Customer Reviews

Could I Have This Dance? (Claire McCall Series #1)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is the best fiction plot involving Huntington's Disease I have ever read. Dr. Kraus did an excellent job with his research to be able to include so many issues that invariably arise when dealing with this neurological disease. His portrayal of the young intern, Claire, struggling with being at-risk for a genetic disease, was dead on. He captured many issues that one has to consider when deciding to have genetic testing. Issues such as discrimination, insurance, having kids, future job performance, her relationship with her fiance, and many more are covered in Could I Have This Dance? His descriptions of the physical and mental symptoms of Huntington's Disease were excellent.

I enjoyed the plot and found myself thinking of people I know who need to read the book. As the author of two non-fiction books about Huntington's Disease and a frequent speaker and HD conferences, I was impressed with the details and how well he wove them into the plot. I was a full time caregiver for husband with HD and the founder and facilitator for HDCaregivers, an online support group for those who caregive loved ones with Huntington's Disease. Because of my continued writing and speaking to HD groups I am often asked to endorse books that have some connection to Huntington's Disease. I usually find major flaws or omissions in these books and am reluctant to endorse them. I was pleasantly surprised to be able to read and enjoy Could I Have This Dance? and to be able to give it a five star rating.

For too many years Christian fiction was boring, badly written or didn't ring with authenticity. What a delight to find that in recent years Christian fiction has changed for the better. Dr. Kraus did an excellent job of weaving faith issues into the plot without being preachy or heavy handed. So often it is when a crisis arises that one begins to question God and why bad things happen to good people. Even non Christians should be able to read this book without flinching because Could I Have This Dance? shows a young woman struggling with sin and with her relationship with God, just like we all do.

The plot moves at a nice pace and has enough tension and twists to satisfy any reader.

Thank you, Dr. Kraus for creating an excellent book that I am excited to share with the thousands of families suffering with Huntington's. I also hope millions who have never heard of HD will read this book because it is an honest, well written look at the issues surrounding Huntington's Disease. It is also a honest look at how flawed human beings and how much we need a sovereign God.

Carmen Leal, Author of Faces of Huntington's and Portraits of Huntington's, Choosing Joy Through Life Lessons

Could I Have This Dance? is an interesting book about one woman's willingness to look past childhood hurts to find an answer to a medical mystery. But the full story arc, which takes shape in this book, only reaches resolution in the follow-up novel, For The Rest Of My Life.

Why is that important to note? Because the full answers don't come until the second book. You'll finish reading this one and still have questions that can only be answered by the next book. Neat marketing trick, sure, but very frustrating to readers.

Could I Have This Dance? focuses on one woman's struggle between her past and her future, her heart and her head, and her Christian walk and the distractions of medical life. The story weaves Claire McCall's demanding hospital experience together with her small-town slower-paced upbringing, and illustrates clearly the turmoil she undergoes in her relationship with her family, her denial and then acceptance of Huntington's disease, and her ambivalent feelings toward two young men in her life.

The story is a fast-paced medical thriller, detailing interesting particulars about hospital procedures and rare diseases. However, the tale behind the medical scene deals with Claire's spiritual struggles, her character development from the purpose-driven M.D. who despises her father to a fuller woman with a developing love for both her earthly father and her Heavenly one. This maturity of Claire's nature makes it easy for the reader to identify more closely with the story as a whole.

However, certain sections of the book must work harder to fall into the story's rhythm, and consequently stand out as being unnecessary, or necessary, but in need of more development. When Claire first meets Brett Daniels at the beach, the story changes from an involved tale of Claire's struggle to remain in the competitive medical pyramid to a scene from a chick-lit novel - beautiful toned and tan female meets hard-muscled blonde life-guard type and a long time of commitment to her fiance flies out the window after one meeting with another man who carries on a normal conversation with her.

In spite of these scenes, though, the book does well, and the story remains well worth the read.

As a retired general surgeon, I felt the author was authentic in the culture of surgical training and it's pitfalls. Very entertaining and suspenseful. Also cleverly done. I liked his recognition of the loss of quiet time and devotions with the stresses and demands of the training program.

This is the first book by Kraus that I have read, and I plan to buy more. I was completely caught up in the story and quite surprised by the ending. A joy to read.

From a beginning with an intriguing prologue, this story has it all. There are family secrets, a love story, and an authentic look at the struggles and rewards in the life of a surgical intern. And through it all runs the mystery of the curse of Stoney Creek, and the "dance" that hangs over Claire McCall's life. The conclusion has several satisfying surprises, and the author writes with style and strength.

This is a very good book. It's a book that is enjoyable to read, a book I learned alot from and at the same time was God centered.

The book is interesting and I did finish it, but I would not read the sequel. Does the sequel reveal whether Claire has the HD gene? I don't know and don't really care.

This book does a good job of portraying Huntington's Disease, but many things are just not believable: Why would a woman as smart as Claire, studying to become a doctor, tops in her class, take so long to figure out what is wrong with her father? Why would she give any credence to a superstitious belief in a "curse"? Why would a woman as smart as Claire get so involved with a fellow intern whom she hardly knows?

The characters are mostly one dimensional; there's the stereotypical rivalry between the only two women in the residency program; there's Claire's whiny fiance and the "hunky" fellow intern. The plot reminded me a lot of the Grace Livingston Hill books I used to read in the 40's and 50's: beautiful, smart, woman, torn between two suitors. There's not much substance here.

There is one issue here that I often see in discussions about Huntington's. When Claire believes her father's behavior is caused by alcholism, she wants nothing to do with him. When she discovers that his bad behavior is because of Huntington's she forgives him. Why?

Another first for me. I hadn't heard of Harry Kraus before reading this book. He is now one of my new favorite authors.
There are two kind of books I love and they are medical and police dramas. This is a mix of medical and suspense which I really love.
This book is in a series so it didn't really answer the main question if the main character has an inherited disease so I have to read book number two.
The cover is beautiful and title of this book Could I have this Dance?, is a great play on words. It makes you think of a dating relationship, but actually has to do with the inherited disease.
The characters are very well developed and it is a very exciting book. It is a long book, but kept me interested throughout and I look forward to book two.
Claire has gone to church most of her life, but doesn't want to hand over the full control to God. She wants to have the control in her hands. I love all of the medical drama and medical terms, which is very well explained. It also shows that mistakes can be made in hospitals, because we are all human. She goes through relationship problems, family problems, faith problems, work problems, you get the picture, it's a very tangled web.
I really thought it was neat how the author wove together the prologue and epilogue, it was the same, but very different. It gets the story going and ends the story with one of the main questions answered.
I really love this book and will be keeping it. It is a story that is well written with plenty of interesting characters, plots and suspense. Highly recommended to everyone.

Thank you to Zondervan for providing this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

I read this series out of order but enjoyed this one the most. But it is worth the time to read all three. Harry Kraus uses real problems and real delimas like abortion, mercy killing, and rape and works it out honestly, not too easy to be true. I especially like the way Dr. Kraus presents romance. You can tell it wasn't written by a woman describing what women wish it was but isn't. I won't say they best books you'll ever read but they are interesting, enjoyable, and there are times you won't want to put it down.