In a desolate future, long after the nuclear war, practicing medicine is illegal. Health care is provided by Healers who treat patients using primitive methods like chanting and bleeding. Hank is a doctor who practices medicine only for himself and his family. His fear of being sent to prison has estranged him from the Underground, the loose network of physicians that tries to help people who have lost faith in the Healers. Then late one evening a 16-year-old girl named Gina knocks on his door. She has a secret of her own and the power to destroy Hank’s life if he doesn’t come with her and make her seriously ill father well. But there is one catch — Gina’s father is the brother of a Healer.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
David Kubicek received a B.A. in English from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. He has published several short stories (his story “Ball of Fire” was nominated for a Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses in 1989), hundreds of articles, a CLIFFS NOTES on Willa Cather’s MY ANTONIA, and a Hollywood producer has optioned one of his screenplays. For nine years he wrote for MBJ Publications, publishers of the Midlands Business Journal, the Lincoln Business Journal, and the Mountain Plains Business Journal. As President of Kubicek & Associates, he published five trade paperback books, including two he edited—THE PELICAN IN THE DESERT AND OTHER STORIES OF THE FAMILY FARM and OCTOBER DREAMS: A HARVEST OF HORROR (with Jeff Mason). He has published a novel, IN HUMAN FORM, and a short story collection, THE MOANING ROCKS AND OTHER STORIES. He lives with his wife, Cheryl, and their son, Sean, in Lincoln, Nebraska.
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Format:Kindle Edition
First thing's first. This is a short story. So if you look at the $2.99 price, be aware. Personally, I think it's a little bit steep, but that's just me.
This was a decent short, in of itself, and I'd probably give it three out of five stars. The premise is original and the story is captivating but as a short, there wasn't enough time to develop much of anything. The main character, Hank is a "medicine man" or doctor in a time when practicing medicine is illegal and he's fearful of being discovered and he's afraid of his own children, but the story never expounds on that little tidbit. *Spoilers* Gina is a telepath. Okay. We're post WWIII here and I get it that the medical profession has been disgraced, but where the hell do telepaths come from? Once again, it's a short, so this is never explained.
I know. I have no room to talk. Anyone that's read my stuff is probably saying, "Really, Cait? Pot, meet Kettle." But still, I'm only frustrated because I feel like this is a story that I want to know more about. I want to know what happened to this world to make doctors obsolete and turn people toward mysticism instead of modern medicine to heal. I want to know about WWIII and how telepaths came to be. I want to know how a man becomes afraid of his own children. Because of this, I'm frustrated. So, on the one hand, Kubicek did a good job pulling me into a story, intriguing me, and making me want more, but then didn't provide it. Maybe if I knew that this was a prequel of a bigger novel I'd feel better, but it isn't as far as I know.
This was a decent short, in of itself, and I'd probably give it three out of five stars. The premise is original and the story is captivating but as a short, there wasn't enough time to develop much of anything. The main character, Hank is a "medicine man" or doctor in a time when practicing medicine is illegal and he's fearful of being discovered and he's afraid of his own children, but the story never expounds on that little tidbit. *Spoilers* Gina is a telepath. Okay. We're post WWIII here and I get it that the medical profession has been disgraced, but where the hell do telepaths come from? Once again, it's a short, so this is never explained.
I know. I have no room to talk. Anyone that's read my stuff is probably saying, "Really, Cait? Pot, meet Kettle." But still, I'm only frustrated because I feel like this is a story that I want to know more about. I want to know what happened to this world to make doctors obsolete and turn people toward mysticism instead of modern medicine to heal. I want to know about WWIII and how telepaths came to be. I want to know how a man becomes afraid of his own children. Because of this, I'm frustrated. So, on the one hand, Kubicek did a good job pulling me into a story, intriguing me, and making me want more, but then didn't provide it. Maybe if I knew that this was a prequel of a bigger novel I'd feel better, but it isn't as far as I know.
More About the Author
Writer, blogger, and reader. Author of IN HUMAN FORM and THE MOANING ROCKS AND OTHER STORIES. Upcoming books: A FRIEND OF THE FAMILY (Feb. 2012), TRANSITION (fall 2012--Book II of the IN HUMAN FORM trilogy, and EMPATH (spring 2013).
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