This book was sent to me for review by Vera at Luxury Reading.Copernicus (Nick) H. Stringfellow is an average-looking, very tall man. He is driving in Washington and has picked up a hitchhiker, Molly, who claims she is sixteen, although Nick can tell that she probably isn't any older than thirteen.
Nick has a conversation with Molly and convinces her to go back to her home, which is in a pretty run-down area in a tenement complex. Molly's mom is worn out and tired and unemployed. Nick pulls out a roll of bills and tells Molly's mom to just love her daughter and has guaranteed her a job with a friend of his. Good deed accomplished!
Nick arrives at Harborview Hospital and consults with Theodore S. Furney, M.D., the medical director. Dr. Furney, an old friend, offers many positions to Nick, but Nick would like the position of Nurse-At-Large. Dr. Furney believes that the position is not good enough, a waste of Nick's talent.
Nick then proceeds to go about purchasing a run-down house, paying an outrageous amount in $100 bills. He then advertises, at the hospital, for a gardener, housekeeper, and interior decorator. He hires 3 people who have become down on their luck and assures them salaries of between $3,000 to $4,000 per month.
Nick's work at the hospital brings him into contact with some very good people and some not-so-good people. Nick seems to
have knowledge about everything, from medical to languages to protective instincts. He is consistently running into a woman who he considers the most beautiful woman he has ever seen, Dr. Prescilla Spurbeck. They are butting heads, as Nick seems to be everywhere and looking in on patients in all areas of the hospital.
It seems that Nick has a nutritional secret. He ingests Twinkies, sometimes 20 at a time, that make him become a superhero. He has many cute little names for his dietary super-food including Fantastic Focus Factors, Salubrious Segments of Sagacity, etc.
Nick performs many heroic acts throughout the book, although on a quiet basis and never seems to be conscious of his super-hero abilities. He really is just an ordinary guy with some very intelligent means of accomplishing super feats.
He acquires a group of friends at the hospital and watches over these people surreptitiously. We learn about his childhood, how intelligent he was and the history of his always learning and the fact that he entered college(s) at the age of eleven, even though he could have been entered at the age of six.
This is a very cute story, although some of the medical jargon was a little much, although that is exactly how Nick would be thinking, so tolerable. I hope that Lorin Barber writes a second novel so that we can follow Nick on his next adventure.
http://lorinbarber.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment