This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
I studied at Johns Hopkins and earned my PhD. at Cornell. My chosen profession allowed me the privilege of living and working in a number of countries in South America, Africa, and the Middle East where I got to know some of the local people and their culture. I usually felt that I was helping people, but all was not perfect. There were some trying times when I felt like scrapping everything and going back to the safety and comfort of my own country. As I've gotten older, like most people, I wonder what the end of life might bring. My second book, ‘Lazarus in the Labyrinth,’ attempts to deal with this most important of all human issues as a novel of ideas about religion, death and resurrection.
I am currently writing an adventure story based loosely on the Jonestown, Guyana tragedy. When I was working on a research project in Guyana in the early 1970’s I visited the remote jungle site of the early Jonestown community – under construction by a handful of enthusiastic young Americans. My boss was interested in going there, the reasons for which I didn’t understand at the time. I’ve written a chapter about that strange trip in my first book, ‘Undercovers: A Heaven of Hell.’
I'm now retired and lead a quiet life in Ithaca, New York with a partner, a dog and a beautiful garden.
Reviewed by Alice DiNizo for Readers' Favorite
Reno Antonin and Blaise Berrington have been lovers and partners for twenty years. They have a perfect life together as they own a beautiful home with lovely gardens and a loving dog, part golden retriever and part Samoyed, named Zulie. Reno has always been the super athlete and now with Blaise's encouragement he is a college professor while Bliase continues with his career as a doctor, administering anesthetics in hundreds of operations over the years. But then Reno runs into a tree by accident while skiing and his leg is broken and injures his lower spinal cord. Falling and breaking his hip has meant hip-replacement surgery for Reno and he is stuck at home, dealing with physical therapy and his sister's recommendation of psychotherapy. Reno feels that Blaise is faced with too much: he works full time and then has to come home to care for Reno. Will psychotherapy really help Reno and Blaise or will it uncover too many past problems?
"Lazarus in the Labyrinth" is a well-written, well-edited novel that deals with tough issues that all relationships face. Reno and Blaise, Reno's sister Dahlia and her husband, and all the other characters in this story are believable and help the reader to conclude that life is always changing. The reader will be impressed with the plot as it moves to its conclusion, leaving room for thought about death and endings and whether past issues should just stay in the past. "Lazarus in the Labyrinth" is not just a book about a gay couple, it is a book about life's twists and turns. Thoughtful readers will adore this novel.
