The Oasis
By the bestselling authors of The Glass House, Anne Buist & Graeme Simsion, comes the second novel in the groundbreaking Menzies Mental Health series Trainee psychiatrist DoctorHannah Wright has only just got her head above water in the acute psychiatric ward at Menzies Hospital when she's thrown into the deep end of the outpatient clinic. Keen to develop her skills in talking therapies, she finds herself up against a boss who's focused on medication and a senior colleague with a score to settle. Hannah's fellow first-years face problems of their own: on-and-off flame Alex is being bullied, Ndidi's marriage is in trouble, Jon feels isolated and Carey is concerned their autism will be a career barrier. While Hannah comes under pressure to seek therapy herself to confront a traumatic past, her patients' health issues range from OCD to ice addiction, childhood abuse to the mental impact of ageing, and from bad parenting to bad genes. They all come to the Oasis. Written with great humanity and humour, Australian psychiatrist Anne Buist and internationally bestselling author Graeme Simsion (The Rosie Project) welcome us into the world of mental health with compassion and insight. Praise for The Oasis 'Anne Buist comes to this with real insight and wisdom'THE AUSTRALIAN 'The novel poses big questions about the practice of psychiatry itself, but it's written with a healthy dose of comedy and melodrama, an inside eye on the experience of young doctors, and a compassionate lightness of touch'THE AGE 'Eye-opening and absorbing, with a huge nod to the authors' prowess and empathy in the mental health sphere' HOBART MERCURY 'An engrossing read'GOOD READING MAGAZINE 'A grounded indictment of the mental health service in Australia'THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLY Praise for The Glass House, book one in the Menzies Mental Health series 'A masterfully told, character-driven novel that will have you laughing and crying in equal measures'THE AUSTRALIAN 'A deeply empathetic, humanising portrait of a mental health facility, and the souls that pass through it' THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLY 'Stunning . . . So timely'DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Absorbing'INSTYLE AUSTRALIA 'A darn good read' LIVING ARTS CANBERRA 'Brings alive the frontline of mental health care' PROFESSOR PATRICK MCGORRY AO, AUSTRALIAN OF THE YEAR 2010 'Overflows with compassion, insight and humour' MEREDITH JAFF? 'Gripping, rich and insightful' ARIANE BEESTON, author of Because I'm Not Myself, You See 'Anne Buist skilfully writes from her own experiences and co-author Graeme Simsion adds his inimitable Rosie Project style. An honest, sensitive look into mental health care in Australia' PROFESSOR JAYASHRI KULKARNI AM, Psychiatrist, Monash University
The Donation
The Donation is a medical thriller that dramatizes the shortage of organs available for transplantation. It asks what if organ donation became a choice as a means of means of execution for prisoners on death row? How would it affect the donor pool? Would prisoners realize one last chance for redemption, to give something back to society? And what about the physicians who find themselves cast in the role of executioners as they convert executions into surgical procedures, against the guidelines of the American Medical Association and their own Hippocratic oath that urges them to do no harm? A surgeon's role is to bring order out of chaos. The chaos begins when a celebrity patient, Joseph Spencer, discovers he needs a heart transplant. While in the pre-operative holding area, Spencer sees his donor in an adjacent bed. Not only does he see him, he recognizes him. His sedation makes it impossible for him to protest what for him is an unimaginable horror, and he loses consciousness, unable to abort the procedure, even though to do so could cost him his life. Spencer survives the procedure but becomes suicidal. The transplant surgeon, Ross Fairing, discovers that he and his team have been unwitting co-conspirators in the death of the donor who had no business on an operating table, let alone be in a hospital. He confronts his own consternation that a courageous and innovative operation has created an ethical conundrum that could destroy his transplant program and his career. And how does a shocking revelation at the end of the book, a revelation that turns a tragedy driven by one man's grief, into an affirmation of life, release Spencer from his suicidal torments, and return him to the world of the living? Morality and medicine collide with the criminal justice system in The Donation, a medical thriller that illuminates the organ donor shortage, one of the most pressing issues in medicine today
The Donation
The Donation is a medical thriller that dramatizes the shortage of organs available for transplantation. It asks what if organ donation became a choice as a means of means of execution for prisoners on death row? How would it affect the donor pool? Would prisoners realize one last chance for redemption, to give something back to society? And what about the physicians who find themselves cast in the role of executioners as they convert executions into surgical procedures, against the guidelines of the American Medical Association and their own Hippocratic oath that urges them to do no harm? A surgeon's role is to bring order out of chaos. The chaos begins when a celebrity patient, Joseph Spencer, discovers he needs a heart transplant. While in the pre-operative holding area, Spencer sees his donor in an adjacent bed. Not only does he see him, he recognizes him. His sedation makes it impossible for him to protest what for him is an unimaginable horror, and he loses consciousness, unable to abort the procedure, even though to do so could cost him his life. Spencer survives the procedure but becomes suicidal. The transplant surgeon, Ross Fairing, discovers that he and his team have been unwitting co-conspirators in the death of the donor who had no business on an operating table, let alone be in a hospital. He confronts his own consternation that a courageous and innovative operation has created an ethical conundrum that could destroy his transplant program and his career. And how does a shocking revelation at the end of the book, a revelation that turns a tragedy driven by one man's grief, into an affirmation of life, release Spencer from his suicidal torments, and return him to the world of the living? Morality and medicine collide with the criminal justice system in The Donation, a medical thriller that illuminates the organ donor shortage, one of the most pressing issues in medicine today
Tengo sed
The Trauma ICU of a Level 1 trauma center is the setting for this thought-provoking novel, which reveals the ruthlessness of medical education and practice. James Fleming recounts a day in the life of a resident in emergency medicine at an urban teaching hospital. The novel璽 (TM)s title, which translates loosely as 璽 oeI thirst璽 � echoes the Christ of St. John. Tengo Sed璽 (TM)s protagonist, however, known only as Hovercraft because he is 璽 oealways around, always feeling on edge, 璽 � is not a savior but a hapless resident with a tendency toward mysticism. Through Hovercraft?ƒ?[璽璽 s?竅璽璽 z?[s sleep-deprived eyes we see patients and their families, doctors, and nurses, and we share Hovercraft璽 (TM)s increasingly nightmarish perceptions of a world in which things are not going right.璽 oeThe story is remarkably raw and honest, full of mystery instead of certainty, failure instead of success, and humanity instead of science.璽 �--Frank Huyler, author of Right of Thirst璽 oeA brutal and beautiful book. I read it straight through in one sitting, totally absorbed, deeply touched and frightened at the same time. The writing is taut, edgy, and original with not a wasted word . . . James Fleming has written a small, tough masterpiece.璽 �--John Nichols, author of The Milagro Beanfield War璽 oeStripped-down, elemental, and willing to explore feelings of alienation and rebellion felt by a significant minority of medical students, interns, and residents.璽 �--Paul Linde, author of Danger to Self: On the Front Line with an ER Psychiatrist
Roland's Labyrinth
For fans of Geraldine Brooks's Year of Wonders, a story set in 1400s Provence about a young, passionate doctor who falls in love with a mentally ill young woman--and soon finds himself immersed in a web of danger, deceit, and mystery. Roland, a young man from Barcelona who inherited a passion for healing others from his deceased mother, has rebelled against his family's wishes and chosen to attend medical school in France. The university in Montpellier is the most prestigious medical school in all of Europe, and yet Roland is quickly disillusioned by his professors' false teachings. Seeking more accurate knowledge of the body, he leaves Montpellier and apprentices himself to a surgeon in nearby Arles for the summer. Roland soon finds himself with two mentors in Arles--Hubert, a master surgeon, and Isaac, a Jewish doctor who advocates searching for remedies in ancient texts and testing them on patients--both of whose lessons he absorbs readily. But when he falls in love with Magali, a young woman suffering from a mental illness, he extends his quest for the truth about the body to include the truth about the mind. Readers who loved Rachel Kadish's The Weight of Ink will be drawn to Roland's story as he follows the woman he loves into her "labyrinth of the spirit"--one filled with wonder, mystery, betrayal, and love--and find themselves enthralled by this finely wrought depiction of the beauty and danger of life in early Renaissance Provence.
Real Medicine, Unreal Stories
When medicine loses its way, who will fi nd it again? Real Medicine, Unreal Stories: Volume 4 confronts the forces reshaping modern healthcare-with fi ercer honesty, sharper insight, and stories that refuse to look away. Through forty-two bold, dialogue-driven narratives, physician-author Arthur Lazarus shines a light on the hidden battles of today's medical landscape: the weaponization of science, the quiet collapse of mental health care, the dangerous seduction of artifi cial intelligence, the exploitation of doctors and patients by corporate greed. These fi ctionalized stories-rooted deeply in clinical truth-capture the moral fractures and everyday heroism that defi ne the practice of medicine now. This volume doesn't merely refl ect on the changes happening around us; it pushes back. With a voice more urgent and ideologically charged than ever before, Lazarus gives readers a front-row seat to the struggles physicians face-and the stakes for all of us if they lose. If you've ever wondered what's happening behind the headlines-inside exam rooms, hospital boardrooms, and the hearts of those still fi ghting for real care-you'll fi nd your answers here. Brave. Provocative. Unforgettable. Real Medicine, Unreal Stories: Volume 4 is not just a book-it's a call to remember why medicine matters. The stories are unreal. The future they warn of is not.
The Phoenix Strain
The Phoenix Strain (79,000 words) is a biothriller that combines the scientific authenticity of Michael Crichton with the emotional depth of Mary Robeson's The Cure and the propulsive action of Terry Hayes' I Am Pilgrim.Dr. Eva Richter has spent three years developing revolutionary viral delivery systems, believing her work will cure genetic diseases. But when a colleague dies horrifically during a lab accident, Eva discovers her research has been weaponized by the Phoenix Order-a neo-Nazi organization planning to release a genetically-targeted virus that will kill four billion people deemed "genetically inferior."The Phoenix Order's leader is Klaus Richter, Eva's own father.Fleeing with evidence of the conspiracy, Eva reluctantly partners with Ben Carter, an ex-CIA analyst haunted by a Syrian operation that killed 47 civilians. Ben has been hiding in academia, but Eva's desperate mission offers him a chance at redemption. Together, they race across Europe, pursued by Phoenix Order operatives and international authorities who've been convinced they're the terrorists.Eva's only hope lies in her late mother's research. Before Klaus murdered her and made it look like cancer, Elena Richter hid a counter-virus formula in the last place anyone would look-encoded in the lullaby she sang to Eva as a child. But decoding the cure requires equipment only available at Klaus's facility, forcing Eva to return to the scene of her childhood and confront the father whose love has twisted into monstrous ideology.As Christmas Eve approaches and Phoenix Order operatives prepare to release the virus at twelve major airports, Eva faces an impossible choice. The counter-virus works, but synthesizing it requires a living test subject to prove its effectiveness. With Ben dying from his wounds and time running out, Eva makes the ultimate sacrifices she injects herself with both virus and cure, using her own body as the final battlefield.Eva dies creating the cure, but not before uploading the synthesis formula to laboratories worldwide. Ben survives to hunt down remaining Phoenix Order cells and establish the Eva Richter Foundation, dedicated to preventing future bioweapons. In a thought-provoking epilogue, Eva's previously unknown sister Sophia emerges as an advocate for voluntary human enhancement, asking whether preservation of humanity as-is is noble or naive.The Phoenix Strain explores timely themes of genetic engineering, scientific ethics, and the dangers of ideology while delivering the page-turning suspense thriller readers demand. It offers strong potential for a series following Ben Carter's continued fight against bioterrorism and the ethical dilemmas posed by enhancement technology.
Voices in the Waiting Room
Five doctors. One hospital. A cacophony orchestrated by forced silence, ruptured memories and the quiet fight to belong. When Dr Silva receives a bangle, it threatens to unravel the life she has so carefully constructed. Around her, four colleagues carry burdens of their own. There is Dr Ankit, who fled a broken system in India and is now struggling to find a sense of home in a country that sees him as a stranger; Dr Pooja, poised on the outside but aching beneath the surface; Dr Shashi, brilliant yet adrift in the ubiquity of human connections; and Dr Jindal, a pillar of the diaspora, undone by a grief too vast to articulate. In the antiseptic corridors of a hospital in the United States, these voices intersect and intertwine, bound together by the universal need to be seen, understood and remembered. Voices in the Waiting Room is a powerful, multi-perspective debut by Mayank Gupta about identity, displacement and the fragile bonds that tether us to one another. As each voice rises, falters and finally finds its place, Gupta crafts a chorus that is both intimate and resonant.
Under Control
Consultant gastroenterologist Miles Westwood has guarded a devastating secret for years. When catastrophe shatters his carefully ordered life twice over, an unexpected reunion with Freya reignites a forbidden romance.As new hope sparks between them, Miles realises he must confront not only his hidden guilt but also the grim spectre of her husband's pancreatic cancer. Thrust into the fight for Mark's survival, he spearheads pioneering research in an attempt to unravel the disease's mysteries. As hospital politics threaten to derail progress, Freya's unwavering belief and his sons' support galvanise him to persevere. Together they rally a community around fundraising events, driven by the promise of breakthroughs and the chance to heal more than just bodies.In a quest that tests the limits of his expertise and his heart, can he unravel the mystery of this dreadful disease, avoid further heartbreak, and bring his life back under his control?
All That Really Matters
Joe Bosco is an arrogant, hard-charging transplant surgeon whose ambition knows no bounds. He pursues his job with a take no prisoners approach and saving patients is not just his job, or even his passion-it's his religion. After doing his surgical residency, he passes on a job offer from Stanford, instead taking a position at a private hospital in San Francisco which pays Joe an exorbitant salary and where the bottom line is...the bottom line. Joe leaves behind academic medicine, much to the chagrin of his father-- a German Jewish Holocaust survivor who is a world-renowned neuroscientist and Nobel Prize winner--and his girlfriend, Kate, who sees Joe turning into a different man than the one she met at Harvard Medical School.Dr. Bosco makes it to the top as a star in the transplant world but soon realizes that the new world he inhabits is fraught with moral and ethical transgressions, some his partners commit and, eventually, some he commits. When the hospital administration sides against Joe in an operating room catastrophe, he is isolated, left with a career in shambles, a girlfriend who wants nothing to do with him, and a father who can't hide his disappointment.It is not until his life spins out of control that Joe must come to terms with his own failings and find his true purpose in life...in the most unlikely of places.
Real Medicine, Unreal Stories
Real patients. Real dilemmas. Unreal insight.In this compelling second volume, Real Medicine, Unreal Stories continues its vivid exploration ofmodern clinical practice-where science meets soul, and healing lives in the gray spaces between.Through forty-one rich, dialogue-driven narratives, physician-author Arthur Lazarus invitesreaders back into the exam room, the break room, the ICU, and the quiet corners of doctors' lives.These stories aren't just fiction-they're truth wrapped in imagination, born from decades ofexperience. From moral conflicts and emotional awakenings to failures that teach and momentsthat transform, every page pulses with the humanity behind the white coat. The overall effectis both evocative and contemplative-inviting readers to step into a world where clinical truthmeets narrative wonder.Whether you're a healthcare professional, a medical student, or a reader drawn to the drama andgrace of real-life medicine, this book will leave you reflecting on the stories we carry, the care wegive, and the meaning we make along the way.Because in medicine, what's "unreal" often reveals what's most true.
The Underground Doctor
Whether you are a medical professional keen to expand your knowledge base or just someone interested in medical fiction who wants a good read- this book is for you!Revolutionizing the way you learn medicine!! The Secret Doctor is an exciting and new way of learning medicine, presenting fictional scenarios with accurate factual medical information entwined in them- learn medicine without realising you are doing it!Do away with those medical textbooks with endless lists of facts, complicated words you don't understand straight away, and pages which leave you half asleep!What would you do faced with extracting casualties in the middle of a war zone? Find out what to do in this book.From the author: 'I present to you a very different style of medical book. This book aims to help make some of the key facts required for medical treatment stick in your brain, not just for the exam you are to sit and then to forget afterwards, but for good. By putting medical scenarios and facts in the context of a novel, I hope that this book may make you learn and revise things in a way which is a bit more interesting than the usual dull lectures or list based text books.'The books main focus is emergency scenarios including, but by no means exhaustively: Basic trauma and haemorrhage, MI, stroke, diabetic coma, overdose, meningitis and renal failure. It also covers chronic diseases. Follow Ian Mellows as he journeys through medical training to become a doctor in Her Majesty's secret service.
After the Fall
How do you move forward when the weight of grief keeps pulling you back?After the tragic suicide of his best friend, Zane is shattered. His world no longer makes sense. In a desperate attempt to rebuild what's left of his life, his parents send him to a new school-hoping that a fresh start might fix the things they call "problematic behavior."But what no one sees is that Zane isn't trying to escape who he was. He's trying to survive it.Haunted by guilt and unanswered questions, Zane quietly begins to piece himself back together. He keeps his head down. Tries to blend in. Fakes the smiles. Hopes that healing might come with time. And then-he notices her.She's a girl who walks like she's carrying her own storm. Quiet. Withdrawn. Drowning in something no one else seems to see. Zane sees it, though-because he knows what it's like to wear pain like armor.The only problem?She has no idea he exists.This isn't a love story.It's a story about two broken people orbiting each other in silence. About grief, survival, and the quiet courage it takes to reach out-even when you're not sure anyone will reach back.Heart-wrenching, intimate, and painfully real, this book explores the raw edges of mental health, trauma, and the small, human connections that might just save us when we least expect it.If you've ever felt invisible, alone, or lost in the noise of your own mind, this is a story that will stay with you.
