Double Blind by Hannah Alexander

Hannah Alexander is actually a husband and wife writing team... and no, she isn't Hannah and he is Alexander. They are Mel and Cheryl Hodde. Mel is an doctor and they live in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. Their books, at least all I have read, are medical suspense novels and most are set or at least connected to the fictional town of Hideaway, MO.

I was skeptical the first time I read one of their books. I am not really into medical thrillers.... never was a fan of Robin Cook and authors like that. But I decided to give them a try and I am so glad I did! Now when I see a Hannah Alexander novel, I snatch it up!

Double Blind is a great read, but there's more to it than that. With this book "Alexander" stepped out of "her" comfort zone a bit... or at least it seemed that way to me. Sheila Metcalf is a nurse in Hideway, but with cutbacks and lack of seniority she finds herself doing fill-in work on a sporadic basis. Then comes the call. She is needed in Arizona at Twin Mesas, a Christian school for Navajo children. Although she is Caucasian, Sheila attended Twin Mesas for 5 years while her parents worked there. She was a carefree happy child when they moved to Arizona. She left a broken and frightened child without a mother and full of unanswered questions.

Now people are dying at Twin Mesas, there seems to be a mysterious virus sweeping the reservation and the children are terrified and acting out. Sheila sees this as an opportunity to not only help, but to face her past and get some answers concerning her mother's death.

Preston Black loves Sheila and isn't keen about her racing off to Arizona, but how can he stop her. She has made it clear that she cares for him, but as long as he doesn't share her faith their relationship stops at being friends. And now she is returning to a place she considers home and to long ago friends, including her childhood friend, Dr. Canaan York. Could he be competition for Preston?

The setting of this novel is rather foreign to me. I have read other books set in the desert, but I have never been there personally. And I know very little about Native American beliefs and folks lore, which are both highlighted in Double Blind.

Double Blind is a very engaging story that intrigues and draws the reader into the happenings. I finished it yesterday and I still find myself wondering how the students at Twin Mesas are doing.

I found Double Blind in the new fiction section of my local library. Look for it at your library or online at http://www.christianbooks.com/