Noble Vision

This is the best new novel I've read in three decades. It has very likable heroes (adorable, actually) who know what they are doing, it has villains who are presented as such, and above all it has a suspenseful, compelling plot, one that elegantly assaults the sacred cow of socialized medicine while entertaining the hell out of the reader. Hope to find another as good in the next three decades--hint, hint, Ms. LaGreca.

Noble Vision by Genevieve LaGreca is the enthralling tale of a surgeon's ethical struggle between the legal strictures of standard medical practice, and the ethical necessity of saving a young ballerina from the possible damage that her body may otherwise incur if certain steps are not taken. Capturing the reader, Noble Vision is the chilling suspense story of an intricate plot only thickening by as the author explores deeper and deeper into the lives and minds of the characters. A well-researched and highly diligent telling of a sensitively written and inherently captivating novel of suspense, Noble Vision is very highly recommended reading, especially for those with any interest in medical, psychological, or investigative studies.

In many ways, this book is reminiscent of Ayn Rand's, The Fountainhead. The struggle of the neurosurgeon, David Lang, to do his work his way, is similar to the struggle of Howard Roark, but, in many ways, the struggle is more intense. Every medical student and resident should read this book. It is both an exceptionally well written novel in the great romantic tradition, and a warning of nightmarish consequences for every patient, if the government continues to increase its death grip over medicine.

I don't usually write book reviews for novels or books that generally are considered to be works of "fiction," although I regularly read a great many novels for my own enjoyment, merely for the sake of recreation. Now and then, however, a novel comes along that I consider to be a work of "fiction that makes an important point." This is the case with Gen LaGreca's new novel, "Noble Vision." Written in the tradition of Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead" and Dean Koontz's "Dark Rivers of the Heart," LaGreca's book does, indeed, "make an important point," and does it superbly. The battlefield is sociopolitical geography and the war is rational individualism against state totalitarianism. The basic plot of the novel is really quite simple, but the philosophical ramifications are profound. Dr. David Lang, a noted and successful neurosurgeon, has discovered a way to regenerate nerve tissue. The government (of the state of New York, in this case) will not allow him to try his experimental procedure on Nicole Hudson, a professional ballerina who has become blind because of a fall which occurred during an explosion at the theater where she was performing. And why can't Dr. Lang help Nicole to possibly regain her sight with his new medical breakthrough? Well, because medical practice in New York is now regulated by the state's socialized medicine program (named, interestingly enough, "CareFree"), and Dr. Lang's procedure has not yet been "officially" approved. It doesn't matter, of course, that Nicole, as his patient, has granted him permission to try the new procedure. There are a number of subplots in the story, adding complexity to both the major theme of the novel and the suspense experienced by the reader, and a cast of characters who are clearly drawn and with whom the reader will either identify or vilify. The state's governor is an exemplar of the truly corrupt politician; the head of the state's socialized medicine program is a compromised physician (who just happens to be Dr. Lang's father!); and Marie Lang, David's wife, who is also a physician but one who has caved in to the powers-that-be, has given up her dream of being a cardiologist to be a general practitioner because that was the "socially correct" thing to do. Other characters grace the pages of this fine novel and the reader has no trouble determining where they stand in relation to the main theme of the book. Yes, it's pretty much black and white, and that's the way good fiction ought to be when it's trying to get the reader to think about an important issue. This is what fiction in the "Romantic" tradition is meant to be. In LaGreca's novel there are no namby-pamby gray areas of moral indecisiveness; there are no colorless characters who couldn't be heroes or villains because they wouldn't know the difference; there is no compromise between true individualism and the suffocating policies of state collectivism. Hurray for that! Remember Hilary Clinton's proposed healthcare program back

Gen LaGreca has obviously done her homework. Her writing is not only thoroughly researched, it is gripping and entertaining. Her characters are thoroughly believable. The plot moves along at an appropriate pace. Unlike some authors I have read recently, Ms. LaGreca doesn't lose steam at the end or rush to draw everything to a close. She clearly knew where she wanted to end up before starting the journey. Further, thanks to this novel and its portrayal of the behind-the-scenes machinations of the health insurance bureaucracy with its sometimes disastorous results for patients and medical practitioners, I now understand why I barely have 15 minutes to spend with my health care provider after waiting 1-2 hours to see him/her. Government regulation has driven several companies virtually to the brink of extinction (the latest being AT & T, which was just swallowed whole by one of the "baby bells" created by US Anti-trust laws). Hopefully, Ms. LaGreca's book will give us all a heightened awareness of the same thinking that is now targeting our healthcare providers before more of them quit medicine to grow oranges in Florida. Thank you, Ms. LaGreca, not only for such a splendid read but for exposing these important issues.