J. D. Brewster is a bright medical student whose promising career is teetering on the edge of disaster. After the head nurse on the medical/surgical unit dies from complications of injuries sustained in a vicious botched carjacking attempt, Brewster becomes demoralized. Sadly, the one person who tried to protect him from the dangerous pitfalls of the arduous clinical clerkship rotations was now gone.
Forced to abandon his scientific research projects through no fault of his own, Brewster finds himself in a no-win situation as the pervasive culture of the Gulf Coast College of Medicine and University Hospital is brutal and unforgiving toward medical students. As a consequence to unrelenting and dehumanizing emotional abuse, Brewster and his colleagues become not only callous and largely indifferent to human suffering, but also cruel and fully capable of dispensing retribution when perceived appropriate.
The occult "clinical justice" system hidden within the bowels of the university turned out to be much more than just an unsubstantiated rumor whispered amongst the naïve medical students and members of the medical staff. The system of vigilante law and order has become fully manifest, and it is indeed a frightening entity to behold. Brewster is now evolving into an avenger who willingly participates in what he believes to be righteously sanctioned punishment dispensed to those who violate the laws that constitute the very fabric of social order.
In this continuing tale, a young student at the Texas Medical Center in Houston is confronted with the intertwining world of healthcare and the dark and evil forces lurking within the encroaching shadows of moral decay.
A native of Houston, Donald W. Hill, MD, FACP, graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, in 1978. After completing his medical school training at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston in 1982, Dr. Hill completed his postgraduate training in internal medicine, hematology, and oncology at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque in 1987. At the time he composed this novel, Dr. Hill had completed thirty years of medical practice that included working in multispecialty clinics, solo practice, and everything in between, including academia and clinical research. A fellow of the American College of Physicians, Dr. Hill is a published scholar, but this is his first attempt at a work of fiction. Although approaching the end of his medical career, Dr. Hill was still in practice in Hawaii when he crafted this novel. A self-described angry man safely nestled behind a superficial, amiable facade of banality, Dr. Hill felt compelled to write this novel in an attempt to make peace with God, the universe, and the practice of medicine. Only time will tell whether these lofty objectives have been achieved.
