The Final Push

Mystery, Thriller & Suspense

synopsis

Synopsis

While on call for the trauma service, third-year medical student Michael Higgins finds himself in an extraordinary situation. He is summoned to the ER to participate in the evaluation and management of a critically-injured patient and soon discovers that the unconscious man lying before him is the same man who, two months earlier, committed a heinous act of violence that shattered Michael’s personal life. Following a lengthy emergency operation, the patient—known only as John Doe—is now under the care of the trauma team, of which student doctor Mike Higgins is a member. As John Doe’s condition gradually improves, Higgins’ personal life deteriorates further, but there might be a way to reverse the downward spiral: if he sees to it that John Doe never leaves the hospital, Michael Higgins’ world may right itself.

bio

Author Biography

I’m a former heart surgeon turned fiction writer. I write what can be described as medical mysteries, medical thrillers or novels of medical suspense, but I prefer to think of them as novels of surgical suspense. What is surgical suspense? Surgeons, surgical diseases and the operating room are all inherently dramatic. As a former surgeon, I’ve experienced this drama first hand and thought it would make for good fiction. My surgery training took me from the knife-and-gun-club of LSU Medical Center in Shreveport, Louisiana, to the famed Bellevue Hospital in Midtown Manhattan. My education as a writer includes an MFA degree where I was mentored by New York Times bestselling author Dennis Lehane, among other accomplished faculty. I know a lot about medicine and surgery, I know a lot about writing and storytelling, and I believe that combining this vast and unusual right-brain/left-brain experience will make for interesting reading and discussion, so please visit often.

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Author Insight

The Living Autopsy

Higgins' act of murder stands a better chance of going undetected if an autopsy is not performed. The "living autopsy" was a real entity back when I was training. Surgery patients who had undergone a number of operations for well-defined injuries, but succumbed to those injuries nonetheless, were usually turned down for autopsy by the coroner.

Book Excerpt

The Final Push

There will be no autopsy. Even though the patient had steadily improved, he had coded a number of times since his initial surgery, so another code blue will be of no surprise. And he’d been taken back to the OR on multiple occasions for the drainage of intra-abdominal abscesses. In essence, a “living autopsy” had been performed. The coroner will not be interested in this case. Cause of death: complications due to a motor vehicle accident.

Higgins leaned over and whispered in the man’s ear: “I take your life, maybe I can get mine back.” The man didn’t move.

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Richard Van Anderson

The Final Push

Synopsis

Author Biography

Author Insight

The Living Autopsy

Book Excerpt

The Final Push

Comment on this Bubble