Last Resort

IT WAS A STORY TO PUT HIDEAWAY,

MISSOURI, IN THE NATIONAL HEADLINES… A MISSING CHILD: Carissa Cooper, twelve, vanishes near her home—abducted, possibly by someone close to her.

A WOMAN IN CRISIS : Noelle Cooper races back to her hometown to help in the search for her cousin and steps into a web of secrets that has haunted her family for generations.

A MAN OF FAITH : Nathan Trask will do anything to protect Noelle from danger. Noelle's childhood friend, he might be much more…if she dares turn to him.

"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.