Thank you for joining us on the Virtual Book Tour for The Face Transplant, a Medical Suspense Thriller by R. Arundel (first published 10 December 2013, this edition 2015, R Arundel, 379 pages). PREVIEW: Check out the book's synopsis, excerpt, and promotional below. Read the first four chapters with Amazon Look Inside.
Author R. Arundel will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour. Please do take part: comment on our post and follow the tour where you will be able to read other excerpts (☀), interviews (ℚ), reviews (✍) and guest blog posts (✉).
Synopsis | Teaser | Author Q&A | About the Author | Giveaway & Tour Stops
Synopsis
The Face TransplantAn epic journey of suspense, murder, and sacrifice
Dr. Matthew MacAulay is a facial transplant surgeon at a prestigious New York hospital. When his friend and mentor, Tom Grabowski, dies under mysterious circumstances, Matthew uncovers his friend’s secret: a new technique that allows perfect facial transplants. No incisions, no scars. Tom was able to accomplish this monumental feat with the help of Alice, a supercomputer robot with almost human abilities. While trying to find the people responsible for murdering Tom, Matthew realizes he is the prime suspect. He must flee for his life with the help of Dr. Sarah Larsson, a colleague and reluctant helper, who has a secret of her own, and Alice, who helps them make sense of a baffling series of seemingly unrelated events. The clues carry Matthew and Sarah around the world. They stumble onto a sinister plot of monumental proportions that leads Matthew all the way to the White House.
The Face Transplant is a powerful medical suspense thriller of the first order. The novel was written by a surgeon who weaves politics, medicine, and espionage into a tightly paced, intelligent thriller.
Teaser: Excerpt
Guaarrr. It sounds like water draining from a very large bathtub, through a very large hole. I just killed myself. I just killed the patient. Dr. Matthew MacAulay looks down on the operating room table at the gaunt, graying man. Matthew quickly scans the operating theater. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see the short wide man in the observation area.I just killed myself, Sarah, and Amanda.
They have been hijacked into performing a face transplant. The patient is unknown. Mr. Glock, the short wide man, hovers in the far end of the operating room. He made it clear that if the patient did not survive, the three of them would be following him in short order. The 9 mm Glock with a silencer on the end gave credence to his profanity-laced words of warning.
Matthew looks across the operating room table at Amanda Soto, forty-two, an American of Spanish ancestry. She has been his scrub nurse, assisting him in the operating room for the last three years. Divorced, one child.
It will take a few more seconds for the monitors to tell everybody what Matthew already knows. Amanda already knows. She is right across the table. She saw him use the robotic arm to dissect the vessel and mistakenly cut the large artery in the neck. An operating room nurse of Amanda’s experience has seen it all. When Matthew looks into her eyes, they flash ever so quickly an acknowledgement that it is all over. Instead of any words, she quietly unclamps the suction. Now a dull hiss fills the air. To the casual observer, or the short wide man holding a 9 mm Glock pistol in his fat stubby hands, nothing really has changed. Amanda, anesthetist Dr. Sarah Larsson, and Dr. Matthew MacAulay act as if all is going well.
Matthew cannot help but glance over to the man with the 9 mm Glock. In his mind he names him Mr. Glock. Adrenaline surges through Matthew’s body and time slows. The short wide man, Mr. Glock, has gray eyes. Pale, gray eyes. Very pale, almost tired. Matthew remembers reading somewhere that people with gray eyes have the best visual acuity. They make the best marksmen, the best assassins. He wonders if this was true.
The Face Transplant - available NOW!
UK:
US:
Author Q&A
What did you do on your last birthday?"I was in New York for a vacation, and my birthday was the day I flew back into town. When we got back we realized we locked ourselves out of the house. We ate Ramen noodles, and birthday cake on the porch. Then we left to go get the door unlocked. When we finally returned the raccoons had eaten all the rest of the birthday cake and Ramen."What part of the writing process do you dread?
"Writing the middle. It’s by far the hardest to do effectively and hold the reader’s interest."Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?
"Never. If I sit down and have nothing to write, I never worry. It means I’m thinking about the story or some element in my subconscious that needs to be worked out. I go away for a day or so from writing and then begin again."Tell us about your latest release.
"The Face Transplant is a medical suspense thriller. It weaves action/adventure, suspense, romance and sci-fi into a fast paced story.
A young transplant surgeon, Matthew is turned into an amateur detective. His friend and mentor are killed under mysterious circumstances. Matthew uncovers the secret that his mentor had developed a technique to transplant faces from one person to the next perfectly. No scars. This technique allows people to become doppelgangers (exact lookalikes).
Matthew is aided in his investigation by Sarah Larsson another doctor. Sarah has a past that may make it impossible for her relationship with Matthew to blossom.
Sarah and Matthew uncover a plot to decimate the USA. The story involves the White House with international connections in Macau and China.
A very unusual friend plays a major role in solving the mystery. Alice is a supercomputer with almost human capabilities. Alice provides useful data and becomes a friend to the team who investigate the murders. The tension mounts as the readers understand learn that the mastermind villain is not only brilliant, but brilliantly ruthless."
About the Author
R. Arundel is a practicing surgeon. This experience brings realism to the story. The novel asks what would happen if a surgeon were to develop the perfect face transplant. This would allow people to have a new face, in essence create a new identity. You can create the perfect double, the perfect Doppelganger.Follow R. Arundel:
Giveaway and Tour Stops
Enter to win a $50 Amazon/BN GC – a Rafflecopter giveawayRemember to comment to win!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Follow The Face Transplant's tour at:
Nov 2: Rogues AngelsNov 3: BooksChatter
Nov 3: Megan's Blog
Nov 4: Archaeolibrarian - I dig good books!
Nov 5: Coffee Books and Art
Nov 5: LibriAmoriMiei
Nov 6: Unabridged Andra's
Nov 9: Balloons, Writing, and Other Matters
Nov 9: Dina Rae's Write Stuff
Nov 10: 3 Partners in shopping, Nana, Mommy, and Sissy, Too!
Nov 11: Reviews by Crystal
Nov 11: Room With Books
Nov 12: Independent Authors
Nov 13: Romorror Fan Girl
Nov 13: The Certifiable Wenches
Nov 16: Where the Story Comes First
Nov 17: Queen of All She Reads
Nov 17: Long and Short Reviews
Nov 18: Two Ends of the Pen
Nov 19: Writers and Authors
Nov 19: fundinmental
Nov 20: The Cerebral Writer
Nov 20: Reading, Writing, and What Not
Nov 23: A Writer's Life
Nov 23: Laurie's Thoughts and Reviews
Nov 24: Hope. Dreams. Life... Love
Nov 25: Lisa Haselton's Reviews and Interviews
Nov 25: Book-o-Craze
Nov 27: Wake Up Your Wild Side
Nov 27: CBY Book Club
Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThis is a great site. Well laid out and very informative. Thanks for hosting my book.
ReplyDeleteHi, thank you for stopping by and thank you for your comments on the site :-)
DeleteI am looking forward to read your book - it has been on my TBR list for some time...
Have a great tour.
Flora
Make sure you read the new edition, it has some changes that the readers enjoy and a very unexpected conclusion.
DeleteYes, I just double checked and do have them both :-)
DeleteJust use the latest edition. This is my debut novel. I was not sure if the audience would react favorably to the story since it is quite different from standard medical suspense thrillers. I put out a 'Beta Version' initially to see how people would react. I had a very good response so I had the book professionally edited and then re released. This is the version you should use. People who review the earlier version who are not aware it is the beta version complain of editing and other problems that were corrected in the final version. People are very positive about the final version that is out now, and like the refreshing take on the medical suspense genre.
DeleteSounds good - I will do! Thank you.
DeleteSounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the release!
ReplyDelete--Trix
Sounds like an awesome book - I can't wait to check it out!
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed reading your interview, thank you!
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed learning about the book. Thanks for sharing it.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the excerpt! Thank you for the post and the giveaway!
ReplyDelete