Title of Book: Miracle
Man
Author: William R.
Leibowitz
Publisher: Manifesto Media Group Publication Date: January 16, 2014
Genre: Thriller
ISBN-13-978-0-9898662-1-7
Editions: Paperback and E-book
Number of Pages: 385 in E-book; 428 in paperback
Paperback: $12.95 E-book: $4.99
Reviewed by Diane Donovan originally for Midwest Book Review
Miracle
Man opens on a
rainy day with a sad scenario: a baby is abandoned in a dumpster by people too
young to be burned with a child and too involved with drugs to care about a tiny
life. Fast forward four years: Bobby is being raised by loving foster parents
and has a good life despite his near-death experience as a baby; but something
is still wrong - which is why they have taken him to a child psychologist for
evaluation.
Bobby is
developing patterns of behavior that are odd (trances, disturbing nightmares,
broken sleep); but what the psychologist discovers is even more disturbing. Far
from being a victim of childhood trauma, Bobby is actually a genius operating on
a level far removed from anything intelligence tests have measured
before.
Bobby's
abilities are superhuman and his early interest in the medical field leads to a
fascination with curing diseases; something that diverts from the purposes of
the military group controlling his advanced education.
To call this
novel a 'medical thriller' or a 'political story' would be to do it an
injustice. Miracle Man is about miracles, motivations, ethics and morals,
and the influence of special interests in the work of genius minds. It's about
one 'super' boy's devotion to solving some of medicine's greatest mysteries
against forces that would divert these great talents to something darker; and
it's ultimately about the ability to withstand moral and ethical temptations
against all odds.
Readers are
treated to a plot with many twists and turns: it holds intrigue, describes
compulsions and diversions, shows how a genius battles dark forces within and
outside of himself, and generally paints a powerful picture of a search for
privacy as much as meaning: "Every time he received an award or made a
discovery, it became an impetus to the press to dredge him up as the subject of
a story or special report. The snooping began anew. He hated to admit it, but in
retrospect, he was grateful to Orin Varneys for having taken possession of all
records relating to his childhood and sealing them under the protection of the
OSSIS. Bobby shuddered to think about the field day the media would have if they
had been able to discover his past."
A dash of
romance would seem impossible under such conditions but even this emerges, even
as Bobby's work threatens to separate him from anything resembling a normal life
- including love…."But as the weeks went by, Susan began to notice a
difference in him. He was becoming increasingly detached from present reality.
Even when he wasn’t in one of his frequent trances, he didn’t seem present.
Reclusive and paranoid,
he sequestered
himself in his office with the door locked—or worked from the guest house for
days on end."
Is Bobby a
savior or a destroyer? A miracle man or a tortured genius with the power to
annihilate himself and the world?
Miracle
Man pinpoints the
true wellspring of Bobby's genius and what amounts to an ultimate illness
defying everything he's worked for and believes in. And so a gripping novel of
psychological tension becomes much more than your usual 'medical thriller', and
is a pick for any who want high octane action and emotionally-charged reading
right up to an unexpected, gripping conclusion.
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