Straight Chatting from the Library: Gareth Frank

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READ A GUEST BLOG

Do you believe in the afterlife?

Polling has consistently shown that about 70% of Americans believe in some sort of afterlife, be it heaven, hell, nirvana or some other spirit world, but would you believe a friend who told you they had died and met God? Far fewer people will go that far. So why is it that so many believe the abstract, but are skeptics about personal experiences?

What about consciousness? What is it? How do we explain our own existence?

Science can describe the physical activities in our brains, but can't explain how conscious thought itself is possible. It might as well be voodoo. The best explanation was presented 400 years ago by Rene Descartes, "I think, there for I am." And that doesn't really tell us anything.

These questions and an unusual Christmas card are the ideas that drove the creation of my novel, The Moment Between.

As Steven King once said, "(The writer's) job isn’t to find ideas but to recognize them when they show up."

My inspiration showed up in the mail when I received that Christmas card from a friend who mentioned the death of her brother-in-law and alluded to his wife being the murderer. A very strange Christmas card, indeed. I couldn't stop thinking about it. When I called my friend and asked what had happened, I found out that, as they say, fact was stranger than fiction. I used the woman in question to create one of my characters. Some people think I created a monster. The truth is, real monsters are often real people.

The Moment Between is a psychological thriller that brings death to life through the story of Doctor Hackett Metzger, a neurosurgeon still recovering from the passing of his wife when he becomes involved in a medical study of near-death experiences, and falls for a woman with a dangerous past. Hackett, a likeable and brilliant doctor, is also a bit of an awkward nerd. He agrees to support the study even though his heart and mind tell him that death is final.

READ THE BLURB

After four years of mourning, Doctor Hackett Metzger is determined to stop letting his wife's death control his life. He is finally beginning to live again, but his recovery leads to an unexpected fight for his own survival and startling revelations about what happens to all of us in The Moment Between.

Hackett, a brilliant neurologist, is a skeptic. He doesn't believe he will one day be reunited with Jean, or dwell with God in heaven. What he does believe is that he should have seen the warning signs of her heart attack; he should have saved her. He also cannot accept the possibility that his clinical study of near death experiences could prove the existence of a conscious afterlife. When Hackett falls for the mother of a patient, grief finally begins to fade. But he has no idea his new love is hiding her dangerous past. Will Hackett's damaged spirit endure another heartbreak?

READ AN EXCERPT

Yu Lai’s eyes radiated sadness, and there was a slight tremble in her lips. Hackett could see her trying to flush out her emotions before speaking.

“Nobody really knows what death is, when it starts or when it is complete,” she said. You and I both know the body dies gradually. Under the right circumstances, someone whose brain stops functioning and whose heart stops beating can be brought back to life an hour later, even more. The cells of the brain don’t just die the second blood flow is cut off.”

“What are you saying, Doctor? Are you advocating that we outlaw transplants?”

“No. You know I’m not. I guess I was just spooked by the way her arms lifted up. It was clear that Mrs. Carrollton wasn’t coming back, but I don’t know if she was truly and totally gone.”

Hackett wanted to yell, wanted to shut her up. Death was death. When the brain died, the conscious mind went with it. Hackett had learned the hard way that it was better to face that fact.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Gareth Frank is a former union organizer and administrator. He received a Master's Degree at the University of Wisconsin and later studied at the Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland. The Moment Between is his first published novel. His short stories have been published in various journals and have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize as well as the Silver Pen Write Well Award.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GarethFrankAuthor
https://www.amazon.com/Moment-Between-Gareth-J-Frank/dp/1732294208

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