Thursday, October 24, 2013

An Open Heart

by Harry Kraus
David C. Cook

Their Messages—From Beyond the Grave—Might Destroy Him.

They hover between life and death, their hearts stopped on the surgery table. And the messages Dr. Jace Rawlings’ open-heart surgery patients bring back from beyond the grave cannot be ignored. For they predict the deaths of people around him, and point a finger of suspicion straight at him.

It thrusts Jace into a firestorm of controversy and danger. A maelstrom blown by the darker winds of political intrigue and spiritual warfare. And the forces working against him will do anything to stop him from uncovering a truth they will kill to hide. He’d come to Kenya to establish a heart-surgery program for the poor. But what he will find in that place where he grew up will put everything at risk–his marriage, his career . . . his life.

My Review:

This novel was my introduction to the genre of medical dramas in print. As missionary kids, Jace and Heather have a lot in common, and marriage seems like it will be a happy, forever road. But even the sun hides behind clouds, and when Jace finds himself operating on the governor, the governor's wife makes her play for the cardiothoracic surgeon. In the night that follows, even Jace doesn't know what happened. But Heather knows all too well that the man that promised to be faithful may not have kept his vows. 

In the tempest that follows, Jace returns to Africa to perform heart surgery for the less fortunate. Rumors follow his wake in another continent, and when patients begin giving him messages that come true, he can no longer ignore the obvious; these messages are not wild guesses anyone could have come up with. As time runs out for both Heather and Jace, the question isn't whether they can find their way back to each other - but whether they will both survive long enough to see each other again. 

This was a pulse racing novel in every sense of the word. It was so many things at once, I don't think I can fit it in a genre all by itself! There are so many things explored in this novel - so many themes and topics that my head was spinning with all the pieces of the puzzle. The highlight if this novel for me was the supernatural elements. I can't agree with the outcome of the patients that came back with messages for Jace, but the writing contained herein is some of the best suspense/mystery I've read in a while. 

This book was provided by the publisher for free in exchange for an honest review. 

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