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Technothriller. Japanese detective stumbles onto deployment of military robots. Cutting-edge technology. Fast read.
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“Innovative, fast-paced, and superbly written, this I,robot is honestly better than both of those stories [Isaac Asimov’s book or Will Smith’s movie] put together...
I,robot is a mesmerizing read with memorable characters, great dialogue, believable technology, and wonderful action." March/April 2008 ForeWord Magazine
"I, robot is deftly written and will grab you from first page to last while holding links to Asimov's tale...Highly recommended for science fiction fans and community library collections." May 2008 Midwest Book Review
"Deliberately drawing on the title of the late Isaac Asimov's classic work of robot-centered literature (I, Robot ), Smith brings robots into the 21st century, incorporating today's technology while retaining the spirit of Asimov's seminal world. As both homage and a sf adventure, this title belongs in most libraries." Library Journal 9/15/2008
‘I, robot’ Is An Enthralling Technothriller by Betty Lou Roselle "While I found the movie
entertaining, Howard S.
Smith’s story is so much
more than that and should
appeal to everyone, not
just avid science fiction
readers like myself." July 30, 2008 Journal Register Company
ISBN 978-1-894689-10-6 TRADE PAPERBACK
6 x 9 • 320PP • FICTION • SRP US$ 17.95 This cover is very different than covers of most fiction books you will see. What's special about it?
Technothriller. A top heart surgeon, kidnapped, seduced, threatened with an unspeakable loss -- all to make him perform a forbidden procedure. Cutting-edge technology. Fast read.
Pulitzer Prize awarded to Wall Street Journal series highlighting Dr. Elefteriades' research.
"What is the life of someone close truly worth? "Transplant" is a medical thriller that asks this question. A doctor is faced with a patient in need of a transplant; the one willing donor is a family member. But the potential donor's life could seriously be jeopardized through the process. "Transplant" makes medical ethics a riveting read from first page to last."
"Heart-rending, intriguing medical mystery. The most difficult challenges in medical care are not the result of technical advances, they are the result of the intense human commitments and moral dilemmas that these advances make possible." --Harold W. Baillie,
Provost, University of Scranton
"TRANSPLANT is a compulsive pleasure.
Brilliant heart surgeon Athan Carras is in midlife
crisis and is tempted by a ruthless billionaire to do
the unthinkable. Seduction becomes coersion in this
fast-paced thriller that cuts to core questions of ethics
in modern medicine."
-- Robert Picardo
Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH) also known as The Doctor, Star Trek: Voyager
"A gripping tale of violence and intrigue set within the world of transplant
surgery, Dr. Elefteriades makes abstract ethical questions about life and death
bristle with urgency. This is a skilled and accurate depiction of heart
transplant and a horrifying scenario that could occur when money and power join
forces."
Mariell Jessup MD
Professor of Medicine
Director, Heart Failure/Transplant program
University of Pennsylvania
Although it's fiction, the ethical issues in this novel are real. ..John Elefteriades, M.D., the chief of cardiac surgery at Yale University, explores one such issue in a new novel, "Transplant." The story unfolds around a wealthy businessman whose dying son needs a heart transplant. If money were no object, where would you draw the line in acquiring lifesaving medical treatment for a loved one?
USA Weekend, April 26, 2009 -- Tedd Mitchell, M.D.
What would happen if an individual wanted to donate an organ that wasn't paired?
Connecticut Post, May 3, 2009 -- Joe Meyers
"I read Transplant, and it’s just terrific—a page-turning thriller with compelling characters, vivid medical science, tough ethical questions, and emotional heft!"
April 14 2009 -- Dr. John Elefteriades will be on the Faith Middleton Show, WNPR radio in Connecticut discussing his new book Transplant (Click here to listen. Please move pointer to 33:10 to listen to Dr. Elefteriades.)
April 20-22 -- Dr. John Elefteriades' Transplant will be the IBPA booth at the London Book Fair. Come by to examine the book and to meet Dr. John Elefteriades himself!!
April 26 2009 -- Dr. John Elefteriades and his new book Transplant will be featured in the actual USA Weekend magazine reaching 50 million readers
April 26 2009 - Ad in New York Times Book Review
April 27, interview on Vinnie&Company, Sirius Satellite Radio national morning show
April 27, booksigning at Partners&Crime Booksellers in Manhattan
(click on the poster to download a high resolution printable poster)
May 2009 -- A feature on Transplant will run in the May 2009 issue of The Big Thrill, the online newsletter of The International Thriller Writers Association
May 3, 2009 -- A feature on Transplant ran in Connecticut's largest paper -- The Connecticut Post
Click to read first pagesecond page
May 7, 2009 -- RJ Julia Independent Booksellers in Madison, CT -- World-renowned doctor and chief of cardiac surgery at Yale University Dr. John Elefteriades presents Transplant, his fiction debut and a fast paced medical thriller that will make your heart stop.
May 28-31 -- Dr. John Elefteriades' Transplant will be the IBPA booth #2959 at BEA 2009. Come by to examine the book and to meet Dr. John Elefteriades himself!!
SATURDAY 3:30 - 4:30 at BEA 2009 -- Go to Table 20 in the Autographing Area to meet Dr. Elefteriades in person and to get a signed copy of Transplant.
The Dr. Mehmet Oz Show
July 10 8:45- 9:15 AM -- Dr. John Elefteriades and his new book Transplant will be featured on Dr. Oz' nationally syndicated radio show. Publisher's Note: Show recorded on this date. To air in near future.
Yale cardiac surgeon’s medical thriller is a heart-thumper
By Donna Doherty, Register Arts Editor
NEW HAVEN — That’s Dr. John A. Elefteriades, one of the nation’s most distinguished cardiac surgeons, who’s peering over his surgical mask in the photo on the cover of the novel “Transplant.”
And, yes, it’s Elefteriades’ book, a page-turning medical thriller he’ll be signing Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Yale Bookstore. The book, which came out in late spring (Robot Binaries & Press), poses a very simple human question, and a very huge ethical one: Just what would a parent do to save the life of a child?
“This is a new arena for me,” says the Guilford man whose usual arena is a surgical one in his role as chief of cardiac surgery at Yale University and Yale-New Haven Hospital, where, after receiving a Yale undergraduate triple major degree in French, physics and psychology, he trained and now teaches and operates.
He takes readers into the world of the superrich where money can seemingly buy anything, with the same sense of real-life science and adventure that Michael Crichton captured so well in his books.
As the title suggests, in Elefteriades’ book, there’s an organ donation in question, and it’s a biggie.
While Elefteriades has held beating hearts in his hands and is pioneering some 22nd century-sounding techniques and research, he says this whole novel thing “is like an out-of-body experience for me. It’s so different than anything else, and has been lots of fun.”
He’s been touring the East Coast and did some signings in New York and the London Book Fair, where he was thrilled to meet his fans.
“I try to learn a little about each of the people who come, who have different reasons for reading the book. A lot were in medicine,” he said.
His protagonist Dr. Athan Carras, like Elefteriades, is a Yale surgeon of renown who regularly travels the world to consult, lecture and operate. He’s approached by a mysterious man acting on behalf of his boss who wants to hire the good doctor, but won’t say why — and he won’t take no for an answer.
The author of dozens of scientific papers and teaching texts and co-author of two other books, “The Woman’s Heart” and “Your Heart: An Owner’s Guide,” this is the surgeon’s first attempt at fiction, but he had a good mentor.
“I had the good fortune to take care of Robert Ludlum (late author of the Bourne series). Whenever I talked to him, he would tell me about the creative process, and I learned from him some of his greatest tips.
“He said, ‘John, the key part is to get a kernel of an idea. I don’t know why, but once you have that, then you hang characters and events on that kernel.’ This kernel came into my mind about whether a parent would donate an organ to a child — a single organ, that is — not like a kidney,” said Elefteriades.
“I’m a neophyte at this,” said Elefteriades. “I’m a good writer for scientific purposes, so I didn’t know what it would be like. It was difficult, but fun, but I felt like I was kind of along for the ride. The other thing I found in fiction, rather than what I do in real life, is you can make anything happen.”
Such as an interlude with a sexy movie star, which Elefteriades quickly assures is total fantasy, the character based on one of his favorite actresses, Jacqueline Bisset.
Unlike Carras, the author says, “I wouldn’t be described as arrogant or hot-tempered,” and he has a fine relationship with his son.
Most of his hospital colleagues have read the book, wondering which one of the characters is based on them. Elefteriades says they’re composites, and has been amused that most of their guesses are wrong.
Elefteriades, who operates weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., says that “a major ethical issue comes up every few months,” so it was no stretch to project a what-if scenario.
After researching the black market for organs, he said, “I could find no evidence that anyone had ever bought a heart — kidneys all the time. In India, the father of a man in desperate circumstances doesn’t hesitate to sell his kidney. They get an influx of money, but sociologists have found that in a few years they are back to their previous circumstances,” said Elefteriades.
Used to rising early for surgery, Elefteriades says he wrote the book “during periods of travel and on vacation and when my family slept.”
He appears to be hooked, and has plans for two more books, a fiction, and a nonfiction, in between his research into advancing techniques for aortic surgery.
His is a very concise, clean style of writing that describes the medical procedures so clearly that the reader feels he could perform heart surgery. But the violent parts are gripping, the dialogue authentic. There’s also a bonus section in the back in which the doctor separates fact from fiction regarding some of the procedures talked about in the book. Surprisingly, most are real, some still in trial, others on the verge of reality.
Of the ethical dilemma, he says, “I’m sure it can happen and wonder if the book might make people think of it,” he says, “but I think the main thing that sparked it was the death of a family member. You wouldn’t hesitate to jump in front of a bullet, or if there was an explosion, wouldn’t hesitate to protect your child. But this is not a sudden event.
“It takes forethought. It’s a noninstinctive reaction. I’m hoping it would be an interesting way to bring up an ethical problem.”
That it is.
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of nhregister.com.
mp wrote on Jul 12, 2009 9:08 AM:
" I have to buy this book...this man is the reason I am alive today !! I have a lot to be thankful for- I have lived 13 more years since the day he saved my life and I am gratefu for each and every day! I am going to try to make the book signing next Saturday! "
CM wrote on Jul 13, 2009 11:03 AM:
" I read the book and highly recommended it. Read it in 2 sittings. It is beautifully written and funny at times.
Best to you Dr. E. "
Larry Cohen wrote on Jul 14, 2009 10:45 AM:
" I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Not only is John E. one of the most talented surgeons (and fine human beings) I have met in practicing Cardiology for the last 40 years, but he is also a gifted writer of fiction. "
July 18, 2009 -- Dr. John Elefteriades will be at the Barnes and Noble, Yale Bookstore, 77 Broadway in New Haven on July 18 at 1:00PM. Tel. no: 203-787-5555.
July 20, 2009 -- Transplant is featured in the Summer 2009 Newsletter of the International Society for Heart & Lung Transplantation
"Consider allowing the enthralling novel “Transplant” to be your literary indulgence this summer. In this newly released
medical fiction thriller by Yale cardiothoracic surgeon John Elefteriades, you will find a riveting tale where personal temptation
becomes entangled with professional success in the transplant community. Absent is the inconsistent and monochrome
quality that often plagues medical drama on the screen or in print; left behind is all of the vivid dimension
and ambition that defines truly engaging entertainment.
You are likely to be struck by how authentic medical fiction can feel when masterfully crafted by an
artisan of our trade. You are likely to wonder what would happen if a transplant specialist like yourself
were caught in the crosshairs on this unprecedented but totally plausible ethical battleground. You are
likely to read this gripping novel from cover to cover in only one sitting to find out."
Emily A. Farkas, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Cardiothoracic Surgery
Saint Louis University
September 26, 2009 at 1:00pm -- Dr. John Elefteriades will be at the Mystery Loves Company Bookstore in Oxford, Maryland. The address is 202 South Morris Street. Ph: 410-226-0010
September 28, 2009 -- Dr. John Elefteriades interviewed by Channel 8 ABC -- click here to view the video of the interview
October 6 at 6:30PM. -- Dr. John Elefteriades will be at theKips Bay Branch of The New York Public Library
An ageless paradox in medicine allows society to define boundaries for physicians and scientists while quietly encouraging them to push the limits of technology and avant-garde therapies. In “Transplant,” John Elefteriades unravels the seemingly ethereal world of heart transplantation down to its lucid core of competing forces: empathy and self-preservation; denial and acceptance; fortitude and desperation; life and death.
The reader experiences these complexities through the eyes of Dr. Athan Carras, an eminent cardiac surgeon charged with reconciling the moral dichotomies that surround transplantation every day. But if you anticipate a predictable, colorless account of medical ethics, think again; “Transplant” is a20textured and provocative thriller that examines every dimension of the surgeon’s ethos, encompassing his personal relationships, professional responsibilities, unspoken passions, and palpable temptations. We may convince ourselves that physicians disengage from their private lives to maintain objectivity in medicine, but this novel illustrates the reality that personal experiences are inextricably intertwined with professional conduct.
In that context, Dr. Elefteriades invites us inside the world of a cardiac surgeon, which could only be believable when constructed by someone who stops and starts the heart of a patient each day, balancing a life in his hands to attempt to improve or prolong it. What happens when this noble commitment is targeted by the seduction of power and privilege? It allows the author to weave a seamless tale that begins inside Operating Room 15 in New Haven, Connecticut, and ends off of the southern coast of the United States in international waters.
Although the main character believes that his a priori concern has always been the welfare of his patients, he is rapidly confronted with a vortex of personal conflicts and ethical dilemmas that would threaten any moral foundation. It is a superb creation of medical fiction that offers a thus far unprecedented clinical scenario, yet it is an entirely plausible one that medical professionals could encounter any day.
You may find that you choose to pace yourself throughout this book to savor the dulcet prose and to digest the compelling plot, and you will have to accept the disappointment that is obliged when the author shifts to a parallel storyline with you fully entangled in the grips of the current one. Dr. Elefteriades offers just enough suspense with each passage to keep the pages turning and the pace quickening until you arrive at the climactic conclusion; this is where power and v ulnerability, protagonist and antagonist, survival and defeat will become decidedly less distinguishable. When you find yourself here, you will realize that your definition and interpretation of “Primum, non nocere” or “First, do no harm” has abruptly been turned upside down. And, in fact, this is just where the author wants you to be.
As reviewed by Emily A. Farkas, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Cardiothoracic Surgery
Saint Louis University
November, 2009 -- Dr. John Elefteriades is interviewed by Drake@WCEI Radio -- click here to listen to the interview.
November 14, 2009 -- Comment about Dr. John Elefteriades' novel in the Yale Daily Scan
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