Over the Edge by Brandilyn Collins - REVIEWED

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Over the Edge B&H Books (May 1, 2011) by Brandilyn Collins



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Brandilyn Collins is an award-winning and best-selling novelist known for her trademark Seatbelt Suspense®. These harrowing crime thrillers have earned her the tagline "Don't forget to b r e a t h e..."® Brandilyn's first book, A Question of Innocence, was a true crime published by Avon in 1995. Its promotion landed her on local and national TV and radio, including the Phil Donahue and Leeza talk shows. Brandilyn is also known for her distinctive book on fiction-writing techniques, Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn From Actors (John Wiley & Sons). She is now working on her 20th book.



In addition, Brandilyn’s other latest release is Final Touch, third in The Rayne Tour series—young adult suspense co-written with her daughter, Amberly. The Rayne Tour series features Shaley O’Connor, daughter of a rock star, who just may have it all—until murder crashes her world.





ABOUT THE BOOK

Torn from the front lines of medical debate and the author's own experience with Lyme Disease, Over the Edge is riveting fiction, full of twists and turns—and powerful truths about today's medical field.



Janessa McNeil’s husband, Dr. Brock McNeil, a researcher and professor at Stanford University's Department of Medicine, specializes in tick-borne diseases—especially Lyme. For years he has insisted that Chronic Lyme Disease doesn't exist. Even as patients across the country are getting sicker, the committee Brock chairs is about to announce its latest findings—which will further seal the door shut for Lyme treatment.



One embittered man sets out to prove Dr. McNeil wrong by giving him a close-up view of the very disease he denies. The man infects Janessa with Lyme, then states his demand: convince her husband to publicly reverse his stand on Lyme—or their young daughter will be next.



But Janessa's marriage is already rocky. She's so sick she can hardly move or think. And her husband denies she has Lyme at all.



Welcome to the Lyme wars, Janessa.


My Thoughts:

“Still no lightning. No warm healing through my body. Just a quiet though that this was right. That God would help. Regardless of my nightmare, He was worthy to be trusted.” (p. 185)

Brandilyn Collins has written her most chilling novel yet! Over the Edge is particularly chilling, because it deals with a very real war raging within the medical community today – Lyme Wars. Lyme disease is an infection carried by the deer tick, an the disease, if misdiagnosed and left untreated, can quickly annihilate and end a human life. What does this have to do with Brandilyn’s book? Only Brandilyn can take a deadly disease and create a motive, a scenario and a means to tie them together and write a believable, spine-tingling thriller that you will not be able to put down! The twists and turns will grab your heart-strings and never let go!!

I have followed Collins’ real-life drama of her battle with Lyme Disease, and I have simultaneously watched close relatives fight this same insidious battle. Misdiagnosis has almost cost my relatives their lives, and they have just recently found a doctor who recognizes the danger and has begun treatment. The Lyme Wars are real folks, and the scenario in Collins’ book is not as fictional as you might think. Doctors are risking their medical license every day to do battle against this very treatable disease in order to save lives.

Over the Edge is a terrific read, and I fully believe that lives will be forever changed by the information contained within this story! Talk about God using every circumstance in the believer’s life for their good and His glory! Over the Edge is the ultimate “A-Men!”

“A taut, heartbreaking thriller. Collins is a fine writer who knows how to both horrify readers and keep them turning pages.”

--Publishers Weekly



“Tense and dramatic. Holds its tension while following the protagonist in a withering battle.” –NY Journal of Books



“A frightening and all-too-real scenario. Very timely and meaningful book.” –RT Reviews



“If you know someone who suffers from Lyme, you need to read this compelling novel.” –Lydia Niederwerfer, founder of Lyme-Aware

If you would like to read the Prologue of Over the Edge, go HERE



Watch the book video: