online reviewers, bloggers and Amazon critics like Klausner. Online critics have a kind of just-plain-folks authenticity that the professionals just can't match. They're not fancy. They don't have an agenda. They just read for fun, the way you do. Publishers treat Klausner as a pro, sending her free books—50 a week—in hopes of getting her attention. Like any other good critic, Klausner has her share of enemies. "Harriet, please get a life," someone begged her on a message board, "and leave us poor Amazon customers alone."  

Klausner is a bookworm, but she's no snob. She likes genre fiction: romance, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, horror. One of Klausner's lifetime goals—as yet unfulfilled—is to read every vampire book ever published. "I love vampires and werewolves and demons," she says. "Maybe I like being spooked." Maybe she's a little bit superhuman herself.

Though she remained #1 in Amazon's Hall of Fame, at her death Klausner was ranked #2447 among reviewers, a mighty fall effected by a rankings system change based on how many reviews shoppers found helpful rather than how many the reviewer churned out in a day. A skeptics group, The Harriet Klausner Appreciation Society, called her out for years as the Telemann of reviewers, writing the same basic template tens of thousands of times.

Klausner died October 15, 2015. The last of her 31,014 book reviews was posted October 12:

Customer Review

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful superb medical thriller, October 12, 2015 By Harriet Klausner This review is from: ADRENALINE: New 2013 edition (Paperback) Adrenaline John Benedict CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, Nov 22 2013, $10.95 ISBN: 9781484897522 The support staff prepares patient Mr. Rakovic for a routine arthroscopy of his right knee by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Sanders. However, anesthesiologist Dr. Mike Carlucci panics when his patient suddenly suffers from a potentially lethal V-tach, something he never encountered in his six years at Our Lady of Mercy Hospital. He and others in the operating room frantically try to save Mr. Rakovic’s life. With tears, Mike informs Mr. Rakovic’s sobbing wife that her husband died from a massive heart attack. Keystone Anesthesia provides the hospital with its professional anesthesia staff; who recently begun to doubt their competency as several other egregious errors by anesthesiologists occurred. Filled with remorse and wondering whether they are the cause of these terrible mistakes, these dedicated employees also fear downsizing due to a merger with nearby General and a potential hostile takeover of their work by rival Pinnacle Anesthesia. Increasingly Carlucci and his BFF Dr. Doug Landry wonder if a cold-blooded maniac wants to destroy the reputation of the anesthesiologists regardless of the cost to innocent patients. Using surgery that seems authentic (though my credentials are on the receiving end), this superb medical thriller showcases the criticality of anesthesiologists beyond just administering pain relief. The opening Rakovic case, another involving a woman who feels the excruciating scalpel but unable to tell anyone and several others come across very frightening. Though the final confrontation is over the top of Mount Davis, readers will feel an Adrenaline surge throughout Dr. John Benedict’s twisting and at times shocking hospital suspense; while also looking forward to the sequel (see The Edge of Death). Harriet Klausner Help other customers find the most helpful reviews Was this review helpful to you?