Double Blind

A virus is sweeping the Navajo reservation, and two of her childhood friends are dead. For Sheila Metcalf that's a call to leave Hideaway, Missouri, and return to Arizona. Neither her father's objections nor the arguments of Preston Black, the man who loves her, can stop Sheila from returning to the land of her youth. Her nursing skills are needed, and it's past time she found out the truth about her mother's long-ago death.

There's a medical mystery to unravel, secrets about the past to uncover and questions about the future to explore. Along the way, Sheila will need courage and strength--and faith that God will protect her and lead her to where she belongs.

"You're a doctor?" Cheryl leaned toward Mel and raised her voice to be heard over the din of restaurant diners. "You could help me paralyze someone, then, couldn't you?"

Mel stared at her with some trepidation. This was the "nice young lady" his pastor, Brother Ron, wanted him to meet?

"I only want to paralyze him temporarily, of course," Cheryl continued.

Mel glanced toward the nearest exit.

"I'd better explain myself," she said with a smile. "I write novels. I'm doing research for a book."

Ah, interesting. He relaxed slightly and gave her all the information she needed in good, graphic detail. He couldn't understand why she only ate half a slice of pizza the whole evening.

This was Mel's introduction into Cheryl's world of fiction. It was Cheryl's introduction into the life of an emergency room physician. They were both fascinated. A year and a half later, they were married.

The fascination grew as Mel downloaded at the end of his workday— never betraying patient confidentiality. Cheryl's imagination took over, and together they generated ideas for a completely new story, with a completely new novel. With Mel's medical input, encouragement and help with plotting, and Cheryl's writing skills gleaned over 13 years, they developed their first ER-style novel.

The Hoddes (pronounced Hoddee) have loved working together ever since that first meeting. Cheryl has been a professional writer for 19 years now. Mel is a board-certified ER physician with a degree in osteopathy. They work together under the pen name of Hannah Alexander. Their specialty ismedicalromantic suspense.

Mel and Cheryl live in the Missouri Ozarks, where they like to set the majority of their books.