Oncology surgeon, Victoria "Tori" Taylor is a well-known for her ability to deal with the issues surrounding her patients. She is precise, methodical, and is successful most of the time. But it is her bedside manner and interpersonal relationships that lack the warm that should be present when dealing with her co-workers and patients. It's that arrogance of being great at what she does that have turned most of her co-workers against her. She is hated by the majority of the nursing staff, her interns cringe when they know they are assigned to follow her on rounds because in her eyes, they will never measure up to her perfect standards. Tori Taylor makes Dr. House look weak.
When fate deals Tori the worst hand possible, she is about to see things from a completely different side of the medical field, when a complication from a virus causes her own heart to fail and requires her to face a heart transplant if she wants to live. Now as she has to deal with those same nurses and staff in her own hospital, she begins to wonder if her own life is worth saving after all. When she wakes up in recovery, she learns how close to death she actually came and learns that she is being placed on a three month administrative leave and has to receive counseling before possibly returning to work. Seems like personnel at the hospital has received quite a few complaints regarding her actions from fellow employees and unless she agrees to change, she will be out of a job.
However, bad news from her employer isn't the only thing on Tori's mind when she awakens from her surgery. She know has memories from a horrible fire, a young women with green eyes and a heart tattoo telling her to remember the numbers 316 as they will be required to punish the men who did this to her. She must remember. Tori wonders just where the memories are coming from and begins to notice more changes in her own life as well. She is now more emotionally connected than ever before, she cries where she didn't feel any emotion to anything before, she is also acutely aware of peoples lives and can sense trouble in their lives without them telling her anything. Is it possible that the person who donated their heart to save hers, has some how transferred their memories along with their heart?
In the novel, A Heartbeat Away by Harry Kraus, MD, the reader is taken into a medical suspense thriller that begins to slow unwind over the course of the novel. Since Harry Kraus is a doctor, his attention to detail allows to reader to immediately get a feel for all the medical procedures that Tori is experiencing without going over the readers head. This makes the novel all the more enjoyable to experience while dealing with cellular memory, the hearts ability to capture memories and retain them, thus transferring a portion of their lives into the heart transplant recipient. But apparently it now puts Tori's life into danger as she works with Phin MacGrath, her counselor to discover who her donor was and what really happened to them.
I received A Heartbeat Away compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance, David C Cook, and Net Galley for my honest review and have to say, I really enjoyed this one. I didn't quite know where it was headed but I was committed for the entire ride. I rate this one a 4.5 out of 5 stars and this is my second book from Harry Kraus that I have completely enjoyed and recommend to those of you looking for a great medical suspense thriller with a twist!
For more information on A Heartbeat Away, Harry Kraus MD, and where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:
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- Paperback: 384 pages
- Publisher: David C. Cook (September 1, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 143470257X
- ISBN-13: 978-1434702579
As a medical professional, I can relate to the unique dynamics of healer turned patient. I look forward to ordering and reading this novel.
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