The Undiscovered Country
by Mike Nemeth

Take a man who has just gotten out of prison, serving time for a crime he did not commit, and present him with life and death decisions for his ailing mother who arguably has not been getting the best of care. Throw in his estranged brother and sister who have disturbing secrets, and a hospital more interested in protecting its reputation than providing care. What do you have? Randle Marks  determined to preserve his mother’s dignity and save her life – perhaps at the expense of her wellbeing – and determined to find out why his deceased father hated him.

Randle Marks is a man with a lot of baggage.

It doesn’t help that Elaine Marks has kept a lot from him, yet insists she has taken care of everything. Randle doesn’t trust what she says. After all, she’s been having conversations with Jesus, who has let her know He is coming for her. She even knows the day.

At times, Marks comes across as somewhat self-serving in the decisions he makes. Through everything he remains focused on abiding by his mother’s wishes after she passes.

The tension builds as he investigates the hospital, questions the care his mother gets when she is transferred to a rehabilitation center, and discovers all the ways she has been taken advantage of by his siblings and the health care system. And then there are all the things she keeps to herself.

I like the way Nemeth shows Randle navigating the unfamiliar territory of broken family relationships and the undiscovered country of health care in the modern age. He has a lot more going on than his mother’s situation, but I’ll leave that for the reader to discover.

Nemeth is a retired businessman living in suburban Atlanta with his wife, Angie and their rescue dog, Sophie. He said in his Amazon profile, “I’m a football fan and a golfer. Now my job is to write domestic thrillers that are candy-coated medicine for our social ills.” He is the author of Defiled, which introduces readers to Randle Marks, a rebellious scientist who runs afoul of blind Lady Justice.

My rating: Thumbs up

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