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Fact Sheet
Suggested Interview Questions
News Release
About the Author
Fact Sheet
WHAT IS THIS BOOK ABOUT?
From the hand of skilled surgeon Dr. John Raffensperger, writing as John Luck M.D., comes a penetrating medical thriller that lays the essence of corrupt 1950s Chicago open to the bone, deftly weaving a story that is equal parts mob, murder and medicine.
When a local gangster loses the priceless diamonds he planned to steal from his mob boss, a doctor is suspected of recovering the loot from a wounded bagman hurt during the melee.
For Cook County Hospital's Dr. Tom Slocum, a returning Korean war veteran in doubt of his ability as a doctor after losing a buddy during a battlefield surgery, the last thing he needs is another war-this time with the Chicago mafia, corrupt city workers and cops on the take.
Will Dr. Slocum's scalpel save his own life as he tries to choose whom to trust? Will diamonds be the death of him?
WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK UNIQUE?
- The author is a renowned surgeon. A 1953 graduate of the University of Illinois Medical School, Dr. Raffensperger interned at Chicago's Cook County Hospital and was a Medical Officer in the U.S. Navy. He went on to become the Chief of Pediatric Surgery and Surgeon in Chief at Children's Memorial Hospital, and is still a Professor of Surgery (emeritus) at Northwestern University.
- Diamonds of Death brings detail of medical and forensic procedures few could match. His in-depth knowledge and vivid descriptions of Cook County Hospital and Chicago bring the city to life, conjuring images of mafia-laden lairs, antiseptic smells and sounds of swishing surgical scrubs of fast-moving interns in a busy hospital ward.
- The medical and forensic aspect of the book will appeal to fans of authors such as Robin Cook and to fans of TV shows such as Grey's Anatomy and C.S.I.
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Suggested Interview Questions
- How can a fast-paced thriller like Diamonds of Death come from the careful, steady hand of a surgeon?
- How did you decide which of your personal experiences to bring into Diamonds of Death?
- Tell us about your days at Cook County Hospital. I understand you found various foreign objects inside some of the patients, and one time you had to de-fibrillate a heart with bare wires.
- The detail and characterizations of the mafia figures in the book seem so realistic. Where did you come by the knowledge of how the mob works?
- The central character, Tom Slocum, is battling some self-esteem problems from losing a surgical patient, who also was a close friend, on the table during an operation in a battlefield situation. What have you experienced, either in your military service or as a civilian surgeon, that gave you the insight into a doctor losing his nerve to operate?
- How does writing compare with practicing medicine?
- The story of the blue diamond and the Al Capone connection you write about is intriguing. Was that based on fact?
- The surgical scenes in the book depict standard practices and equipment from a few decades ago. Of all the medical advances that have occurred in the last forty years, what are the most important?
- As a follow-up, what hasn't changed a bit since you were an intern at Cook?
- Following your internship at Cook, you went on to become professor of surgery and Chief of Pediatric Surgery and Surgeon in Chief at Children's Memorial Hospital. What did you like most about pediatric surgery?
- A case in the book involved a young boy whose lungs weren't receiving enough oxygenated blood and serves as a pivotal moment for the book's hero, Tom Slocum. Do you remember key cases that impacted you in some significant way, and if so, please give us a few examples.
- Diamonds of Death involves your love of medicine, sailing, Chicago and what else? What topic or sub-topic caused you the most need to research?
- How have your medical colleagues reacted to the way you write about medicine in Diamonds of Death?
- What's next for you? With your first novel completed, will you write another?
- Why the need to write under a pen name?
- How can people get their hands on a copy of Diamonds of Death?
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