CRITICAL CONDITION - Richard L Mabry, MD - Two Free Books, Plus Kindle HDX

Readers, I've known Richard Mabry for over ten years. He's a good friend and a very good author of medical suspense books. When his books arrive, they go to the top of both my to-be-read list and my husband's to-be-read list. Whoever reaches the end of their current book gets to read it first. They are always wonderful medical suspense novels.

I have loved every one of his novels, and Critical Condition is, of course, the best one yet. 

Richard’s books have strong, well-developed characters with flaws. And his medical details are authentic. I have a hard time putting his books down, and Critical Condition is no exception. A real page-turner in every sense of the word.

BIO: A retired physician, Dr. Richard Mabry is the author of four critically acclaimed novels of medical suspense. His previous works have been finalists for the Carol Award and Romantic Times Reader's Choice Award, and have won the Selah Award. He is a past Vice-President of American Christian Fiction Writers and a member of the International Thriller Writers. He and his wife live in North Texas.

Welcome back, Richard. Why did you become an author?

When I retired from thirty-six years in medicine, I had no idea of writing novels. I’d just had my first non-fiction book published: The Tender Scar: Life After The Death Of A Spouse. While I was attempting to learn about publishing and writing, I received encouragement from authors like James Scott Bell and Alton Gansky so I decided to try my hand at writing medical suspense. After four years, four books, and forty rejections, I got my first contract. Critical Condition, which released on April 15, is my seventh published novel. I guess God didn’t want me playing that much golf during retirement.

If you weren’t an author, what would be your dream job?

Assuming I could turn back the clock and had the talent, I’d be a professional baseball player. I’ve always loved the game—I’ve played it and coached it, and can think of nothing I’d enjoy more. At least until the first hot line drive came back through the pitcher’s mound.

Yeah, there have been several pitchers injured that way, a couple of them this year. If you could have lived at another time in history, what would it be and why?

I’d prefer to go forward—maybe fifty years or more—to see how technology and the inventions that make our everyday life easier have progressed in that time.

You’re the first author I’ve interviewed that said they’d go forward, but I like that answer. What place in the United States have you not visited that you would like to?

Although I’ve been fortunate enough to see a lot of our country, I’ve never made it to Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone National Park, and I’ve only seen the Grand Canyon from the air. It would be nice to mark those off my bucket list.

How about a foreign country you hope to visit?

I’ve been to Great Britain and Scotland, but never Ireland. Since I’m of Irish descent (one-quarter, if you’re curious), I’ve always wanted to go there.

I’m one quarter Irish, too. I’d love to go there. What lesson has the Lord taught you recently?

He’s taught me the same one over and over: God always answers prayers. Sometimes the answer is “yes,” sometimes “no,” but frequently it’s “not yet.” I’ve learned to accept that.

Tell us about the featured book.

Critical Condition is my seventh published novel of medical suspense, all of them freestanding (not a series). Here’s the back cover copy.

It was supposed to be a quiet dinner party with her colleagues, not the scene of a murder. But the shooting of a stranger on her front lawn is only the first in a string of events that have Dr. Shannon Frasier's life teetering on the edge of chaos: She's unable to make the deeper commitment her boyfriend deserves. Her sister shows up at Shannon's home needing a place to stay, but with no promise she'll stay clean and sober. And her father is diagnosed with cancer.

Then Shannon's life stops teetering and plunges into the abyss. Because the person behind the guttural voice on the phone wants to know what the stranger said before he died. And he won't stop until Shannon tells him what he wants to know—even if she doesn't have it.

He's coming for her. She's not sure the police on the case can be trusted. And her only hope of escape—for herself and those she loves—is to overcome her buried past.

Please give us the first page of the book for my readers.

Dr. Shannon Frasier looked around her and smiled. She was surrounded by some of her favorite people, she wasn’t on call, and she had a long holiday weekend ahead of her. Things couldn’t be better.

Three people sat with Shannon at her dining room table tonight. On her right was the man who referred to himself as her “almost-fiancé,” pathologist Dr. Mark Gilbert. She knew that given the opportunity, Mark would remove the “almost” from that designation. Shannon didn’t fully understand the barriers that held her back from that decision, but tonight wasn’t the time to examine them.

Across the table from Shannon sat Dr. Le Duan (Lee) Kai. Yesterday was June 30, the last day of the academic year and the final day of Lee’s residency. He was about to enter private practice, and although she knew he would do well in that environment, Shannon hoped one day Lee would join her on the faculty of the Department of Surgery at Southwestern Medical School, working, as she did, to prepare other doctors for the specialty of surgery.

Beside Lee sat his diminutive wife, Ann. An audiologist, Ann worked at the medical center, but that could change, since the couple made no secret of their desire to start a family once Lee’s practice was well established. Shannon envied them that.

Shannon raised her glass. “I think we should toast—”

A noise from outside—three flat cracks—made her pause. “Did you hear that?” Shannon asked. “Is someone getting an early start on the July Fourth weekend?”

“I guess it could have been firecrackers,” Lee said.

“Maybe it was a car backfiring,” Mark offered.

“Not three in a row. Besides,” Lee said, “that’s rare now that fuel-injected engines have largely replaced those with carburetors.”

Shannon pushed back her chair and dropped her napkin on the table. “While you guys discuss advances in the internal combustion engine, I’m going to look outside and see what’s going on.”

She turned on the porch light and opened her front door. Warm July air rushed in, but nothing caught Shannon’s eye. The porch was empty. No cars moved in the street outside her house. Then she saw it on the lawn—a crumpled mass, like a pile of old clothes. She jumped, startled, when the clothes moved, and she could discern a hand clawing at the dirt. A faint cry, like that of a wounded animal, reached her ears.

How can readers find you on the Internet?

They can visit my web page, my blog (where I post twice a week), my Facebook fan page and my Twitter page.

Richard Mabry's latest medical suspense, Critical Condition, is receiving high praise. USA TODAY says, "Mabry combines his medical expertise with a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat."

Richard is celebrating the release with a Kindle HDX giveaway!

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A Kindle Fire HDX
• Critical Condition by Richard Mabry

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on May 11th. Winner will be announced May 13th on Richard's blog.

Don't miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to stop by Richard's blog on May 13th to see if you won.

Readers, here are links to the book. By using one when you order, you help support this blog.

Critical Condition - Christianbook.com

Christian Book Store

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