Where No One Should Live: A Novel
Autor Sandra Cavallo Milleren Limba Engleză Hardback – 21 sep 2021 – vârsta ani
Dr. Maya Summer works at Arizona Public Health, overseeing and researching a myriad of public health issues. A passionate advocate for a motorcycle helmet law, she also monitors disease-bearing mosquitoes, rabid bobcats, and the opioid epidemic—along with many other concerns. To maintain her clinical skills, she spends time at the nearby family medicine residency, seeing patients and teaching new physicians. Maya also navigates a complicated personal life: a somewhat troubled romantic relationship with a cardiologist; a retired physician-friend searching for new meaning; an undocumented neighbor raising a young son; and a cherished ailing old horse. A new danger looms when she sparks the anger of local biker gangs who want to stop her helmet campaign. As the intimidating warnings reach an unsettling highpoint, a past trauma that had been fueling her work now starts to haunt her—threatening to derail her carefully choreographed life.
Dr. Alex Reddish, a faculty member at the residency, enjoys Maya’s company every week. He longs to know her better but also knows she is involved with a prominent cardiologist. A former shy chess champion, Alex has worked to remake himself into a more socially engaged person, though he cannot completely shed his reclusive past. His professional life is complicated by two resident physician advisees: a depressed and poorly performing man, and a seductive woman. And now someone seems determined to harm him.
Maya and Alex turn accomplices when they try to unravel a spate of unusual illnesses afflicting residency staff, and discover disturbing trends. As Maya and Alex become closer, they must also tackle their personal pasts and individual demons, and find the courage to move forward.
Dr. Alex Reddish, a faculty member at the residency, enjoys Maya’s company every week. He longs to know her better but also knows she is involved with a prominent cardiologist. A former shy chess champion, Alex has worked to remake himself into a more socially engaged person, though he cannot completely shed his reclusive past. His professional life is complicated by two resident physician advisees: a depressed and poorly performing man, and a seductive woman. And now someone seems determined to harm him.
Maya and Alex turn accomplices when they try to unravel a spate of unusual illnesses afflicting residency staff, and discover disturbing trends. As Maya and Alex become closer, they must also tackle their personal pasts and individual demons, and find the courage to move forward.
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Specificații
ISBN-13: 9781647790165
ISBN-10: 1647790166
Pagini: 264
Dimensiuni: 140 x 216 x 28 mm
Greutate: 0.51 kg
Editura: University of Nevada Press
Colecția University of Nevada Press
ISBN-10: 1647790166
Pagini: 264
Dimensiuni: 140 x 216 x 28 mm
Greutate: 0.51 kg
Editura: University of Nevada Press
Colecția University of Nevada Press
Recenzii
“An enjoyable tale with plenty of suspense and the bonus of intriguing medical details.”
—Kirkus Reviews
"This is a very-Phoenix novel, plunging deep into the dark horrors of the time the rest of the world calls “summer.” (We have other names for it…)"
—HARK Valley
"Where No One Should Live is a charming window into family medicine and public health, disguised as a fun read well-suited to any book club."
—Family Medicine
"I couldn’t put this down. Dr. Miller makes great use of her expertise in public health, residency training, horses, and Arizona to weave a remarkable tale unique in its Southwestern flavor. An evidence-based mystery with characters that fly off the page. Miller mixes her unique blend of knowledge and humor to keep a reader engrossed."
—Steven R. Brown, MD, FAAFP, program director, University of Arizona College of Medicine/Phoenix Family Medicine Residency and president, Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors
"Knowledgeable, entertaining, and a fine writer, Miller takes the page-turner on a wild ride through the mysteries of the medical world, all of this set in the midst of everyday happenings. There is an urgency to her telling that pulls the reader ever onward. A very enjoyable read."
—Phyllis Barber, author of The Desert Between Us
"With a medical insider's perspective, physician/writer Sandra Miller introduces another appealing heroine: Maya Summer, a dedicated family doctor and busy public-health official in Phoenix. Dr. Summer faces myriad challenges--anonymous threats in response to her advocacy for motorcycle safety, clinic patients who range from quirky to cantankerous, and growing uneasiness about a long-term relationship with another physician. When Dr. Summer's clinic colleagues suddenly fall prey to a sinister string of murky illnesses, she must call upon her sharp intelligence, medical expertise, and courage to identify the cause--and stop an increasingly daring culprit."
—Diane Guernsey, Executive Editor: Pulse, voices from the heart of medicine
—Kirkus Reviews
"This is a very-Phoenix novel, plunging deep into the dark horrors of the time the rest of the world calls “summer.” (We have other names for it…)"
—HARK Valley
"Where No One Should Live is a charming window into family medicine and public health, disguised as a fun read well-suited to any book club."
—Family Medicine
"I couldn’t put this down. Dr. Miller makes great use of her expertise in public health, residency training, horses, and Arizona to weave a remarkable tale unique in its Southwestern flavor. An evidence-based mystery with characters that fly off the page. Miller mixes her unique blend of knowledge and humor to keep a reader engrossed."
—Steven R. Brown, MD, FAAFP, program director, University of Arizona College of Medicine/Phoenix Family Medicine Residency and president, Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors
"Knowledgeable, entertaining, and a fine writer, Miller takes the page-turner on a wild ride through the mysteries of the medical world, all of this set in the midst of everyday happenings. There is an urgency to her telling that pulls the reader ever onward. A very enjoyable read."
—Phyllis Barber, author of The Desert Between Us
"With a medical insider's perspective, physician/writer Sandra Miller introduces another appealing heroine: Maya Summer, a dedicated family doctor and busy public-health official in Phoenix. Dr. Summer faces myriad challenges--anonymous threats in response to her advocacy for motorcycle safety, clinic patients who range from quirky to cantankerous, and growing uneasiness about a long-term relationship with another physician. When Dr. Summer's clinic colleagues suddenly fall prey to a sinister string of murky illnesses, she must call upon her sharp intelligence, medical expertise, and courage to identify the cause--and stop an increasingly daring culprit."
—Diane Guernsey, Executive Editor: Pulse, voices from the heart of medicine
Notă biografică
Sandra Cavallo Miller is an author, poet, and retired academic family physician in Arizona who has helped launch hundreds of medical students and residents into their careers. She is the author of four novels, including the Dr. Abby Wilmore series books: The Color of Rock, Where Light Comes and Goes, and What the River Said. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information, visit her author website at skepticalword.com.
Extras
Chapter 1
The heat slowly climbed, and the afternoons began to bake. First ninety degrees, then ninety-five. The fingertips of saguaro cactus erupted with creamy white blossoms and Phoenix residents did their best to enjoy this last taste of spring before June struck.
For Dr. Maya Summer at Arizona Public Health, it was already too late. The mosquitoes were rising along with the temperature.
"Just give me another week, you little villains," she muttered to the mosquitoes. Maya switched between two computers on her large desk, one screen filled with spreadsheets, the other displaying grisly images of crushed motorcycles.
Her breath caught as she surveyed the carnage in those sterile numbers and twisted fenders, imagining the heartache and pain. The ruined bodies, the grieving families. Although Arizona once imposed helmets, voters withdrew that law in the seventies. Maya's personal mission, an uphill battle, meant convincing citizens to reverse the decision and make motorcycle helmets mandatory again. And meanwhile, more urgent issues kept derailing her.
Like now. A message flashed in one corner of the screen: Dr. Summer-please reply now to schedule TV interview.
Maya sighed. She already taped a small sign on her door to discourage interruptions.
Hopelessly behind. Knock only for emergencies. BIG emergencies.
Because of that sign, Sheila had emailed her instead of knocking. But Maya knew Sheila would soon knock anyway, her red-framed glasses perched low on her nose, her lips a grim line. Just give me an hour, Maya pleaded silently, scanning the statistics, hurriedly tapping her analysis into a document.
A sharp double rap on the door and the latch opened, someone entering behind her.
"I'm really sorry, Sheila," Maya said over her shoulder, contrite, typing faster. "I just need to wrap this up and-"
Mel Black slouched past her, clearing his throat and dropping his bent frame into a chair. Maya stopped working, abandoning her task. One of her favorite people, Mel was always welcome.
"Not a very friendly sign out there on your door," he complained, half closing one eye as he peered at her. "You in a bad mood or something?"
Maya tried to match his frown, but her smile spread-something about Dr. Melvin Black, with his morose expression and forlorn dark eyes, brooding under unruly gray brows, just made her feel better. In his late sixties, he had a face like the side of a mountain, furrowed and hard, eroded from a lifetime of working his cattle ranch. Or at least he chased a few cows, when he wasn't attending patients in his rural clinic north of Phoenix. Then four years ago his wife died of cancer, and he announced he was tired of clinical medicine. Within months, he sold his practice and turned the ranch over to his brother, moving himself to Phoenix and tackling the roller coaster of public health. Thoughtful and meticulous, he had a surprising aptitude for it, despite his prolific scorn.
"No, Mel. I'm just trying to get some work done without constant interruptions." Maya looked pointedly at him.
He snorted, ignoring her implication. "Good luck with that."
Maya waited, but Mel seemed in no hurry to explain his presence. He looked past her at the shattered motorcycle on her screen.
"Mel. You need something?" Her fingers strummed the desk.
"I thought you were working on mosquitoes. What's with the wrecks?" He leaned back and crossed his denim-clad legs, a walnut gleam of cowboy boots. Mel always wore jeans and a corduroy blazer; he added a turquoise bolo tie if he felt like dressing up.
"Helmets. Just trying to save a few lives." Maya clicked through both computers, minimizing the windows. She would never finish that now, not today.
Maya rarely acknowledged the roots of her fervor about this. Personal misfortune only muddied the water. It wouldn't help and might make things worse, so she suppressed that uneasy memory. Needless sentiment, old news.
She saw Sheila pause at the door, a fierce scowl, then slowly move on. Waiting for Mel to leave so she could pounce. "And yes, I'm working on mosquitoes. And the nuclear power plant. And contaminated well water. And the rising air pollution. And blood donor screening. And-"
"Easy." Mel held up a tired hand. "Do you think maybe you take on too much at once? Do you ever say no? As in, hell no?"
Maya lifted one shoulder. "No. I like being busy."
"Well, just be careful. Some of those biker guys might get mean, might come after you."
"They already have. I mean, verbally." Her lips tightened as she recalled the latest round of online threats. Suggesting she might have an accident. Might find something missing. Might need a lesson.
"You talk to security?"
"It's okay, don't worry." She veered from the subject. "How's your task force going?"
"My brand new opiate task force? It's peachy, as you can imagine. The most fun I've ever had. I think they assigned me there just so I'd quit. So they wouldn't have to fire me." Glum, his eyes drooped.
"You won't quit. Besides, I heard your new guidelines look really good."
"Eh. No one will ever agree to them. Maybe I should quit. I'm too old for this crap."
His face sagged and he looked suddenly weary, truly exhausted, and Maya reminded herself that his path to this job had not exactly been painless.
"Are you okay, Mel?"
"Just above water." He stared into space and rubbed his mouth with a gnarled hand.
"I think I'm worried about you," Maya said, kind but serious. "Should I be?"
He chuckled, put his hands on his thighs and leaned forward, about to rise. "Hell, no. Maybe someone could've worried about me thirty or forty years ago. Too late now."
Her eyes narrowed. "Are you dodging me?"
"You youngsters are all alike, busy busy busy. Fixing this, fixing that. You should relax and have more fun with your life. You still seeing that guy? It's been a while, hasn't it?" His eyes now lively.
"Whitaker? Yes, just over a year now. I'll see him tonight, if he gets done in time." Mel had a way of throwing her off balance. "I'm pretty flexible. Luckily."
"Not sure if that's your brightest move, Maya. Dating a busy cardiologist. What's he like?"
"He's very smart."
Mel frowned. "That's not what I asked."
"Okay," she nodded, tried not to grin. "How about the fact that he's very good looking?"
"I didn't ask that, either." He shook his head. "Ought to be a law against doctors dating doctors. Doomed from the start."
"Mel. Lighten up."
"I am. You don't want to see me when I'm down." He pushed himself up with a grunt. "And by the way, your staff out there is having a small meltdown. You really need to see what they want."
The heat slowly climbed, and the afternoons began to bake. First ninety degrees, then ninety-five. The fingertips of saguaro cactus erupted with creamy white blossoms and Phoenix residents did their best to enjoy this last taste of spring before June struck.
For Dr. Maya Summer at Arizona Public Health, it was already too late. The mosquitoes were rising along with the temperature.
"Just give me another week, you little villains," she muttered to the mosquitoes. Maya switched between two computers on her large desk, one screen filled with spreadsheets, the other displaying grisly images of crushed motorcycles.
Her breath caught as she surveyed the carnage in those sterile numbers and twisted fenders, imagining the heartache and pain. The ruined bodies, the grieving families. Although Arizona once imposed helmets, voters withdrew that law in the seventies. Maya's personal mission, an uphill battle, meant convincing citizens to reverse the decision and make motorcycle helmets mandatory again. And meanwhile, more urgent issues kept derailing her.
Like now. A message flashed in one corner of the screen: Dr. Summer-please reply now to schedule TV interview.
Maya sighed. She already taped a small sign on her door to discourage interruptions.
Hopelessly behind. Knock only for emergencies. BIG emergencies.
Because of that sign, Sheila had emailed her instead of knocking. But Maya knew Sheila would soon knock anyway, her red-framed glasses perched low on her nose, her lips a grim line. Just give me an hour, Maya pleaded silently, scanning the statistics, hurriedly tapping her analysis into a document.
A sharp double rap on the door and the latch opened, someone entering behind her.
"I'm really sorry, Sheila," Maya said over her shoulder, contrite, typing faster. "I just need to wrap this up and-"
Mel Black slouched past her, clearing his throat and dropping his bent frame into a chair. Maya stopped working, abandoning her task. One of her favorite people, Mel was always welcome.
"Not a very friendly sign out there on your door," he complained, half closing one eye as he peered at her. "You in a bad mood or something?"
Maya tried to match his frown, but her smile spread-something about Dr. Melvin Black, with his morose expression and forlorn dark eyes, brooding under unruly gray brows, just made her feel better. In his late sixties, he had a face like the side of a mountain, furrowed and hard, eroded from a lifetime of working his cattle ranch. Or at least he chased a few cows, when he wasn't attending patients in his rural clinic north of Phoenix. Then four years ago his wife died of cancer, and he announced he was tired of clinical medicine. Within months, he sold his practice and turned the ranch over to his brother, moving himself to Phoenix and tackling the roller coaster of public health. Thoughtful and meticulous, he had a surprising aptitude for it, despite his prolific scorn.
"No, Mel. I'm just trying to get some work done without constant interruptions." Maya looked pointedly at him.
He snorted, ignoring her implication. "Good luck with that."
Maya waited, but Mel seemed in no hurry to explain his presence. He looked past her at the shattered motorcycle on her screen.
"Mel. You need something?" Her fingers strummed the desk.
"I thought you were working on mosquitoes. What's with the wrecks?" He leaned back and crossed his denim-clad legs, a walnut gleam of cowboy boots. Mel always wore jeans and a corduroy blazer; he added a turquoise bolo tie if he felt like dressing up.
"Helmets. Just trying to save a few lives." Maya clicked through both computers, minimizing the windows. She would never finish that now, not today.
Maya rarely acknowledged the roots of her fervor about this. Personal misfortune only muddied the water. It wouldn't help and might make things worse, so she suppressed that uneasy memory. Needless sentiment, old news.
She saw Sheila pause at the door, a fierce scowl, then slowly move on. Waiting for Mel to leave so she could pounce. "And yes, I'm working on mosquitoes. And the nuclear power plant. And contaminated well water. And the rising air pollution. And blood donor screening. And-"
"Easy." Mel held up a tired hand. "Do you think maybe you take on too much at once? Do you ever say no? As in, hell no?"
Maya lifted one shoulder. "No. I like being busy."
"Well, just be careful. Some of those biker guys might get mean, might come after you."
"They already have. I mean, verbally." Her lips tightened as she recalled the latest round of online threats. Suggesting she might have an accident. Might find something missing. Might need a lesson.
"You talk to security?"
"It's okay, don't worry." She veered from the subject. "How's your task force going?"
"My brand new opiate task force? It's peachy, as you can imagine. The most fun I've ever had. I think they assigned me there just so I'd quit. So they wouldn't have to fire me." Glum, his eyes drooped.
"You won't quit. Besides, I heard your new guidelines look really good."
"Eh. No one will ever agree to them. Maybe I should quit. I'm too old for this crap."
His face sagged and he looked suddenly weary, truly exhausted, and Maya reminded herself that his path to this job had not exactly been painless.
"Are you okay, Mel?"
"Just above water." He stared into space and rubbed his mouth with a gnarled hand.
"I think I'm worried about you," Maya said, kind but serious. "Should I be?"
He chuckled, put his hands on his thighs and leaned forward, about to rise. "Hell, no. Maybe someone could've worried about me thirty or forty years ago. Too late now."
Her eyes narrowed. "Are you dodging me?"
"You youngsters are all alike, busy busy busy. Fixing this, fixing that. You should relax and have more fun with your life. You still seeing that guy? It's been a while, hasn't it?" His eyes now lively.
"Whitaker? Yes, just over a year now. I'll see him tonight, if he gets done in time." Mel had a way of throwing her off balance. "I'm pretty flexible. Luckily."
"Not sure if that's your brightest move, Maya. Dating a busy cardiologist. What's he like?"
"He's very smart."
Mel frowned. "That's not what I asked."
"Okay," she nodded, tried not to grin. "How about the fact that he's very good looking?"
"I didn't ask that, either." He shook his head. "Ought to be a law against doctors dating doctors. Doomed from the start."
"Mel. Lighten up."
"I am. You don't want to see me when I'm down." He pushed himself up with a grunt. "And by the way, your staff out there is having a small meltdown. You really need to see what they want."
Descriere
Public health physician Dr. Maya Summer faces a myriad of medical challenges as she comes to grips with her uneasy past. Helped by faculty physician Alex Reddish, who withstands his own identity trials, she uncovers the grave truth behind a series of illnesses as she and Reddish draw close to one another.