The True Christmas - Poetry by Margaret Ponticel from God's Potpourri...

The Birth of Christ, Federico Barocci, 1597

The True Christmas

About two thousand years ago,

God sent His Son to earth.

He came in the form of an infant-child,

Virgin Mary gave Him birth.

Born in a poor humble family,

This Prince from high above,

Born in a stable, with a manger crib,

God's greatest gift of love.

Little we know of His childhood,

But He came to pay the price,

And to seek and save that which was lost,

This child, called Jesus Christ.

He was known as the Gentle Carpenter,

According to God's great plan.

He rebuilt a temple in three short days,

With power unknown to man.

His chosen were twelve poor disciples,

Who followed Him day after day.

He taught them His Father's works.

And told them, "I am the way."

From sick minds He cast evil spirits,

Cleansed lepers who lived in dread.

Made deaf ears to hear and blind eyes to see,

He even raised the dead.

Do you really enjoy the true Christmas?

Did you know we're all born in sin?

Do you have the peace and contentment,

That's yours if you just receive Him?

-Margaret Hicks Ponticel

From God's Potpourri - 

Inspiration Poetry by His Poets

Stained glass window in St. Denis Basilica, Paris; circa 1100

Jess Michaels Shares A Christmas Kiss As Holiday e-Gift!

Herstmonceux Castle

The carriage rumbled through the gate of Hillbury Castle and Amelia barely contained the shudder that threatened to work its way through her body. At least the drive was so long that it would take another quarter hour before they would reach the door… before she would be forced to face her nightmare. 
“You are very pale, Lady Blackgrove,” her longtime lady’s maid, Helen, said. “Are you well?” 
Amelia shifted. With any other servant, she would be reticent to speak the truth, but Helen wasn’t the average maid. The two had all but grown up together. She considered Helen to be a friend, even if the servant held herself slightly apart, as was proper. “I will admit,” Amelia said slowly. “I’m not looking forward to this exercise in humiliation.” Helen reached out to briefly take Amelia’s hand. 
“I hope it will not be as bad as all that.” Amelia drew a pained breath.
“How can it not be? I’ve been summoned to the country home of my husband of six months— a husband I am estranged from— in order to prepare for a farce of a Christmas celebration with our two families. It is bound to be dreadful.” 
She turned her face and stared out as the drive wound through dense, beautiful woods for a few moments. She couldn’t help but think of the last time she’d seen Stephen. It had been the day after her wedding… and her wedding night. She had still been basking in the glow of having the man she loved introduce her body to such pleasures and then… Then she had found out the terrible truth about him. 

~~~

A Christmas Kiss

By Jess Michaels

As an author of over 50 novels, Jess Michaels has presented her fans and potential new readers with a free, wonderful story, A Christmas Kiss. Although her chosen genre is not my favorite genre, I did enjoy this short that tells the story of how marriage came about in historical times--by marrying someone rich!

This time it was Lord Blackgrove who had married for money. His wife, Amelia, however, had fallen in love and had no inkling that she was being married...for one reason. But she had found out and quickly left...

Now just before Christmas, Stephen wanted her to come celebrate the holidays with family, pretending that there was nothing wrong...How cruel could he be?!

Amelia had thought that she and Helen were coming early to help get the castle ready for Christmas. Instead, Stephen was there at the door waiting...

Helen got out and sent a glare to him and Amelia was not getting out! So Stephen came over, calmly lifted Helen away from the carriage door, got into the coach and closed the door...

Amelia was… beautiful. Her dark brown hair was bound up beneath an exceedingly proper bonnet, but little tendrils framed her lovely face to perfection. Even in the dimness of the carriage, her bright blue eyes stood out, watching his every move, filled with anxiety and sadness and anger, all of which he so richly deserved. 
“Amelia,” he said softly. 
She sucked in a harsh breath before she folded her hands on her lap. “Why are you here?” 
“It’s my home,” he replied, pretending not to understand the core of her question. Her full lips pursed with displeasure.
“But why are you here now, my lord? You made your directions to me very clear. I was to come here to oversee the holiday preparations and you wouldn’t join me until the others did in a week’s time.” 
He smiled slightly. “Had I told you the truth, that we would be alone together, would you have come?” 
For a moment, she was silent, and her lack of a verbal response was an answer in itself. She looked at her lap instead of at him. “You have no need to be here. I am perfectly capable of preparing the house without your supervision, Stephen.” 
He tensed at the sound of his given name coming from her lips. The last time she’d called him by it had been at the height of her pleasure on their wedding night.

~~~

Stephen explained that he wanted Amelia to be his wife to which she quietly responded that she already was... Of course, Stephen clarified...

What does a man do to win his wife...again...

This is a sweet little story where a man who was forced to consider marriage because of money and then finds that he wants his wife...for herself...

It's a perfect tale of love at Christmas time and, as the title reveals, A Christmas Kiss did indeed occur... but not easily... Amelia had been attracted to Stephen long before he had decided to court her. Could she stand to be around him, wanting him, when he could hurt her even more, given what he was saying now.

I enjoyed the writer's story line--her tale of estranged lovers. It was just long enough to catch readers' interest, but short enough that the plot could be centered on just the two main husband and wife characters.

When Amelia entered the room half an hour later, she was shocked to find her husband at the pianoforte, playing a beautiful piece with great passion. The music wrapped around her as she shut the door behind herself. It drew her closer, as did he. She watched his face as his fingers moved across the keys. He was intensely focused on the music, his dark eyes darting to follow his swiftly moving hands. She thought he hadn’t noticed her, but when the last notes of the music faded, he turned to smile at her.
 “Amelia.” She swallowed hard. She hadn’t realized she had been holding her breath until she drew air into her lungs. “That was… lovely,” she said, her voice barely carrying. "Thank you...” he said as he pushed away from the pianoforte and moved toward her. “My God, that dress is amazing on you.”

~~~

This is a delightful light erotic romance...take a few minutes through your hectic holiday schedule to sink into a fun fantasy for a short time! Have a happy...

GABixlerReviews

USA Today Bestseller Jess Michaels began writing full-time in 1999 after being encouraged by her husband to follow her dream. In 2003, she sold her first novella to Red Sage Press, an erotic historical romance about an Egyptian tomb and a very sexy curse. Since then she has published over 50 novels, novellas and short stories under three different pen names with several major publishers, small presses and via self-publishing. Her erotic historical romances have been national bestsellers and won awards from booksellers and readers.
She and her husband live in Tucson, AZ. There she enjoys spending time with her awesome husband and cats. 
She raffles a FREE Kindle or Amazon gift certificate EVERY month to members
of her newsletter, so sign up on her website: http://www.authorjessmichaels.com/join-the-jess-michaels-newsletter/

Website/Blog: http://www.authorjessmichaels.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jessmichaelsbks
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jessmichaelsbks

Thomas Hall Keeps Readers in Suspense in Nothing As It Seems!

   

She wore a gray hoodie when she was acting out her plan...to murder... She had her first victim picked out and she knew exactly how she was going to get her to let her into her home...  After that, she was experienced in handling the actual event. No problems!

Megan Gallagher's life was going to end today.

Of course when she awoke this morning she had no reason to suspect that was even the remotest of possibilities. Like most young people of her generation, her own mortality rarely crossed her mind. And why would it? It wasn't as if she'd been diagnosed with some terminal illness months before, and therefore knew that each subseqent day could be her last. And she wasn't the type to engage in risky behavior--no driving drunk, no illegal drug use, no skydiving. And it wasn't even a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. 
No.
Megan was going to lose her life because someone was going to murder her in her own home...

~~~

Nothing as it Seems

By Thomas Hall

She continued to lie in the tub as she
considered the scene at Megan
Gallagher's house. She felt no remorse;
there were no recriminations. In fact,
she felt nothing at all. It was just
something that had to be done, so
she'd done it. But she also recognized
that it was only the first part of the
plan, and the rest of it might not be
as easy...
~~~

The woman in the gray hoodie arrived home about twenty minutes after leaving Megan Gallagher's house. She entered her apartment turned on the lights, and immediately headed for the bathroom where she started to remove her clothing. Once she was naked, she ran the water in the bathtub.
As the tub was filling, she picked up her clothes and brought them to the small alcove off the kitchen which housed the compact washer and dryer. She didn't bother to check her clothing for blood or any other signs of what she had done. There was no need; there wouldn't be any. The killing had not been violent; she had planned it well, and it had gone very smoothly.

There is much emphasis placed on the death of Megan. She worked to help take care of patients at Horizons Rehabilitation Center, and was well-liked by everyone. One patient had become especially close and when she learned that she may not be able to return to her home alone, Megan had considered having her move into her home... She had promised the patient that she would check with social services to find out what could be done. The patient knew she would not have made such a promise if she had planned on suicide, which had been the first assumption...

Finding Megan, in fact, had come about by her supervisor going to Megan's home--it was so unlike her to not be at work that staff had begun to worry. She immediately called the police because the smell was so apparent--as a nurse she was familiar with the smell of death...

I met Thomas Hall through his novel Hidden - Do check out my review if you haven't read this book...

Agent Craig Walker and Detective Dave Munoz, from Hidden, are carried over into this novel. These two, plus others, put forth a major effort to solve the murder, especially after another woman was killed, and then a third who almost died. When the latter was hurt, it was really the first break because they were definitely able to determine method of death.

Hall has a talent for writing "in suspense..."

By that I mean that his method of presentation automatically sets up suspense for readers. For instance, the villain is known only as "the woman in the gray hoodie..." 

The victims' names are identified and then immediately readers are told she was going to be murdered...that day...

When Walker, Munoz, and other investigators are working, readers are privy to each and every concept as considered. But Hall also provides an extensive look into their frustration as they repeatedly go over every piece of paper, every clue, time after time. Amazingly, then, one will see something from a new perspective and that lead will be explored. You would think that type of activity would become tedious, not only for the investigators, but also the readers. It doesn't simply because we become so vested in solving the crimes and answering the same questions that Walker and others are asking. One reason for that is that Hall has  created the surrounding lives of the victims in such a sympathetic way that readers "want" to see the murderer stopped!

Walker is a strong leader and is worthy to have a series built around him so that we could learn more about his personal life. He definitely is extremely dedicated and capable, with sufficient experience so that how he thinks through the organization and methodology is astounding to his fellow characters. For us, we become more and more assured that he will fully close out this case by the end!

As readers near the end of the book, the surprise ending will have taken off in such a way that  it is impossible to divulge any more about the book. So let me just conclude with my thought that those of you who enjoy suspenseful, police procedural novels, I think you will love this one. The characters are solid and readily accepted into the roles they play. However, it is the identification of clues in the way they are discovered that really stretch the imagination as to whether some of what happened could be done--and yet, it seemed so natural as it occurred... Then I read the final page and the author threw one final pitch to the readers that he knew all along we were...wondering... Superb paragraph!

An ingenious plot that undoubtedly demanded significant research to support the actual chain of events. Kudos to the author for the inventive and unique ending to the story. Amazing! Highly recommended...


GABixlerReviews

Thomas Hall is a former English teacher and middle school and high school principal. Two of the schools where he was the principal received national recognition for their academic excellence. He and his wife Marcia live in Central Massachusetts. They have three adult children.
Mr. Hall was born on Long Island, New York and lived there for the first seventeen years of his life before his family moved to Massachusetts. After graduating from high school he received a full athletic scholarship to Northeastern University for track. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Northeastern.
Although writing has always been a passion, he limited his efforts to short stories and non-fiction articles until after he retired and had sufficient time to tackle a novel.
When Mr. Hall is not writing, he enjoys reading, going to the movies, jogging, and playing softball. Over the past several years he has participated in numerous Senior Softball tournaments throughout the United States and Canada.
He is currently working on his next novel. You can contact him at tomhallauthor@aol.com.

Vanessa Kittle Shares Two Stories; Makes One Novelette for Delightful Christmas Surprise!

Marie pulled her car up the long driveway. It was a miserable cold December night with a driving rain and sleet that had nearly made her slip off the road more than once. It was also so dark out here away from the town that she could barely see 10 feet ahead. She parked next to an old station wagon that looked as if it hadn't been moved in years and turned off her lights.
She took a long look at the house and found that she didn't want to get out of her car. It was a massive three story Victorian built in the late 1800' s. This was, in part, why she had chosen to rent the room. Normally the sight of such a house would have excited her romantic nature, but tonight it just looked dismal. There seemed to be only one light on in the entire building and this was in the front room on the ground floor. She bet it would be absolutely freezing inside. Her belongings wouldn't arrive until the following day so she had no idea even where she would spend the night. It was one of the only places near Greenbridge that she could afford, however, so she took a deep breath and got out. Then she ran as fast as she could up the walk and rang the bell. When there was no answer immediately she began pounding on the door. Her hands were raw and frozen without gloves and her breath came out as a mist even in the very dim light. 
Finally, the door opened a crack and an elderly woman stared at her from inside. The woman demanded, "Who are you?"
"I'm Marie. Marie Wainwright." When the woman continued to stare at her blankly, Marie offered, "I'm renting the room." "Yes, I know who you are. You're late. I was expecting you by 4: 00 this afternoon." "I'm sorry about that. The roads were terrible... Can I come in, Mrs. Marsh? It's cold out here." Marie assumed this was the same woman she had spoken to on the phone. Her voice sounded the same, though what she had thought was reservedness and quietness seemed more like coldness and anger in person. 
The door opened fully now. The woman said, "Call me Ann. I don't care for any Mrs." Then she hurried off without an explanation, and with surprising speed. 
Well, this seemed a little more friendly at least, Marie thought. 

She stepped inside quickly and took a look around as she let herself drip dry a little on the mat. She didn't want to risk re-arousing Ann's anger by soaking her floors. Marie took the time to study the room. It was exactly as she expected. There was one dim stained glass lamp, many tables covered with doilies, and many bookshelves. That, too, she found promising. She expected there was also a lot of dust and cobwebs, though it was too dark now to tell for certain. Mrs. Marsh returned holding an ancient towel, which she presented to Marie, along with a cup of tea and a saucer. 
"Come into the sitting room, child," she said. "You're shivering. I have a nice fire going in there." Marie followed her at once and was soon standing and warming her hands in front of a very cheerful fire in a very large stone fireplace. The room was at the back of the house, perhaps looking out over the river she knew ran past. There were no lights, but the fire was bright and it crackled nicely. There was something about a real fire that warmed Marie's heart...


Mrs. Marsh said, "I expect you are tired from your journey." Marie nodded. Though it was only 9: 00 she found that she was exhausted. Marsh continued, "I serve breakfast for us at seven sharp. Your room is the second to the right on the second story. Your bathroom is directly across the hall from it." 
Marie suddenly figured out that Marsh expected her to go to bed right now. She said, "My things won't be here until tomorrow." 
"I've made the bed for you."
 "I appreciate that... Ann. Could you show me up to the room. It looks really dark up there." 
"You'll find it all right," Marsh said sharply. "I don't go upstairs after sunset. I don't see well at night." Marie set her cup and saucer down on the side table. 
Marsh snapped,  "Take it with you child. That tea is too good to waste. Just be sure you bring back the cup tomorrow morning." 
Marie nodded, "Good night, Ann. I'll see you at breakfast." Marie climbed the steep staircase slowly. She could sense that Mrs. Marsh was staring at her back. The stairs grew darker and colder with each step she took away from the warmth of the fireplace. By the time she got to the second floor landing it was nearly pitch black and it was freezing. Marie looked down the hallway towards where her room was supposed to be and was filled with dread. The old house was a change, and that was what she was looking for, but maybe this was just too much of a change. Well, there was nothing she could do about it right now. She didn't think Mrs. Marsh would take too kindly to people trying to cancel their leases on the first day. She took a deep breath and headed for her room.

~~~

The Ghost of Christmas Eve

By Vanessa Kittle

As I began reading Kittle's first short story, I was immediately drawn into the setting--the Victorian Age home and its location plus the interior setting and clothes of the character. Immediately I drew a comparison to The Ghost and Mrs. Muir which has always been one of my favorite stories.

And indeed the "flavor" of Kittle's stories are similar, yet a totally contemporary, futuristic fantasy that was definitely satisfying in a completely different way. I really enjoyed the merged stories and read them as if they were published as a fascinating novelette...

In Book 1 we meet Marie Wainwright who has rented a room, looking for peace and quiet, a change by getting away from everything after a recent divorce.

Arriving during a storm, she was finally greeted hesitantly by Ann Marsh, who promptly noted that she had been expected much earlier...  In fact, Ann was quite confusing--she would be nice one moment and then snap at Marie the next. When she was unwilling to escort Marie to her room on the second floor, Marie easily began to worry that she had made a mistake in coming...

I was quite pleased to learn that our main character, Marie was an independent writer, who did book reviews and other articles for various publications...Since I'm not sure of the exact time period, I didn't try to guess what book reviews she might have done...LOL

So here we have a new resident in a very old house, whose mistress will not climb to the second floor at night... And soon...there are noises coming from the third floor, in a house which supposedly only had two occupants--Ann and Marie... And, of course, we know that she would be investigating what caused the noise...

But when a man seemed to appear in one of the rooms she was walking through, she became so frightened that she ran back down to her room and pulled the covers up over her head in fear!
Curiosity won out, however, and she would travel back to the next floor...in the daylight!

She was awake at 6 a.m. wanting to investigate. First she thought of talking with Ann, but then decided to go directly to the third floor...

Where she met... William...

William turned around slowly to face her. 

He waited for her to speak. She asked,

 "Are we going to have any Christmas Eve

 dinner?"

 He walked over to her slowly and calmly, 

but she could tell by the smile on his face

 that he was very pleased. 

He put his arms around her and drew her

 close,  then he kissed her firmly, 

if a little clumsily. He asked, 

"Did I do that right?"

 "Let's try again," she said, 

"This time more slowly."

~~~

Who among other things told her that he was interested in her being a book reviewer and wondered if she would review his book...


"Indeed, I do. I understand that you write book reviews."
"Sometimes, yes."
"I was wondering if you would like to read something I have written?"
"You've written a book?"
"I have attempted to do so anyway."
"What's it about?" she asked. "I mean, what genre is it?" 
He thought about this for a moment, then told her, "I suppose I'm not certain. Perhaps you could tell me, if you are willing to read it."
 "Yes, of course, I would love to read it," she said. 
He gestured to a handwritten manuscript on the desk which must have contained well over 500 pages of meticulous and tiny script. He said, "I would prefer that you read it here at this desk." "Why?" 
"I'm somewhat protective of that text. I've been working on it for rather a long time."
 "I understand," she said. "Do you mind if I bring a heater up here when I read?" 
"Not at all," he said. He gave her a nervous smile as he asked, "Then you really will read it? And give me your honest opinion on it?" 
"Yes," she said. "You have me quite intrigued."

~~~

And by the end of Book 1, they had sealed that deal, and others, with a kiss...


The Ghost of Christmas Morning

By Vanessa Kittle

Book 2 takes up exactly where the new couple were--in the middle of that kiss...

Marie stepped back from William's embrace. It seemed to her that he let go only reluctantly, and she was reluctant to be let go as well. Their first kiss might have felt a little awkward and almost cold, but their second was warm and passionate. Marie had gotten lost in the moment. She felt almost as if she were floating and was swept away enough to wrap her hands around William's shoulders to feel the soft hair on the back of his neck. It was at that moment that she thought about things a little bit too much. She remembered what William was and how everything about him was impossibly strange. How could his hair feel so real to her touch? How could his lips feel so real? They were soft and warm. How could any of this be possible?

~~~

They had parted on Christmas Eve, with William warning that she might hear some clattering, but she should not worry because it would be him doing some last-minute activities...

And when she came down the next morning it was to beautiful decorations and William serving coffee and ready to make breakfast...

As soon as she took the first bite, music began playing. It was from the Nutcracker Suite, probably her favorite classical music. They shared a shy sort of smile as they ate, and listened, and watched the lights on the tree twinkle. 
When she set her fork down, he asked, "Are you ready to open your present now?"
 She said, "I didn't get you anything." 
He shook his head and told her, "Your being here is present enough for me."
                                                            ~~~

She looked over to William as he said,
"Merry Christmas, Marie. I'm afraid that he can only live inside of the house, but otherwise he will behave just like any other cat, well, one that has a lot of personality anyway."

~~~

He smiled at her, then he glanced at the television. He said, "It looks like we missed the ball drop." She turned to the TV briefly and saw that he was right. Midnight had just passed and it was the new year.

 She went to him and kissed him hard as she put her arms around him and he put his arms around her. 

When they both sat back a little, he said, "You are the most wondrous thing of many I have seen on this world, Marie." 

She replied, "I was thinking just the same about you." Then they turned to the screen to watch the glowing lights and fireworks beginning to explode over the city.

~~~

All that happened in the second book is based upon the secret Marie discovered! And I'm not telling! So as their relationship grew closer, by the end of the book, they were welcoming in the new year and looking forward what would be happening next!

But, you know, I still would have like to read Marie's review of William's book...

This book had a lot of contradictory clues to make you aware that something strange was happening there in that beautiful old Victorian home... Can you guess what the Ghost of Christmas future might be? Because that's as close as you get to William being a ghost! LOL! Really loved the major twist Kittle inserted in her story! And I certainly think you will too! 

One final thought--I would have preferred this as one single book...some readers may not realize that you need both to get the full story... I was happy that I'm found the author's message to get Book 1 and read first...

GABixlerReviews

Vanessa lives out on Long Island with her evil cats; Lama and Sombrero, and her more evil partner, Erin. Vanessa is a former chef and lawyer who now writes science fiction and romance while teaching English Composition. She has published 2 collections of poetry with The March Street Press. Her work has recently been in Silver Blade, Veil, Aphelion, The New Renaissance, Contemporary American Voices, and A Generation Defining Itself anthology. Vanessa edits the Abramelin Poetry Journal. She has been nominated 3 times for the Pushcart Prize. Vanessa enjoys watching cheesy movies, cooking, gardening, and Star Trek!

From one Trekkie to Another...

Lawrence W. Gold, M.C. Creates Unique Drama Taking Readers Behind Scenes in The Doctors' Lounge!

"Dr. Weizman, the physical examination suggested
the presence of a pericardial friction rub. Why
didn't you follow up?"
"Because," Jacob said, "I wasn't sure that I heard one.
Transient rubs can be problematic. You'll notice
that I asked the ER physician to check him
periodically for a rub, but he heard none."
~~~

"This case is unusual on many fronts. The patient was only thirty-two and had no history of high blood pressure, a common precursor to a dissection. The mean age for such aneurysms is sixty-three and we estimate that it occurs in up to 3.5 percent of 100,000 patients. The first case described was of King George II of Great Britain in 1760. He turned to Jacob and smiled, "Weren't you his attending physician?"
The audience laughed and Jacob saluted...

~~~

Dr. Jacob Weizman, the main character, has lost a patient. While not his fault, having to go through the routine morbidity and mortality conference was a difficult activity for him. So much so that he decided to cut back on his patient care even though hospital staff wanted him to stay. When they couldn't change his mind, they asked him to take on the presidency which would place him as liaison between medical staff and administrators and other involved parties. In that capacity, readers learn of the type of issues that arise within the inner workings of the hospital.

Instead of the television drama where viewers are involved in actual medical cases, Dr. Gold allows us to become involved with the lives, frustrations and problems faced by medical personnel...

The Doctors' Lounge:
A Brier Hospital Novel

By Lawrence W. Gold, M.D.

I binged when I first met Dr. Gold through his books, reading three of his novels over one weekend...Tortured Memory, For the Love of God, and Rage. Not only did I love them but his fans visited over 1200 times to learn about his work! Needless to say, I was happy to have  the opportunity to read his latest, even though this novel is quite different from the others...

The book shares results of some of the changes in hospital management in recent years and, through illustrative cases, reveals the dangers that can occur when non-medical professionals begin, or try, to make decisions based only on politics or the bottom-line cost...

Before continuing I should highlight that Jacob and his wife, a psychiatrist, are both highly valued even though they are now in their 80s. They are both holocaust survivors, which seems to undoubtedly have made them stronger and able to deal with just about any situation!  Both are well respected, and desired by patients based upon their exemplary service in their respective fields. In fact, one of Dr. Gold's colleague, with whom he was once friends, had turned into an enemy because some of his patients had left his practice to have Jacob as their doctor... Then, at this much later time, Jacob becomes involved when complaints have started coming in about the man's diminished ability to perform his responsibilities...

One of the more interesting situations is when a doctor is accused of euthanasia
 of a terminal patient... And it is one of the nurses who files the claim and stirs up considerable trouble... Even though both the patient and his wife had requested it occur and had apparently been overheard...the doctor had refused. The patient had died on his own very soon, however, which left room for the accusation!

While another doctor is caught in a legal suit because he saved a young girl who had tried to commit suicide. She had signed a DNR form, but when the doctor, who was not her regular physician, talked to her mother, he was asked to save her life if possible... while the twin of the suicide wanted to allow her to die...

What I enjoyed most about the book was the professional characters who were still working in their senior years and the husband-wife partners in life and their professional careers who brought light humor into play when appropriate but were still able to take a stand to ensure effective treatment in any given situation when required.

"I'll tell you something that you already know--something I'm loathe to tell young physicians."

"I'm waiting," Warren said.

"I was smart, for sure, smarter than most, I say with modesty, but my success came in part from skills less well-defined. Thanks to Lola, I learned to read patients well, and..."

"Don't get mystical on me, Jacob."

"But, Warren, that's exactly it. You do it. I do it. Most experiences nurses do it..."

Warren laughed. "Don't start singing; birds do it, bees do it, or even educated fleas do it...?

"you're older than you look, Warren," He paused, "How often has a patient stepped into your office and without a word, you knew it. Knew that he or she was extremely ill or dying. How many times have I heard or said, or heard nurses say, 'he won't make it through the night'?"

"But..."

"I'm not talking about obvious signs," Jacob said. You don't have to be a physician to read those. It's the subtle signs, or no apparent signs, that experienced practitioners can read."

"I'm losing you, Jacob." He paused. "By-the-way what day of the week is it?"

Jacob laughed, "I should be asking you that question. Let me lay it out for you. When humans perceive something in an instant, like Malcolm Gladwell describes in his book: Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, I can consider only two possibilities, humans are perceiving subtleties especially groups of them, or we get into the so-called paranormal, like ESP, I know how much you're going to value that..."
~~~

The Head of Jacob's department wanted him to get back to work and would think of ways to argue through Jacob's concerns about missing something in his patient that he felt he should have identified... Would he ever go back to work? Lola also thought he should, especially since she was still working...

It appeared, though, that he could have a full-time job just helping others to make it through the bureaucratic and legal issues they faced, while trying to heal their patients... This book, I think, is an important one for Dr. Gold to have written in our present medical environment in the United States. It is definitely intriguing enough to keep readers interested, but also provides knowledge of what medical staff are facing--especially in a time when a doctor can be sued for saving somebody's life! Yikes!

You really have to check this one out--for a number of reasons besides Dr. Gold being an excellent writer and storyteller! Highly recommended!


GABixkerReviews

Biography: I was born in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn, moved to Queens, and then, as New Yorkers say, my family ascended to the Island. After graduating from Valley Stream Central High School, I went to Adelphi, a college then, a university now, and then to medical school in Chicago. The war in Vietnam interrupted my postgraduate medical training with a year in Colorado Springs and another as a Battalion Surgeon in Vietnam. I spent seven months in the Central Highlands with the 4th Infantry and five months in an evacuation hospital in Long Binh outside Saigon where I ran the emergency room. I returned intact in 1968 to complete my training in internal medicine and diseases of the kidney, nephrology. I worked for twenty-three years in Berkeley, California in a hospital-based practice caring for patients with complicated illnesses often in ICU, and served as Chief of Internal Medicine and Family Practice. For many years, I was an active member of the quality assurance committee. Circumstances permitted my wife, Dorlis, and me to retire in October 1995. Before fate could intervene, we tossed off the dock lines, and sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge for a life at sea in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. Four years later, exhausted from repairing everything on board, (often many times) we sold the sailboat and within a year took the lazy man’s out; we bought a Nordic Tug trawler. We motored around Florida, the Bahamas, and the entire East Coast and completed two ‘circle trips’ to Canada and back, eight months, the first time, five months, the second. I’ve written eight novels, five in he Brier Hospital Series, and one non-fiction book, I Love My Doctor, But…, a lighthearted look at the patient/doctor relationship. I recently published my ninth novel, A Simple Cure, about the search for the cure of the most deadly skin cancer, malignant melanoma. I write primarily to entertain, but I can’t help but pass on to readers observations and beliefs culled from years of practice, and yes, my biases, too. I strive for realism in portraying the medical scene which is gripping enough without melodrama or gimmicks. With even a minor degree of success in writing novels, comes responsibility to readers. I attempt to produce honest material that reflects my beliefs. Exposing these beliefs to the public through my writing requires courage, stupidity, or both. My fans have been generous, and although nobody enjoys criticism, I’ve learned much from that, too. The novel that expresses most clearly my candor, and my bias, is For the Love of God. The novel reflects my attitudes toward those who are willing to sacrifice the lives of their children for their personal religious beliefs.
We live in beautiful Grass Valley with 15 1/2 year old Mike, a terrier mix and Bennie, an 8 year old Yorkie who just looks like he’s on steroids.