In the prime of his life, Howard Hoover was suddenly struck down by an illness. It blindsided him and his family. It came out of nowhere, and all the prior trivialities that took up his thoughts and energy melted away in the face of a life-and-death drama: toxic shock syndrome. The aptly named illness was both toxic and shocking. Hoover recounts his battle in "Travels through a Toxic Shock Nightmare." His remarkable ability to recall details during this level of critical illness is rare-unheard of, in fact. Thankfully, Hoover did remember most of his journey, and his path to health put a lot of things in his life into proper perspective. Hoover shares the life lessons that only a sweeping tragedy can create. His perspective is personal, and he shares his story through a lens of sorrow, grief, fear, humor, and faith. Hoover's sudden illness was extreme and dangerous. He was on the brink of death and it was not certain that a positive outcome was on the horizon. He fought a courageous battle for weeks, and in the end his life was forever changed. Hoover fell victim to the number-one killer in hospitals today: sepsis. This killer disease that was once mostly dangerous to the very young, very ill, or very old is now reaching out to affect healthy adults. Strong people who were never thought to be at risk are now very much in danger, and Hoover wants everyone from critical care providers to patients and families to understand this very dangerous, prevalent menace. Hoover's book offers a complete picture from the patient's viewpoint of how the disease can take hold and how it progresses. Readers will be struck dumb by the tremendous devastation that can be unleashed in mere days-even hours-once the patient's immune system overreacts to fight the tenacious infection, leaving terrible damage and all too often death in its wake.