Salty Like Blood: A Novel [Paperback]

Harry Kraus (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 24, 2009

David Conners, M.D., is on the fast track to creating a perfect life when his seven-year-old daughter disappears. David's all-consuming quest to find her -- dead or alive -- threatens to destroy everything he has left: his medical practice, his marriage, his integrity, and even his soul.

If Rachel is dead: Can a parent forgive someone who has done the unthinkable?

Can David forgive himself?

If she's alive: Can David find her in time to save her?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Harry Kraus digs deep in this story of a father's harrowing inner and outer journey, and tells it with grit, compassion, and suspense." -- James Scott Bell, bestselling author of Deceived

"Salty Like Blood kept me riveted and surprised me at every turn. I highly recommend this book. You won't be disappointed!" -- Terri Black stock , bestselling author of Dawn's Light

About the Author

Best-selling author Harry Kraus, MD, is a board-certified surgeon whose contemporary fiction (beginning with 1994’s Stainless Steal Hearts and including his 2001 best-seller Could I Have This Dance?) is characterized by medical realism. He practices surgery in Virginia and formerly in Kenya where he served as a missionary surgeon. He's also the author of two works of nonfiction.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Howard Books; Original edition (March 24, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416577890
• ISBN-13: 978-1416577898
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #721,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a must-read!, April 5, 2009

By 

Peter Pollock "Renewing Romance" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Salty Like Blood: A Novel (Paperback)

Harry Kraus is definitely, in my opinion, an up and coming writer and if he keeps on like this he could become one of the greats.

Salty Like Blood is the story of one man's desperate efforts to find his daughter. Everyone else thinks she was swept out to sea but he is convinced she was abducted and will put everything on the line to prove it and save her.

Plenty of twists, turns and sub plots coupled with a masterful ending make this a great read. The only real complaint I have is that it switches between first-person and third person context constantly, which is VERY annoying at first!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Gripping from page 1!, April 4, 2009

By 

Stacey (Las Vegas, NV USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Salty Like Blood: A Novel (Paperback)

Dr. Harry Kraus has written a brilliantly woven political thriller for the Christian and secular market! The story of a seemingly random kidnapping, "Salty Like Blood" is the story of a doctor and his wife who have traveled with their young daughter to care for the doctor's ailing father. The opening pages of this novel begin a fast-paced thrill ride that doesn't end until the final page is turned...

...and still leaves you wondering what will happen beyond the end cover. The intellect with which this thought-provoking tale is told not only taught me a few new vocabulary terms, but also inspired me to think. To say that this book merely entertained would be inaccurate. Although it did just that, it also made me appreciate my own family complete with all of its dysfunction.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Get A Copy ASAP!, March 30, 2009

By 

Sally "SmilingSally" (Tampa, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Salty Like Blood: A Novel (Paperback)

What a great novel this is; it may be my all-time favorite! This Christian fiction contains a compelling plot with suspense, hope, romance, revenge, and forgiveness, centered around amazingly real characters. I suppose we've all asked the question, "Why would a God of love allow such pain?" This book attempts to answer that question, and the answer works for me! Perhaps it will for you too.

By writing the narrative of the protagonist, David Connors, in first-person, and interspersing with chapters written in third-person narratives of the other characters, the author allows the reader to peek into the thinking of all involved. Meanwhile, careful editing creates a mystery that cannot help but pique the interest. Joanna Connors, David's vulnerable wife, reacts quite differently from him and tension builds.

Even the periphery characters are well written and quite believable. The veiled, Somali neighbor, Amina, adds a layer to the complex tale, as do Sheriff Reynolds, who struggles to keep the law in his formerly peaceful town, Blake Swenson, the interfering former fiance, and Tricia Morgan, the ever-resourceful mother-in-law. Beautiful Swimmer, a boat, is a surprising character with all her attached memories.

Details make this story come alive. The setting for most of the work is in Tippins, a created small town on the Chesapeake Bay, famous for the Tippins Crab Festival each August. (The author knows the difference between those of us who know how to eat a hard-shelled blue crab and others who use picks and those silly wooden hammers.) It made me long to return to my childhood home next summer for a dinner of steamed crabs piled high on brown paper.

My suggestion is for you to get a copy ASAP. If you can't afford to buy a copy, contact your local library and request one be purchased so that you may be the first one to check it out.