My perspective on this story is a little bit unique, as I'm a long-time friend of the author, his assistant, and his "alpha reader." Parts of my own life were used to inspire part of the story, and I have seen early drafts of the book and watched it grow and be shaped by feedback, so it's a little difficult for me to review this book since I was so close to its development process.
The book you see here is noticeably different from its first incarnation, and even from its beta reading state, because this is truly an author dedicated to bringing his absolute best to the table, and it really shows! He went over it in excruciating detail and took all feedback under serious advisement to make sure every moment is as good as it can be, even going so far as developing backstory and lore for a minor character who only appears in one scene (Afonso), to make sure his role was plausible and that he made sense within the world.
It's a story of friendship, love, loss, and so much more. I guess it's ultimately a story of how things often don't go the way you would expect. And if you've read Murdoch's Choice and/or Murdoch's Shadow, there's a whole new category of the world's lore introduced in this volume that offers up an enticing little whiff of the epic fantasy extravaganza still to come in the series.
With each of Wayne's novels, the title usually has double meanings. This is true of Murdoch's Choice, Murdoch's Shadow, and now The Healer. As other reviewers have pointed out, it's about healing in more ways than one, and how each character must heal from their own wounds, be it physical or experiential. I highly recommend this book for anyone with a love of fantasy and brilliant storytelling!