The Chairman

Dr. Kraus knows how to keep his readers turning the pages with an intriguing plot and interesting characters. But more than a spellbinding read, The Chairman delivers an important message: each person's value is based on the fact that God loves us, not what we are able to do or not do. Two very different types of "chairmen" learned this invaluable lesson as the events unfold in this medical mystery, bringing the two together for an unexpected ending.

This is the first book by Harry Kraus that I have read, and I am heading out to buy the rest. This book had me hooked from the beginning and kept me up most of the night so I could finish. The story revolves alternatively between a recent spinal injury patient trying to discover the facts relating to his injury (he has amnesia), and the chairman of neurosurgical department and his teenage daughter. Their stories eventually merge as you might imagine and each has a profound influence on the other's life. The storyline of a man and his wife trying to come to grips with a devastating injury and save their marriage is moving and realistic. You can not help but care deeply for these characters, and I was only disappointed at the end because it was over. I look forward to his next book, if it is half as good as this.

The Chairman held my attention through the whole book. I think it is Kraus's best. His realistic portrayal of a paraplegic let you in on what it must be like to be wheelchair bound. He deals with the issue of God's will in tragedy and weaves a love story into the plot. I'd recommend it to everyone.

Kraus writes with a doctors insight into human nature. I was captured by the first ten pages and held 'till the finish! The characters are real, the emotions are revealed with great sensitivity, the tension builds, and you don't know the answers until the end. You can let your adolescents read this without worrying about any inappropriate content.

Taken from "Profile" magazine: "For several books now, Harry Lee Kraus, Jr. has excited readers by combining his medical knowledge with newsworthy concerns-he's a doctor and he writes thrillers. With his latest, the intriguing "THE CHAIRMAN", Kraus weaves together issues such as divorce, drugs and animal testing in hospital research...The novelist, drawing on his medical expertise, has created a page-turner ripped from today's headlines, all the while teasing readers with the mystery of who shot McAllister and the question of whether the doctor's research will aid in McAllister's recovery. Krauss challenges readers to reflect on their self-image (and how God judges us not by what we do but by who we are), forgiveness and the importance of waiting on God's timing. A+