Brain Surgeon's First Novel is Published

Online, September 29, 2010 (Newswire.com) - British neurosurgeon Fred Nath has completed 21 consecutive Great North Runs, trekked to 6000m in Nepal, and crossed the highest mountain pass in the world.

But his latest adventure has seen him rest his weary legs and put pen to paper to write his first novel.

Fred, a full-time Neurosurgeon at the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, lives in Eaglescliffe (N. England) with his wife and daughter, his three sons having grown up and flown the nest.

Why does he write?

"Like John Buchan, I began writing because I love a good story and when I ran out of penny-novels to read I felt I should write my own," he said.

"It feels great to see your first book in print but I won't be giving up the day job! The fact is, getting a book accepted by a publisher these days is about as easy as getting a pizza at 6000 meters up a mountain. Trust me, I know a doctor."

Entitled The Cyclist, the fictional tale is set in Nazi-occupied Aquitaine in 1943. A beautiful young woman is found murdered in the shadow of the Bergerac Prefecture. Auguste Ran, Assistant Chief of Police, suspects Brunner, a German Security Police Major, of the crime. The more Auguste investigates, the more obsessed he becomes with bringing down the seemingly untouchable Brunner. Auguste begins to realise he has been conveniently ignoring the Nazi atrocities going on around him, and understands too late the human cost of his own participation in the internment of the local Jewish population.

Driven by conscience and struggling with his Catholic religious beliefs, his actions start to put his own family at risk. Harbouring the daughter of his lifelong Jewish friend Pierre, they are forced into a desperate trek towards neighbouring Switzerland, pursued all the way by the German security police.

Fred, who has worked as a Consultant Neurosurgeon in Middlesbrough for 26 years, added, "After a number of holidays in the Dordogne, I wrote The Cyclist as a tribute to the brave men and women of France who fought so valiantly to protect and preserve their culture and their homeland during the German occupation. We should never forget their courage, loyalty, and determination."

To find out more about the book or to download the first two chapters free, visit: http://novels.fingerpress.co.uk/the-cyclist.html

To request a review copy or press pack, please email Matt Stephens: [email protected]