Another Amazing Review-Midwest Book Review

I am very honored to have received such an amazing review from Midwest Book Review comparing my work to One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest: Highly recommended not just for thriller readers; but any who wanted One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to take the next step.

Psychology patients often harbor delusions … but what if they aren't delusions, and are rooted in reality? Wouldn't a psychiatric ward be a good place to 'stash' someone who has gotten too close to the truth about a real organized plot to take over the world? And what if you were a doctor who stumbled on this truth, only to face the consequences of a dangerous discovery?

Schizo: Hidden in Plain Sight revolves around medical student Dan, who has had years to think about the consequences of his choices when he faced a delusional patient during his second year of medical school - and began to believe her.

Therein lay the trap; for as Dan, obsessed about his professional progress, finds his dreams of the future moving in another direction, so he finds that embarking on that course spirals into a situation out of control in contrast to his prior, measured plans for success as a future surgeon.

Finding himself incarcerated on his own psych ward as a result of too much snooping and a growing belief system that doesn't conform to the world he perceives, Dan discovers some unlikely allies in the form of fellow psych patients (shades of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest!) who band together to thwart a conspiracy by a small band of people to take over the world.

Unlike Cuckoo, however, Schizo combines an investigative mystery with a startling social dilemma, placing the patients and their med student leader in the dubious position of being the most powerful people on the planet - and the world's only hope for freedom. (Delightfully ironic: the world's only hope coming from most locked up and feared people in society, the insane.)

Fans of medical thrillers and investigative pieces who appreciate a healthy degree of psychological inspection in their reading will findSchizo a compelling read written on the level of Robin Cook, packed with satisfying twists and solid attention to the details of interactions between psychiatrist and mental illness.

At the end of the tale, one wonders about the fine line between sanity and insanity. The process of crossing that boundary succeeds in crafting ethical dilemmas and impossible situations that inject more than a degree of thought-provoking insights into a realistic action mix that ultimately examines the dilemma of mental illness in America. Highly recommended not just for thriller readers; but any who wanted One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest to take the next step.

--Diane Donovan, Editor California Bookwatch