Books by Gary Gerlacher
Last Patient of the Night
Available now, Last Patient of the Night is the first book in the AJ Docker (Doc) series. Doc is an emergency physician who seeks justice for one of his patients who was brutally murdered. With the help of a policeman friend and his bad ass dog, he hunts down her killer, but finds himself facing an international crime ring. Doc will battle to survive finding justice for his Last Patient of the Night.
Available now on Amazon
Faulty Bloodline
Faulty Bloodline is book two in the AJ Docker and Banshee series, but can be enjoyed as a standalone. Doc and Banshee leave the chaos of Houston for a quiet job in rural Montana. Unfortunately, the town is hiding a serial killer and other dark secrets. Doc puts his own life at risk to uncover the dirty money flowing through the town.
Available on Amazon
Sin City Treachery
Sin City Treachery
Sin City Treachery is book three and sees Doc and Banshee leave the quiet of Montana for the chaos of a job in Las Vegas. The town is overflowing with tourists as the F1 race comes to town, but it also attracts terrorists intent on causing chaos. When one of their bombs injures a coworker, Doc and Banshee hunt down the terrorists before more people are killed, culminating in the most exciting night in Las Vegas history.
Available on Amazon
Books by Gary Gerlacher
Deadly Equation
The fourth book in the series find Banshee and Doc in Washington, DC, where a patient’s dying wish sets Doc on a search for answers. Racing against enemies both foreign and domestic, they travel across the city seeking answers and justice for his patient.
Available to order on Amazon
Terminal Exchanges
Book 5 finds Doc and Banshee in sunny Miami, where the violent death of a patient sends Doc on a search for answers, leading him into the path of international terrorists. Meanwhile, a close friend is battling for his life in the hospital, and Doc must manage both problems at once.
Available everywhere October 2025
The Phantom Files
The Phantom Files
Work has just begun on book six, which will be based in Phoenix. Follow along for more details. Publication date is set for March, 2026
About Gary Gerlacher
One of the wildest work environments imaginable, Emergency Rooms give staff the joy and satisfaction of saving lives as well as the blow of pronouncing death just minutes apart. Each emergency room runs on adrenaline-fueled heroes working 24/7/365 to help patients. After thirty years in the field of medicine as a pediatric emergency physician, Gary Gerlacher has a lifetime of stories to share from his experiences. His books seek to capture the chaos and energy of life in the emergency room, while seeking justice for traumatized patients. They feature a potent mix of emotion, action, and humor, as Doc and Banshee, his K9 sidekick, travel the country to meet new challenges in each work environment. Gary is a serial entrepreneur in the healthcare space and lives in Dallas with his wife and two rescue dogs. He is currently working on opening a competitive cheer gym with his daughters (thoughts and prayers please) and on managing a pediatric urgent care company. Last Patient of the Night, Faulty Bloodline, and Sin City Treachery are currently available on Amazon, and Deadly Equation releases on December 17. He hopes to have book five completed by the end of the year.
reviews for Last Patient of the Night
Five Star review from Reader’s Favorites
Reviewed by Essien Asian for Readers’ Favorite
It's one of those regular nights in the emergency room of the Ben Taub Hospital. AJ Docker, otherwise known as Doc to his colleagues and friends, is putting in his due and looking forward to the end of his shift when he ends up with a mysterious girl who looks like she has been tortured. Doc does his best but is unable to save her life. Her death leads him to investigate how she ended up in the emergency room in the first place. Little does he know that his inquisitive nature is about to lead him into a world of prostitution and blackmail where human lives have no value in Gary Gerlacher’s Last Patient of the Night.
Gary Gerlacher's easygoing approach to telling the story is evident in every aspect of this riveting crime novel, Last Patient of the Night. He introduces us to his characters using a casual approach when unfolding their origin stories. His depiction of the hospital scene is quite accurate as he goes the extra mile to make this story feel as authentic as possible using precise medical parlance and operating procedures, not to mention some of the weird slang the staff are throwing around. His ability to alternate humor with suspense creates the perfect recipe for a riveting read which is difficult to put down. I especially like the way he casually inserts modern money laundering methods into a deceptively simple story. When it comes to the crime genre, Gerlacher's novel is in a class of its own.
Review from Lena Gibson, Author of The Edge of Life
Last Patient of the Night is like a Wild Mouse coaster ride, racing along the track with sharp twists and turns, looking like it's headed for disaster, but somehow always staying on course to deliver an exhilarating and satisfying ride. I enjoyed it from start to finish.
Review from Val Conrad, Author of Like Souls series
Everything from mental illness to major trauma comes through Ben Taub Hospital in Houston. Each shift, the doctors and nurses participate in a chapter of someone’s life, seldom knowing how the story began or ended. Until one shift when A. J. Docker, aka Doc. treats a young woman’s minor injury, which she refuses to confirm was not an accident. Her life might have ended when someone dumped her out in the ambulance bay, but not the story, Doc learns when he tries to find answers.
If no good deed goes unpunished, Dr. A. J. Docker’s acts to find out about a patient’s violent death leads him to face a devil. Then all Hell breaks loose.
Review from Travis Tougaw, Author of Foxholes
Last Patient of the Night is a fun, fast-paced thriller. Gary Gerlacher’s debut novel introduces us to A.J. “Doc” Docker, an ER physician with a quick, sarcastic wit and a mind for solving mysteries. When one of his patients dies under suspicious circumstances, Doc makes it his mission to discover what really happened and find justice for her, regardless of the risks. Smartly plotted, loaded with memorable characters, and deftly mixing action and humor, Last Patient of the Night keeps the pages turning until the end.
Faulty bloodline, Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal Winner 2024
Five Star review from Reader’s Favorites
Reviewed by Anne-Marie Reynolds for Readers’ Favorite
Faulty Bloodline by Gary Gerlacher is an AJ Docker and Banshee thriller. AJ Docker has moved to the mountains for a quiet life with his ex-police dog, Banshee. All he wants is peace, and as he settles into his new life, he thinks he’s found it. He’s got a great job as an ER doctor, new friends, and a new woman in his life. But things are never quite what they seem, and this town has plenty of dirty secrets. A serial killer is stalking the woods, and the town is flooded with dirty money. Doc and Banshee start their search for the truth, but not everyone wants the truth to be known. These are powerful people who will stop at nothing to prevent Doc from exposing them, and his life is on the line. Can he and his trusty sidekick save the day, or is it the end for them? Join Doc on his trail of justice from the ER to the courtroom.
Faulty Bloodline by Gary Gerlacher is the second book in the AJ Docker and Banshee series. I haven’t read the first one, but I would highly recommend it to get a handle on the main characters in this amazing book. This is a combination of crime/courtroom and medical thriller, and it’s one of the most exciting books I’ve read in a long time. First off, Docker is the type of doctor everyone wants to treat them. Second, he has an amazing sidekick in the form of a retired police dog, Banshee. This is a thrilling story that will hook you from the start and it will keep you reading all the way through. The descriptive writing lands you right in the middle of the story, and it’s a fast-paced adventure that will leave you breathless. The characters are incredibly likable, and you’ll fall in love with both Doc and Banshee. The plot takes you on a twisty journey that will both chill and thrill you and take you to places you never imagined going. This fantastic story is the very definition of a page-turner, and I’m looking forward to reading the first one now and then the next one in the series.
Review from Lena Gibson, Author of The Edge of Life
Faulty Bloodline picks up with AJ "Doc" Docker and his dog Banshee as they stop in Montana to work in the ER, only to discover murder and corruption. With non-stop action and twists, Gerlacher delivers another smart, tight thriller that kept me riveted from the first page.
Review froM Carla D Seyler, author of A Place Unmade
"Faulty Bloodline is the second novel in a fast-paced series starring Doc, a.k.a. A.J. Docker and his sidekick, Banshee, a retired police dog. The characters are nuanced and believable, while the writing is crisp. Gerlacher's dialogue rings true as it carries the plot from the suspenseful opening to a satisfying finish. It was easy to get pulled in and I stayed up much too late to finish. Although part of a series, you can jump in at Book Two without missing a beat. Nice read!"
Review from A.J. McCarthy, author of A Stranger in the Family
"I'm addicted to this series! Dr. AJ Docker and Banshee, his sidekick Belgian Malinois, have won my heart again."
Reviews for Sin City Treachery
Five Star review from Reader’s Favorites
Reviewed by Essien Asian for Readers’ Favorite
Security personnel initially assumed that a terrorist group was responsible for the explosion that occurred in the hospital parking garage, wounding one of AJ Docker's colleagues. A closer look reveals fresh evidence that suggests a darker scheme is at play. Motivated by his relationship with the victim, Docker attempts to solve the crime. He teams up with his dependable canine companion Banshee and good friend Lana Hearn and, together, they take on the criminal underworld. They have no idea that their activities will attract the attention of unscrupulous individuals who are prepared to twist the laws of the land to suit their nefarious purposes in Gary Gerlacher's Sin City Treachery.
Gary Gerlacher adopts a darker undertone in Sin City Treachery, a slight departure from his typical lighthearted approach in the AJ Docker Medical Thriller series. The character development is concise, and readers will find their motivations easy to understand, thanks to the well-developed origin stories. The humor is subtle, particularly when Rick and Lana team up to help Docker, which creates thrilling, suspenseful scenarios that will excite even the most jaded reader. Gerlacher's distinct storytelling approach uses much detail to describe the antagonists' actions, from the robberies to the murders, which gives a layer of realism while creating the impression that the antagonist and hero are on an intellectual equal footing. His masterful use of graduated pacing to combine all these elements will have readers on the edge of their seats as they try to figure out who will emerge victorious. Sin City Treachery is crime storytelling at its finest.
Review from Daniel Burke, Author of Vibrations in the Field
"Climb in and fasten your seat belts for an explosive ride with AJ Docker and Banshee. Gary Gerlacher's Sin City Treachery is a Formula One racecar of a tale that takes hold of the reader from the very first waving of the green flag and doesn't release them until they've blasted through a series of shocking plot turns and passed under a very satisfying checkered flag. Bravo!"
Review from Gail Ward Olmsted, author of Miranda Writes
"A medical crime thriller with a heart of gold. When ER doctor AJ 'Doc' Docker isn't saving lives at work, he's solving crimes with the help of Lana, his 'badass reporter' girlfriend and a police dog named Banshee. A real-page turner with a surprise twist you won't see coming."
Review from Ivanka Fear, author of The Dead Lie
"The accuracy of medical details and credible bomb threats mixed with genuine characters guarantees an unputdownable read. Buckle in and get ready for a fast-paced ride!"
Reviews for Deadly Equation
Five Star review from Reader’s Favorites
Reviewed by Essien Asian for Readers’ Favorite
AJ Docker is already preoccupied with a mysterious organization's impending takeover attempt of the hospital's services where he works when he is called into the emergency room to assist in saving the life of a patient with gunshot wounds. Despite his best attempts, the patient dies, but not without passing on an item and a cryptic message to the young doctor. AJ's attempts to carry out the dead man's final wishes see him and his trusted canine companion, Banshee, allying with his deceased patient's sister in a dangerous race to prevent life-altering information from falling into the wrong hands in Gary Gerlacher's Deadly Equation.
In the latest AJ Docker Medical Thriller series installment, your favorite medical practitioner returns to his sleuthing ways. Gary Gerlacher keeps the character development simple, using brief origin stories to introduce the newest characters in this expanding series while delicately cloaking their motives with his one-of-a-kind storytelling style. Gerlacher maintains trademark wry humor in the dialogue as Docker's conversations with his colleagues and security personnel smoothly switch from funny to severe at short notice. Docker's complaints about how the private sector's interference in hospital activities has negatively impacted the core services they render in healthcare add realism. The subtle reference to cryptocurrency payments is a slight nod to the contemporary changes in the financial world. The singular aspect of Deadly Equation is the attention to detail in crafting the pieces that unite the mystery. The reader must solve one aspect before discovering the next clue in this riveting novel. This is an incredibly immersive read that adventure and mystery buffs will not be in a hurry to put down.
Review from Cam Torrens, author of Scorched
Gary Gerlacher disrupts my sleep cycle again, delivering another AJ Docker & Banshee Thriller/Mystery I can't stop reading!
This one was brilliant, weaving together two storylines: the first, a tactical challenge with strategic implications--unidentified enemies attempting to use groundbreaking research to change the world; and the second, a strategic public/private policy challenge in medical administration with a tactical impact at the Washington DC hospital where Doc works. Gerlacher seamlessly blends action into both quests, with Doc and Banshee (as usual) racing against time to save everyone.
This fourth installment in the AJ Docker series offers nonstop action, intense medical trauma scenes, and a gripping fight against corporate greed. You gotta read it!
Review from Gail Ward Olmsted, author of Miranda Writes
A cryptic request from a dying patient propels Dr. A.J. ‘Doc’ Docker into a maelstrom of political conspiracy in our nation’s capital. With the support of canine partner Banshee, Doc risks everything to protect the results of a top-secret research project from getting into the wrong hands. A medical thriller guaranteed to keep you guessing. 5 stars for the latest in the series!
Review from Lena Gibson, author of Switching Tracks
Deadly Equation is Gerlacher's finest to date. The action is hectic, the characters believable, and the stakes are high as Doc and Banshee once more become embroiled in a life-or-death situation.
When I’m not writing
Favorite golf course
Favorite golf course
Favorite golf course
Pebble Beach wins. Augusta would win if they would let me play their course, but I am a lowl author.
Favorite race track
Favorite golf course
Favorite golf course
The 3.41 miles of Circuit of the Americas is the best 2:28 of the day. A dream location for a book writer to visit.
Favorite ski resort
Favorite golf course
Favorite ski resort
Jackson Hole - 4000 vertical feet of beauty and terror, and a favorite setting for authors.