Fresh Frozen [Hardcover]

Darden North (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2008

In this third medical thriller by award-winning author and practicing physician Darden North, human reproductive tissue becomes an unexpected commodity. In Fresh Frozen, a young policeman and his tormented wife fail miserably to produce a family, finding themselves outcasts of the renewed baby boom sweeping the United States. However, there is one last hope for them: a catalogue of human embryo and egg donors peddled by a woman whose standards are easily dismissed for the right price. Pursuing their futile attempts to become parents have nearly cost the wife her life and pushed the couple to the brink of bankruptcy. This seemingly last chance for Wesley and Carey Sarbeck to satisfy their place as parents in Middle America unknowingly tosses them in the midst of a grisly murder, the world of Hollywood celebrities, and a heist of freshly frozen human embryos. The lives of Carey Sarbeck and two other women intersect at the Van Deman Institute, once a decaying brick building complex just north of Jackson, Mississippi, but now a state-of-the-art center for the resolution of human infertility. While an internet voyeur and thief looks on, each of the three women, one of whom an internationally-known entertainer, has her own reason for entering the Institute. However, as a result of subjecting herself to a concoction of hormones and surgical procedures, one of the three is gruesomely murdered in an intriguing twist of human greed, mental torment, and medical science.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The main characters  ... want to have children and  ... collide with murder, deceit, and even the larceny of frozen embryos.
Recommended for public libraries.

Shugana Williams 

--Mississippi Library Association (Condensed due to space limitations)

From the Author

Author's website:   dardennorth.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 312 pages
• Publisher: Ponder House Press (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977112632
• ISBN-13: 978-0977112630
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,768,623 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A practicing obstetrician/gynecologist, Darden North has written three nationally-awarded hardcover novels in the mystery/suspense/medical thriller genre: House Call - Finalist, Mystery/Suspense 2008 Next Generation Indie Book Awards; Points of Origin - Third Place, Southern Fiction 2007 Independent Publisher (IPPG) Book Awards; and Fresh Frozen - Overall Winner, Best Cover Design and Finalist, Regional Fiction 2009 National Indie Excellence Awards; Honorable Mention, General Fiction 2009 San Francisco Book Festival Awards.

A member of Mystery Writers of America and the Independent Book Publishers Association, North has served as an author panelist at "Murder in the Magic City" (Birmingham, AL), "Author! Author! Celebration of the Written Word" (Shreveport LA), "Murder on the Menu" (Wetumpka, AL), "Thriller Author Panel - 2008 Southern Independent Book Association (SIBA) Show" (Mobile, AL), and "The Writers' Block -2009 SIBA Show (Greenville, SC) and has exhibited at the Texas, Kentucky Bluegrass, and South Carolina book festivals. He conducted a teaching workshop in writing mysteries and in promoting an author's work at the 2010 Southern Expressions Writing Conference.

Darden North actively promotes his writing through television and radio interviews as well as through personal speaking engagements and the Internet. North began his full-time medical practice in ob/gyn in 1986 and remains board-certified in obstetrics and gynecology. His background lends an unmistakable authenticity to his mystery and medical thriller novels, stories set in the South that portray intense character relationships and unexpected story lines.

Darden North lives in Jackson, MS, with his wife, two children, and three dogs.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read for thriller lovers, October 26, 2008

By 

James M. Blackwood Jr. - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fresh Frozen (Hardcover)

I picked up the book last Wed before heading to the beach. I couldn't put it down once I started--which resulted in mild sunburn. North does a great job writing a novel that reads like a movie. I could picture the scenes and characters in my head--just like watching a movie. The plot is excellent with many ingenious twists and turns. With America's obsession with celebrities, it makes you wonder if this story line could really happen...or maybe already has.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Very Suprising Ending!, February 25, 2009

By 

Martha A. Cheves (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fresh Frozen (Hardcover)

Fresh Frozen was a very interesting book. Not only did it go into the
field of medical technology, but it also included a spy and a murder. In
Fresh Frozen, Dr. Van Deman owns an Infertility Center in Mississippi.
Tinker Murtagh is the spy I mentioned, but who would need to spy on an
Infertility Center and who hired him? Police Officer Sarbeck and his
wife are desperate to have a family; can Dr. Van Deman help them? And
then there are the wealthy mystery women. Why would 2 women who have
everything need Dr. Van Deman's help? What is the good doctor really
doing within the center besides making money? And who will die?

The intrigue continued as I turned each page and watched the characters all come together forming the story of Fresh Frozen. I was so involved in this book that I couldn't wait to see what would happen next. Fresh Frozen is different from most books I've read. In most books, no matter what the genre, the characters are introduced and "join" each other early in the book. Not in this case. Each character is been introduced with little connection to the others. As you go along, you read the stories that make up the characters, you get to know them and their problems and all of this comes before the real connections are made. It's like a jigsaw puzzle without a picture. You know all of the pieces fit and can't wait to see what the end result will be. I found Fresh Frozen to be very different as well as quite refreshing to read.

And the ending... I would NEVER have guessed the turn of events that
make up the last 20 pages of Fresh Frozen. The hiring of the spy will
surprise you and the murder will surprise you even more. So if you love
a good mystery, this book is definitely for your.

Fresh Frozen is a great book that I highly recommend!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great story--Masterful storytelling!, December 29, 2008

By 

MysteryReaderNC "I love a little mystery, don... (NC, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fresh Frozen (Hardcover)

FRESH FROZEN by Darden North, MD is easily one of the best books I've ever read. The twists are expertly crafted, the characters are believable and the plot is enthralling! I love a book where the author takes me to uncharted territory--Dr. North does just that! In FRESH FROZEN, the reader is taken into the territory surrounding infertility and the measures some people will take to end a painful chapter in their lives.

Dr. North explains procedures the reader needs to understand, but not in so much detail as to be superfluously boring. If anything I was intrigued by his descriptions!

There were a few times in reading this novel where I wondered how these aspects of the story were going to come together. Dr. North did not let me down. When he brought them together, it all seemed flawless--a masterful job!!

This story had it all! I cried sometimes, laughed out loud sometimes, scratched my head in wonder a few times and then got an ending I did NOT see coming! It was a great read and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for something a little different.

One word of warning though: Do not get cocky reading this one. Just when you THINK you have it all figured out, you find out you couldn't have been more wrong!

A great story told by a master storyteller! Thank you Dr. North and I look forward to future books!