Every time surgeons operate, they're betting their skills can beat a brain tumor, a faulty heart valve, or a clogged artery. Sometimes, they're wrong. At Chelsea General, surgeons answer for bad outcomes at the Morbidity and Mortality Conference, known as M & M. This extraordinary peek behind the curtain into what is considered one of the most secret meetings in all of medicine is the backdrop this novel that follows the lives of five surgeons as they push the limits of their abilities and confront their personal and professional failings.