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I spent my career as a neurosurgeon at Level 1 trauma centers. I wanted to give the reader a peek behind the curtains of that world. There are great non-fiction books on the subject, but I hoped a fictional work would be more immersive, more thrilling, and more frightening. All the depictions of cases – from their origins, to the conduct of their surgeries, to their ultimate outcomes – are pretty darn accurate. And I think the reader will see, it can be pretty hair-raising. Then, I have spent many years studying what affects constant exposure to death, dying, mayhem, tragedy, and human suffering has on healthcare practitioners, and have co-authored three non-fiction books on the subject. It feels plausible to me for someone in said environment to become untethered from reality, and start seeing ghosts. I certainly know the wreckage it can cause in practitioners’ psyches, home lives, and marriages. Finally, I grew up in a house with a Scottish mother and grandmother. They firmly believed in ghosts and had their own experiences with the undead. So tales of the paranormal are embedded in my soul. If a spirit world exists, I felt it logical for its members to be attracted to someone who so often spends his time in the no-man’s land between the living and the dead. And, I thought the juxtaposition of the supernatural world with the very “natural” world of modern biomedical science would be an interesting contrast.
Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite
Death's Pale Flag is a work of fiction in the psychological thriller and suspense subgenres. It is best suited to mature teen and adult readers owing to some dark themes but no graphic descriptions. Penned by author Gary Simonds, in this chilling work, we find ourselves immersed in the dark world of medical trauma and neuroscience when our protagonist Ryan Brenan starts to believe he is encountering ghosts. Frayed to his last nerve, Ryan has to wonder if the ghosts are real or if something in his brain has given way to chaos. Exploring strain, burnout, and psychological exhaustion with a thrilling paranormal twist, we follow with bated breath the turns of Ryan’s life to see where his adventures take him.
Author Gary Simonds offers a unique novel unlike anything I’ve ever read before, and the themes and combination of different genres are something I’d love to see more of in the medical thriller field. It is clear that Simonds knows the field well and speaks from personal experience in the world of neurosurgery, as the novel has a clinical overtone that provides a great level of professional detail. The narrative balances this out perfectly with the presence of our workaholic protagonist Ryan Brenan, who becomes more and more relatable as his life and struggles are revealed to us. The paranormal elements are believably incorporated and really highlight the mystery and psychological aspects of the plot well. Overall, Death's Pale Flag is a fascinating, detailed, and engrossing novel that I would certainly recommend for medical, psychological, and paranormal thriller fans alike, as it has much to satisfy all these groups and so much more.
