Dr. Jessica Malloy falls in love with the son of a critically ill patient and a labor riot brings her face-to-face with medical ethics issues in the 1930s that we still grapple with today.
The Quarry introduces elderly Maudie Hegerty, whose son, Boris, is foreman of the local quarry. Boris is facing not only the threat of labor problems, he is trying to come to terms with the colon cancer that is killing his mother. Maudie is being cared for by Dr. Jessica Malloy, the physician in charge of the emergency department at Woodhill Memorial Hospital. In the course of her work, Jess befriends Woodhill Fire Department first-aid officer, Eli Sheffler, who becomes her steadfast friend through events that threaten everything they hoped would be in their future.
Excerpt
In the hallway, Aaron was sitting on a bench, staring at the floor, waiting for the same news as Jess. Express editor, David Barker, had interviewed him earlier, but Aaron couldn't remember a thing he'd told the man.
Why wasn't there any word? Couldn't they send a nurse down to give a progress report? What kind of hospital was this, that they didn't give a thought to those who were waiting? Aaron thought of asking Jess if she'd heard anything, but she was overwhelmed with victims, going from one treatment cubicle to another, dodging newspaper reporters and photographers, and all the while waiting, as Aaron was, for word from the third floor operating room. She looked exhausted and her doctor's coat had blotches of blood and other body fluids spattered on it. She had changed coats at least twice that Aaron noticed. What a dumb thing to think about, he chided himself, glancing up again when the stairwell door opened. Each time it opened, he prayed it was good news coming from the operating room, and each time he'd been disappointed.
This time, though, Dave McCann emerged from the stairwell and saw Aaron. "He made it through surgery," Dave said, only slowing enough to pass on the news, "the blood clot was removed. That's all I can tell you for now."
Professional Reviews
Scribblers Reviews - Brenda Ramsbacher
Months of rumors become truth in minutes. Aaron Chandler and Boris Hegerty now had their hands full. The quarrymen are out of control. Meanwhile, Liberty Sand and Gravel are determined to continue closing the quarry even with an offered
proposal in their grasp. Things don't always turn out the way it should. A
peaceful resolution is wanted but a riot breaks out. Seriously injured Boris is rushed directly to surgery while his fiancé struggles to put her patients before her feelings.
Jessica Malloy is first and foremost a doctor. She wants children and a husband yet Jess has no desire to quit the job she loves - ever. The work she craves are emergencies. The thrills. The tension. The frantic pace of an emergency doctor's life. Thus Jess expected to remain single. Then she meets Maudie, a woman wracked with cancer, and eventually falls in love with her son.
Enter in Eli Sheffler. Trained in the Navy, Eli loved his job running the
ambulance and being the first to help those in need. Just as he took care of his sister so many years ago. Although he never complained about living in the
orphanage, Eli remained angry about his father's leaving. Older and much wiser,
Eli was in for the shock of his life for during the riot at the quarry, Eli
comes face-to-face with his father.
A twist of tales in one, THE QUARRY is the second book in the FIREHOUSE FAMILY series. With the cast of characters from book one, MEMORIES, the story moves steadily foreword to the expected outcome of Jess finding her true love, Eli finding his long-missing father, and Boris completely recovering. Although this portion has been neatly wrapped up, it's evident another book is in the making. With two fantastic novels under Loveman's pen already, I hope this series continues through the final climax.
All About Murder - Kim Atchue-Cusella
Eli Sheffler is the senior First Aid man at the Woodhill Fire Department. Eli's mother died giving birth to his sister Ruth, who had cerebral palsy. Eli helped raise Ruth because many people did not understand her illness. Eli's father abandoned them a few years after his wife died. They ended up in an orphanage that a friend had taken them to.
Jessica Malloy is the town's Emergency Room doctor; she is the only woman doctor in town. She also takes care of Maudie Hegerty while her son, Boris, is working at the quarry. Jessica feels herself falling in love with Boris even though there is a big age difference.
Aaron Chandler is brought to Woodhill to investigate the quarry's profitability. If the quarry can no make enough money it will be shut down, leaving many people without jobs and homes, as many of the employees live in quarry housing. He finds himself befriending Boris while trying to make safer working conditions for the quarry to keep it open for a number of years.
When the quarry is shut down by the big guns, Boris is hurt in a terrible accident. Jessica is helpless and must stand by to wait to see if he will survive. At the accident scene Eli is brough face-to-face with his long lost father. Can he set his bitterness of being abandoned aside to talk to his father and hear his story?
The Quarry is the second in a trilogy of the Firehouse Family. It is set in 1934 in Woodhill, Ohio. Jessica is a compassionate woman who you want to see find her happiness. Eli wants to understand why his father never came back for him and his sister, but his anger prevents him from this. He needs Jessica to help him through his pain and overcome his bitterness. Laurie Loveman has the knack of pulling the reader in by telling a great story. It is a story that makes you fall in love with the characters as if they were your own friends and families.
“Nancy Drew Meets CSI”. It’s another Annie Tillery Mystery
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