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Monday, March 3, 2014

Political Thriller


Gil Snider, author of Brain Warp: A Political Medical Thriller



Author Bio:
I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, but I’ve done most of my medical training at the University of Michigan, including medical school and my neurology residency.  However, I did my internship at St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center in Greenwich Village which, along with Kiev, Ukraine, is the setting for my book.  For the past 30 years, I have been practicing neurology in Chesapeake, Virginia.  I live in Virginia Beach with my wife and best friend, Judy, and together we’ve raised two terrific boys, Jon and Nick. I love to travel, read, and enjoy cooking and eating all sorts of food.

Title: Brain Warp: A Medical Thriller
Author: Gil Snider
ISBN: 978-1-58348-472-2 (trade paperback); 978-0-595-88074-4 (hardcover)
Page count: 267 pp
Genre: Medical Thriller
Price: $17.95 paperback; $27.95 hardcover; $6.00 Kindle

Link to Amazon
AMAZON 
Tell us about your book:
Brain Warp is a medical thriller, but I mixed in elements of a political thriller as well.  Neurologist Dr. Peter Branstead and his psychologist girlfriend, Megan Hutchins, inadvertently become involved in a plot to poison the President of Ukraine when Peter stumbles onto a secret research facility in Greenwich Village that is testing out the poison on local vagrants.  His investigations into the nature of the facility and the drug itself leads Peter on a secret mission to Kiev, where he must save the President and escape from the clutches of the Russian Mafia, while being hunted by a brutal Mafia hit man intent on killing him.
How long did it take to write the book?
I researched my book for four months, setting up a chapter summary, then took eight months to write the first draft.  However, I spent a year or two doing rewrites.
What inspired you to write the book?
Writing Brain Warp was something of a personal journey for me.  My father was from Ukraine, and although the choice of Ukraine as a setting for the book was plot-driven, it serendipitously gave me the opportunity to learn about my background.  I think that because of this, I made fathers play an important part in Brain Warp.  Almost every major character was impacted by the actions, or absence, of their father.
Talk about the writing process. Did you have a writing routine? Did you do any research, and if so, what did that involve?
Most of my research involved learning about the history, geography and culture of Ukraine, as well as the layout of Kiev.  Although I lived in New York City for many years, and in Greenwich Village for three years, writing about it as a literary setting required viewing it in a different perspective.
As a physician and, in particular, a neurologist writing the medical part was easy.  The hard part was taking complex medical terminology and science and writing in a way that the average reader would understand it, but that a medical professional wouldn’t find overly simplified and trite.
I also found it difficult finding the time to write, with my professional obligations and to still be available to my family, especially my two young boys.  This usually involved writing after the kid’s bedtime, or sitting at my laptop after I had driven them to various activities.
What do you hope your readers come away with after reading your book?
A sense of edge-of-your-chair excitement, and a feeling of intimacy with the main characters.  I tried to make them as multi-dimensional as possible.  Every character had a history that molded him or her into the person they had become.

Wrap your brain around this thriller.
Peter Branstead, the intelligent neurology doctor at Saint Mark’s hospital, has stumbled into a medical mystery never before seen in the medical profession. Vagrants from the local area have flooded into the emergency room of Saint Mark’s. All of them with the same symptoms and all of them end with the same result – death. But what is causing these symptoms and why can’t the doctors save these patients?
As Peter investigate this mystery he discovers that everything is not as it seems. In fact it goes well beyond the simple virus or outbreak. Each patient did not simply die, they were murdered. Why? Little does Peter know but the closer he gets to the answer the closer he gets to extreme danger. There are people in the world who would do anything for power and Peter is about to meet them. “Brain Warp” is a medical mystery that travels across the globe and back again.
The deeper Peter digs the higher the stakes get. The individuals behind this horrible plan know of Peter, his fiancĂ© and their investigation. To stop their snooping they have called upon the Scorpion, the most ruthless individual known to the Ukrainian underworld. The mafia themselves fear this individual. What they don’t know is Peter has friends…but is it enough to stop these people and avoid the Scorpion?
From the first word, Gil Snider delivers a fast pace, mystery thriller that will keep you guessing and on the edge of your seat from the first page to the last. With each passing page, it is virtually impossible not to encourage Peter to keep digging but be careful and solve this crime. The more you read the more you feel the tension building as all the characters you care about find themselves in peril. 
The strength of “Brain Warp” lies in the story structure, crisp plot and believability. With medical terminology to support the plot it lends to the credibility of the story which adds depth in a real world scenario. The characters capture your attention quickly and never let go until the end. Author Gil Snider’s novel is a true medical mystery and thriller in every sense of the word. Think House but in the form of a book. I highly recommend “Brain Warp” for anyone who enjoys edge of your seat suspense, intrigue, crime and mystery. 
Where can we go to buy your book?
IUniverse.com; Amazon.com
Any other links or info you'd like to share?
www.brainwarp.net

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