Winter's Destiny by Nancy Allan

reviewed from e-book

They say that everybody has a double, and maybe it's true. Amy, a professional architect, certainly begins to think so when one of Oregon's coast storms batters the house and a woman appears in her window looking exactly the same as herself, except for the fact that the woman was bleeding. Who was she? Certainly not a relative she has ever known about, none look like she does. With power going on and off, winds howling and rattling the house, she locates a flashlight to find the woman who obviously needs help.


What is it about these storms that come so suddenly and cause not just damage, but seem to create chaos with the inhabitants? When the sheriff receives the call, he is already dealing with one of these weird events. But when he gets to Amy's home, he is greeted by her rather obnoxious husband, a doctor, who declares nothing happened, there was no woman. How then will he explain the trail of blood? Even the tracker dog picked up the trail. So begins an interesting journey of long-kept secrets, wild car chases, foot races, and deadly villains. This book is an unusual thriller with a long history and a heart-stopping finish. Nancy Allan has kept me in her grip from start to finish.

Rupture by A. Scott Pearson

Reviewed for Front Street Reviews

A. Scott Pearson has written a rapid-fire, engrossing, and timely medical thriller, an amazing accomplishment for his debut novel. As a surgeon and researcher himself, he brings the world of surgery to life in a way others could not accomplish. His writing is reminiscent of early Frank G. Slaughter, and of Robin Cook. It grips you with the first page and doesn’t let go to the very last word. I believe the author has a brilliant career ahead of him in writing. The entire story takes place within one week.

Eli Branch is a newly hired surgeon-scientist at Gates Memorial Hospital, top in his field academically and the son of a well-respected anatomy professor at the medical school. His first call for surgery assistance brings him to the hospital at 12:03 a.m., although he is not actually on call. He arrives to find an extreme situation of an aortic rupture. Blown out above and below a previously inserted device placed precisely to protect the aorta from this possibility, the aorta appears to be compromised. Something familiar about the device catches Eli’s attention in the x-rays. When the patient dies, he decides to sit in on the autopsy, and between himself and Meg Daily, the forensic pathologist, they feel that something just simply isn’t right. Eli doesn’t know it yet, but he is about to be thrown into the dark side of medicine and illegal experimentation, and he is about to be thrown to the wolves.

There are many well-fleshed out characters, some dispensable, others not, and it is his self-appointed goal to save those who are victims, no matter what barriers are set up in his way. His own mentally disabled brother is suspected to be one of the victims. After being fired and banned from entering the hospital, with the help of Meg and other concerned personnel he must fight hard and utilize every sense and every clue in order to get to the bottom of the why. Why are so many people dying as a result of these devices? With friends in unexpected places he infiltrates the company responsible, stumbling onto the focus of what’s going on quite by accident. A brazen appearance at a press conference gives him the opportunity he needs. The book is a combination of medical technology issues, non-stop action and a likable hero. I wholeheartedly recommend this book, it’s a great thriller, current, scary and believable, and it’s an exciting ride at roller-coaster speed.

Note: not yet released as of Jan. 25/09