Yvonne
Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house during the last week.
Be warned that Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.
Your host for July 2013 is: Tasha over at ‘Book Obsessed’
This is a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!
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This week I have the opportunity to spotlight not just a great debut novel, which has recently landed in my mailbox, but also its intriguing, fascinating and totally inspiring newly published author.
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‘NOT FOR PROFIT’
Renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Scott James is charged with murder after two bodies are found at his surgery center. Just weeks before the start of his capital murder trial, Dr. James is approached by a beautiful woman claiming she can help him gain information that would prove his innocence.
As James hunts down the evidence that might free him, he faces a barrage of threats to his life and liberty—and makes one chilling discovery after another: Corporate corruption. A conspiracy to frame him for murder and for terrorist acts. A secret drone-control operation that takes out targets in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The true identity and intent of his beautiful ally. And a plot to blow up the local hospital and surrounding community.
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GLENN SHEPARD, M.D.
Dr. Glenn Shepard was raised on a farm in Eastern Virginia. He attended the University of Virginia on an academic scholarship and majored in psychology. After finishing medical school at UVA, he went to Vanderbilt where he completed his residency in general and cardiovascular surgery.
He spent two years in the Army at the Ft. Gordon Army Hospital in Augusta, Georgia and The Second Surgical Hospital in An Khe, Vietnam.
Glenn went on to train in plastic surgery, where, alongside working for over 20 years in his own solo practice and surgery centre, back in Eastern Virginia, he put his valuable expertise and talent into voluntary good works …
For almost 30 years, he founded and directed The Peninsula Cranio-Facial deformities clinic, which was staffed by volunteer medical, dental, social services, psychology, and speech pathology experts. The group treated over five hundred patients with cleft lips and palates, as well as a variety of deformities of the face and hand.
Glenn also founded, funded, and directed the Riverside Microvascular Research Lab, where he studied the basic science of wound healing, the development of of cleft palates, new techniques in palatal repair, and the regeneration of injured fingernails. He published numerous scientific publications on his work in the lab and clinic.
After the massive Earthquake in Haiti in January, 2010, Dr. Shepard emerged from retirement and joined the Notre Dame Hospital unit in Leogane, Haiti for a 10 day rotation. His empathy for the people and their problems as well as his admiration for the contributions of time and talent from medical personnel from all over the world greatly inspired his second novel in the Dr. Scott James series, ‘Relief Aid Haiti’, currently still a work in progress.
Not someone to ‘let the grass grow under his feet’, Glenn has a multitude of hobbies and pastimes, which he somehow manages to fit into his hectic schedule … He is an avid fly fisherman, nature hiker, photographer of the abundant deer population near his Williamsburg home, amateur ornithologist, ‘newbie’ aquaculturalist, not to mention enthusiastic banjo player and avid collector of American Art of the Hudson River genre.
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When asked recently to talk about the main protagonist in ‘Not For Profit’, Dr. Scott James, this is what Glenn had to say…
Dr. Scott James is part me, part colleagues I have known and worked with, and part total make-believe. However, over the course of the writing, James became a real person, at least to me. So real, I lived his trials and triumphs. When he was hurt, I suffered from agitation and sleep loss, just as he did. The depression he endured to the point of suicide, I endured as well. From his experiences, I know what it’s like to be suicidal. I know what it’s like to experience depression. And, I know the joys of surviving. The love Ethel Keyes gave to him, she gave to me. That love made me strong. The long nights I spent writing the book gave me strength, just as they were also a source of strength for Dr. James.
All fiction is real life and all real life is fiction.
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I can’t wait to discover all your own great new finds this week … so please stop by and share your link
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Wow, this sounds like a very wide-ranging and complicated tale. I hope you enjoy it, Yvonne and look forward to your thoughts.
Hi Cath,
Given the many firsthand experiences of the author Glenn Shepard, I am not surprised that there are so many wide-ranging issues represented in the book. However, I am particularly interested in seeing just how Glenn switches from ‘Not For Profit’ being a medical thriller, to a tale of espionage and terrorism. I am not sure that the main protagonist, Dr. Scott James, is the only one who will need his wits about him!
Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment in this unbearable heat. I’m afraid that Autumn can’t come soon enough for me!
I completely agree about Autumn, Yvonne. I hate this heat with a vengeance and as my husband has health issues (heart bypass patient from 12 years ago and has diabetes, high BP etc.) he hates it too and I worry about him of course. But the good news is that it’s raining as I speak (11.35pm) and I’m hoping the heatwave has now broken. Not to mention the royal baby is here at last! A boy!
Hi Cath,
5.30am Tuesday morning and no sign of rain here yet!!!
Hottest night ever, almost unbearable!
Ah! One rumble of distant thunder as we speak …. sounds promising!
My ankles are currently a mass of prickly heat and like your own husband, mine also has mild heart problems, which means that the humidity just isn’t good for him.
Now we all await the Royal naming, the media circus is in full swing and shows no signs of abating … Ugh!
Hi Yvonne, this sounds like a book that will please fans of the genre – it certainly contains “of the moment” elements (terror, drones). I hope you enjoy it!
Hi Mary,
‘Not For Profit’ certainly sounds as though it has a bit of just about everything thrown into the mix, including the ‘mystery woman’.
I am hoping that this use of so many elements and the ‘barrage of threats’ which Scott James faces, doesn’t in some way ‘water down’ the impact of the events. However Glenn has had so many careers and has so many hobbies, which require precision skills and levels of calm concentration and patience, that I am confident that the story will flow freely.
Thanks for your well considered comment, I appreciate your contribution. Have a great week.
It sounds like the author has the background to write this book! It sounds like a real page turner!
Hi Kathy,
I have found that an author who decides to write fiction, based on a subject they know inside out, is generally always a good bet for a fantastic reading experience.
Given the quote, which comes from an interview Glenn gave, he becomes quite engrossed in the day to day life of his characters, which may not be quite so good if they are a mass murderer, yet has to be a great advantage when building the plot and working out just how your characters are going to react to events as they occur!
Thanks for stopping by today, your comments are always valued.
Sounds like Not For Profit has a lot of intrigue. Enjoy!
Hi Pat,
It seems as though Glenn becomes totally immersed in the unfolding intrigue of his story, although with all those other many interests and hobbies, I am not sure that I could remain that focused!
I love a good thriller and anything with a medical slant to it, only heightens the intrigue for me, so I am looking forward to reading ‘Not For Profit’.
Thanks for taking the time to comment today, I appreciate it.
Sounds like a good book.
ENJOY your week.
Elizabeth
Silver’s Reviews
My Mailbox Monday
Hi Elizabeth,
Murder Mystery / Thriller is probably my favourite genre and I have been given quite a few opportunities to explore some great new authors in the field just lately. Glenn certainly sounds like an excellent addition to this role of fame and I am looking forward to ‘Not For Profit’ getting to the top of my pile.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great week.
Haven’t seen this book before. It does sounds very interesting. I hope you enjoy it!
Hi Vicki,
This is a debut novel for its author Dr. Glenn Shepard and was only released a few short weeks ago. The majority of the reviews to date, although somewhat mixed, have on the whole been positive and encouraging. One person seemed convinced that it was a farce, whilst everyone else has treated it as a serious thriller, which I am hoping is the case. I am looking forward to reading ‘Not For Profit’, a unique storyline from an interesting and respected author.
Thanks for taking the time to comment, it is always appreciated.
Sounds like my kind of read though the mention of a secret drone-control operation does put me off ever so slightly.
Hi Tracy,
A couple of other commenters have noticed the very wide spread of themes within this book and I have to say, I do hope that Glenn hasn’t tried to cram too much into one single storyline and spread the content a little too thinly!
I am definitely more interested in the murder aspect of the story, than the ‘drone’ operations, but I’ll never find out what the exact mix is, unless I give the book a try and so long as it is all in context with the overall plot, then I shouldn’t be too disappointed!
Thanks for your interesting contribution to the discussion, I love to read from a wide spectrum of views and comments.
First time reading about this book. Intrigued and looking forward to your thoughts.
Hi Mystica,
This sounds like a great debut novel, from an interesting and intriguing author, so it should be well worth the wait for it to get to the top of my review pile.
Thanks for your interest in the post and for taking the time to comment.
Hi Yvonne,
It certainly sounds like the author has all the qualifications and knowledge to write this one! It sounds very interesting and I’m looking forward to reading your thoughts on it.
Hi Nikki,
As you say, Glenn certainly has all the personal knowledge to write a high calibre thriller. I do wonder however, how difficult it is to draw the line between fact and fiction, to the extent that a fiction novel almost becomes autobiographical and a reflection of the authors own personal experiences.
I then got to wondering if it ever works the other way round for an author writing an autobiography, whereby some of the facts may be fictional, either added intentionally, or as unintentional embellishments to an event.
Wow! These thoughts are too deep for 10.15pm on a hot and sultry Tuesday evening!
I am not a huge fan of these weather conditions, so when it finally does cool down a little, I shall be doing a modest celebratory dance! It seems as though we haven’t spoken for ages, hope all is well with you?
Hi Yvonne,
I’ve been up in Harrogate for the Crime Writing Festival and I’m now off to London for a couple of days… Back to work on Monday though.
I hope you’re keeping well, despite this hot weather. We’ve not had any storms yet, but apparently w’re due one at midnight. Urgh!
Take care,
Nikki
Hi Nikki,
No storms here, although just over the border in Devon, Dorset and Wiltshire, there have been plenty, along with some quite welcome rain. We had about 10 minutes worth of drizzle first thing this morning and that’s it!!
Are your short breaks in lieu of a main holiday, or do you have other plans for a longer trip?
The Crime Writing Festival sounds great and you are sure to enjoy yourself in London, despite the heat.
Catch up with you next week.
It sounds like Dr. Glenn Shepard leads an interesting life. The book sounds good as well! Happy reading 🙂
Hi Naida,
When I come across an interesting author, and there have been quite a few of them just lately, I tend to find myself focusing more on the author than the book and wishing that I could meet the person.
I don’t know if your are familiar with the phrase “an evening with…”, which are usually live or televised shows, where an audience gets to meet an interesting person (not necessarily a celebrity), who talks about their lives and may take audience questions along the way.
Dr. Glenn Shepard would be a great candidate for something like this and yes …. the book sounds fantastic as well!
Great to have you back and full of such interesting comments.