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AN ABSENT MIND, a riveting new novel and
book club pick from Eric Rill, author of PINNACLE OF DECEIT
and THE INNOCENT TRAITOR, is about a race against time. The ticking time bomb is Saul Reimer's sanity. His Alzheimer's is going to be the catalyst that will either bring his family together or tear it apart.
Although AN ABSENT MIND depicts Saul's arduous struggle with Alzheimer's, it is equally a story about his relationship with his loved ones and their shared journey.
Seventy-one, and a man used to controlling those around him, Saul finds himself helplessly slipping into the abyss in what he describes as his slow dance with death. As we listen in on his ramblings, humor, emotions, lucid moments, and confusion, we are also privy to the thoughts and feelings his family share with us--his wife, Monique, conflicted and depressed; caring, yet angry; his daughter, Florence, compassionate, worried about her father's health, yet proper and reserved; his son, Joey, self-centered and narcissistic, seemingly distant from his family's challenges. And Dr. Tremblay, Saul's Alzheimer's specialist, who provides the reader with facts and observations about this dreaded disease that imprisons more than 35 million people worldwide.
We know from the beginning how it has to end for Saul, because no one has ever outsmarted Alzheimer's. But how will he navigate the meandering road that will eventually destroy his health and result in his death? And how will it affect those around him as they live with strain and guilt, while at the same time being forced to face their own demons?
These questions are answered expertly by the author as he explores the conflicts that rise to the surface as the family deals with Saul's dementia.
Eric Rill's novel is reminiscent of Lisa Genova's
Still Alice, Nicholas Sparks'
The Notebook, and Alice Munro's
Away From Her. Although a beautiful work of literary fiction, AN ABSENT MIND
will expose the reader to the reality of Alzheimer's.
Eric was born and raised in Montreal and now divides his time between his residence in Panama and international travel. He has two sons and a diverse group of friends scattered around the globe. His hobbies include trekking, scuba diving, and collecting antique carpets. Eric first ventured outside North America when he was thirteen and was sent to Switzerland for the summer to perfect his French. That was the beginning of a traveling life that would eventually lead him to visit over one hundred countries. At sixteen he moved to Connecticut to attend Cheshire Academy, then to Ithaca, New York where he graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor's degree in political science, before receiving an MBA from UCLA. After graduate school he joined an international hotel chain where he held several executive positions in the United States, Canada, and abroad before becoming president of the company's worldwide hotel group. At that point he was responsible for over five hundred hotels. Ultimately, Eric started his own company, buying and managing hotels in the United States and Canada. At the same time, he began writing, first a diary, then short stories, all of which, initially, he filed in his desk drawer. But he eventually realized he was more a "creative" than a "corporate" type. He sold his business, moved to the Caribbean, and began writing PINNACLE OF DECEIT. He followed this with THE INNOCENT TRAITOR and now his latest novel, AN ABSENT MIND. Connect with him or request a Skype visit with your book club at author@ericrill.com.
