The Face Transplant Blog Tour! (+$50 Amazon GC Giveaway!)

Title: The Face Transplant 

Author: R. Arundel 

Series: N/A

Pages: 358

Date Published: 2013

Publisher: Self-Published

Format: Kindle

Genre: Mystery/Thriller

Source: Goddess Fish Blog Tours

Synopsis:
Dr. Matthew MacAulay is a facial transplant surgeon at a prestigious New York hospital. When his friend and mentor, Tom Grabowski, dies under mysterious circumstances, Matthew uncovers his friend’s secret: a new technique that allows perfect facial transplants. No incisions, no scars. Tom was able to accomplish this monumental feat with the help of Alice, a supercomputer robot with almost human abilities. While trying to find the people responsible for murdering Tom, Matthew realizes he is the prime suspect. He must flee for his life with the help of Dr. Sarah Larsson, a colleague and reluctant helper, who has a secret of her own, and Alice, who helps them make sense of a baffling series of seemingly unrelated events.

The clues carry Matthew and Sarah around the world. They stumble onto a sinister plot of monumental proportions that leads Matthew all the way to the White House. 

The Face Transplant is a powerful medical suspense thriller of the first order. 

~Lessons from Our Story's Hero~

Matthew MacAulay is the protagonist of the story. He investigates the murder of his mentor. This leads to the discovery of a plot to decimate the USA.

Matthew MacAulay is afraid to allow his emotions to get better of him. He believes showing emotion is weak and he is not willing to trust others deeply. He fears rejection and as a result moves away from true intimacy. Matthew has no problem with attracting a partner. By the end of the story he realizes that his emotional aloofness means that he is really not experiencing life. Matthew teaches us that in order to live life you must make yourself emotionally available. That makes you vulnerable to pain and rejection but without this you cannot live. 

Matthew embarks on a task to find the killer of his mentor. His mentor played a strong role in his life and provided support. Matthew has no skills to investigate a complex murder or the more complicated scheme that he uncovers. However, through persistence, hard work and a burning desire to succeed, he triumphs. This teaches us all that above all the will to do something is far more important than training or experience. If you want to do something, don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t. If you want it, go for it.

A colleague Sarah Larsson helps Matthew in his investigation of the murder. By the end of the story they have fallen in love. Unfortunately, due to a unique set of circumstances, a happily ever after is not possible. Instead of fearing this and looking for security and stability that will be impossible in this relationship Matthew embraces the relationship for what it is. Fairytale endings aren’t always possible in life. Anyone who has lived knows this. Sometimes in life we’re not making the best choice. Sometimes in life we’re making the least worst choice. Make the best of your life, make the most of your circumstances. Sometimes happily ever after doesn’t happen.

Matthew undergoes a face transplant to investigate the murder that is central to the story. While his face is transplanted he completely takes on the persona of another person. This transformation gives him the unique opportunity to step outside himself and look at himself more objectively. This allow him to analyze himself. That introspection is key to him growing as a person. Matthew teaches us all that introspection and self-analysis is critical for all people.

~Try an Excerpt!~

Guaarrr. It sounds like water draining from a very large bathtub, through a very large hole. I just killed myself. I just killed the patient. Dr. Matthew MacAulay looks down on the operating room table at the gaunt, graying man. Matthew quickly scans the operating theater. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see the short wide man in

the observation area.

I just killed myself, Sarah, and Amanda.

They have been hijacked into performing a face transplant. The patient is unknown. Mr. Glock, the short wide man, hovers in the far end of the operating room. He made it clear that if the patient did not survive, the three of them would be following him in short order. The 9 mm Glock with a silencer on the end gave credence to his profanity-laced words of warning.

Matthew looks across the operating room table at Amanda Soto, forty-two, an American of Spanish ancestry. She has been his scrub nurse, assisting him in the operating room for the last three years. Divorced, one child.

It will take a few more seconds for the monitors to tell everybody what Matthew already knows. Amanda already knows. She is right across the table. She saw him use the robotic arm to dissect the vessel and mistakenly cut the large artery in the neck. An operating room nurse of Amanda’s experience has seen it all. When Matthew looks into her eyes, they flash ever so quickly an acknowledgement that it is all over. Instead of any words, she quietly unclamps the suction. Now a dull hiss fills the air. To the casual observer, or the short wide man holding a 9 mm Glock pistol in his fat stubby hands, nothing really has changed. Amanda, anesthetist Dr. Sarah Larsson, and Dr. Matthew MacAulay act as if all is going well.

Matthew cannot help but glance over to the man with the 9 mm Glock. In his mind he names him Mr. Glock. Adrenaline surges through Matthew’s body and time slows. The short wide man, Mr. Glock, has gray eyes. Pale, gray eyes. Very pale, almost tired. Matthew remembers reading somewhere that people with gray eyes have the best visual acuity. They make the best marksmen, the best assassins. He wonders if this was true.

~Meet R. Arundel!~ 

R. Arundel is a practising surgeon. This experience brings realism to the story. The novel asks what would happen if a surgeon were to develop the perfect face transplant.  This would allow people to have a new face, in essence create a new identity. You can create the perfect double, the perfect Doppelganger.

R. Arundel will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. a Rafflecopter giveaway