Where No One Should Live: A Novel (Hardcover)
Dr. Maya Summer works at Arizona Public Health, overseeing and researching a myriad of public health issues. A passionate advocate for a motorcycle helmet law, she also monitors disease-bearing mosquitoes, rabid bobcats, and the opioid epidemic—along with many other concerns. To maintain her clinical skills, she spends time at the nearby family medicine residency, seeing patients and teaching new physicians. Maya also navigates a complicated personal life: a somewhat troubled romantic relationship with a cardiologist; a retired physician-friend searching for new meaning; an undocumented neighbor raising a young son; and a cherished ailing old horse. A new danger looms when she sparks the anger of local biker gangs who want to stop her helmet campaign. As the intimidating warnings reach an unsettling highpoint, a past trauma that had been fueling her work now starts to haunt her—threatening to derail her carefully choreographed life.
Dr. Alex Reddish, a faculty member at the residency, enjoys Maya’s company every week. He longs to know her better but also knows she is involved with a prominent cardiologist. A former shy chess champion, Alex has worked to remake himself into a more socially engaged person, though he cannot completely shed his reclusive past. His professional life is complicated by two resident physician advisees: a depressed and poorly performing man, and a seductive woman. And now someone seems determined to harm him.
Maya and Alex turn accomplices when they try to unravel a spate of unusual illnesses afflicting residency staff, and discover disturbing trends. As Maya and Alex become closer, they must also tackle their personal pasts and individual demons, and find the courage to move forward.
Dr. Alex Reddish, a faculty member at the residency, enjoys Maya’s company every week. He longs to know her better but also knows she is involved with a prominent cardiologist. A former shy chess champion, Alex has worked to remake himself into a more socially engaged person, though he cannot completely shed his reclusive past. His professional life is complicated by two resident physician advisees: a depressed and poorly performing man, and a seductive woman. And now someone seems determined to harm him.
Maya and Alex turn accomplices when they try to unravel a spate of unusual illnesses afflicting residency staff, and discover disturbing trends. As Maya and Alex become closer, they must also tackle their personal pasts and individual demons, and find the courage to move forward.
Sandra Cavallo Miller is an author, poet, and retired academic family physician in Arizona who has helped launch hundreds of medical students and residents into their careers. She is the author of four novels, including the Dr. Abby Wilmore series books: The Color of Rock, Where Light Comes and Goes, and What the River Said. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona. For more information, visit her author website at skepticalword.com.
"I couldn’t put this down. Dr. Miller makes great use of her expertise in public health, residency training, horses, and Arizona to weave a remarkable tale unique in its Southwestern flavor. An evidence-based mystery with characters that fly off the page. Miller mixes her unique blend of knowledge and humor to keep a reader engrossed."
—Steven R. Brown, MD, FAAFP, program director, University of Arizona College of Medicine/Phoenix Family Medicine Residency and president, Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors
"Knowledgeable, entertaining, and a fine writer, Miller takes the page-turner on a wild ride through the mysteries of the medical world, all of this set in the midst of everyday happenings. There is an urgency to her telling that pulls the reader ever onward. A very enjoyable read."
—Phyllis Barber, author of The Desert Between Us
—Steven R. Brown, MD, FAAFP, program director, University of Arizona College of Medicine/Phoenix Family Medicine Residency and president, Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors
"Knowledgeable, entertaining, and a fine writer, Miller takes the page-turner on a wild ride through the mysteries of the medical world, all of this set in the midst of everyday happenings. There is an urgency to her telling that pulls the reader ever onward. A very enjoyable read."
—Phyllis Barber, author of The Desert Between Us
"With a medical insider's perspective, physician/writer Sandra Miller introduces another appealing heroine: Maya Summer, a dedicated family doctor and busy public-health official in Phoenix. Dr. Summer faces myriad challenges--anonymous threats in response to her advocacy for motorcycle safety, clinic patients who range from quirky to cantankerous, and growing uneasiness about a long-term relationship with another physician. When Dr. Summer's clinic colleagues suddenly fall prey to a sinister string of murky illnesses, she must call upon her sharp intelligence, medical expertise, and courage to identify the cause--and stop an increasingly daring culprit."
—Diane Guernsey, Executive Editor: Pulse, voices from the heart of medicine
