A Noteworthy Man

In a small Illinois town, piano prodigy Ned Godwin is living in a world vibrating with the optimism of youth and the sweet promise of success. But in one heart-stopping moment, the young man's journey to greatness is interrupted.

Fortified by talent, but fractured by trauma, Ned's once-clear path becomes a labyrinth of unanswered questions as Ned wages a silent war against his own potential. As he witnesses his friends' lives blossoming, he struggles with the suffocating weight of unshed grief and guilt.

Woven with the timeless threads of healing and self-discovery, Thomas Shields leads readers through the angst of adolescence, and the lessons of love, loyalty and sacrifice. Will Ned succumb to an extraordinary encounter with the hidden verses of his family's past, or will it be the catalyst needed for Ned's renaissance?

Imprinted with raw emotion and timeless revelations, A Noteworthy Man invites you to witness the resurrection of a spirit muted too soon. It leaves us aching to uncover the final note in Ned's life's composition---a note suspended, hauntingly, just beyond reach.

Thomas Shields is a retired dentist and lives in Ithaca, New York, with his wife of fifty years. He is the father of two remarkable daughters and five delightful grandchildren. "A Noteworthy Man" is his first novel.