The sequel to Mal Practice follows pediatrician Joe Nelson and his friends as they leave Eastern Kentucky for Las Vegas as ordered by the police. Their "vacation" is intended to protect them from the murderer back home. The planned vacation will only last until things are straightened out back home unless Joe gets them all involved with the runaway children on the streets around them, and of course that's what he does when one of them is brutally murdered. The efforts to solve the crime end up jeopardizing them all and placing them at odds with the local police and the casino where they are staying. When the murdered runaway's father arrives he is accused in the death of the man who killed his daughter. Joe will be lucky to escape this one, but he is not going to give it up anyway.
About the Author: Paul is the middle child of three boys, born and raised in New England. Though he is now a practicing Emergency Department physician, his formal education began at the Boston University College of Engineering. He worked briefly for NASA during the Apollo project where one of the engineers convinced him to apply to medical school. Paul went on to attend Boston University School of Medicine intending to pursue bio-medical research, but grew to like the practice of medicine too much to give it up. While working at Boston City Hospital (now Boston Medical Center), Paul met his wife, Mary. She was his supervisor, but he somehow managed to get up the courage to ask her out and eventually, to marry him. That was 39 years ago. The couple spent their honeymoon year in Eastern Kentucky, Appalachia, because they wanted to go somewhere that really needed physicians. With breaks to return to their training, the year extended to six years. Paul and Mary understood that if they were not there, it was likely that no one else would have been. Exhausting work, but fulfilling. Paul did end up doing research, publishing a dozen articles including three pieces in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. One of the articles outlined the response of patients with renal failure and bleeding, and became the basis for the current treatment of these patients, still in use almost forty years later. Paul's favorite journal publication was co-authored by Deepak Chopra, who was an endocrinology fellow at the time. It was Deepak's first time being published, but certainly not his last! Since that time Paul has certified in Internal Medicine, Cardiology, and Emergency Medicine. He practices now in Lawrence, MA, in one of the busiest ED's in the state, and in one of the most medically underserved areas in the state. Paul is actively involved in teaching Family Practice residents, and was the director of the Massachusetts chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians' course on board exam review and preparation until five years ago when the course was closed. Paul says "Mary and I live in Georgetown, MA, on a small farm of sorts with chickens and dogs and cats... and love. My family is one of my greatest joys, especially the adoption of my two daughters from Ecuador, now twenty years ago. They have added meaning to our lives and expanded our cultural adventures."