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The Burden
No longer available.
344 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2003
5 people want to read
About the author
Edison McDaniels
25 books124 followersAudiobook narrator and producer, as well as an author myself..
My hallmark in fiction: ordinary folks caught in the maelstrom of extraordinary circumstances. My tales are calculated to keep you in suspense & my writing is intense, no doubt about it. I like to think of it as life charged to the highest intensity. Engaging, heartbreaking fiction that doesn't disappoint.
In the words of Charles Dickens, AMERICAN NOTES: "All that is loathsome, drooping, or decayed is here."
My stories run to the darker aspects of human nature, but no gratuitous violence. I paint pictures with words. I am one of those who believes a story is a found thing, like digging a fossil out of the ground. At first you work with big tools, taking large swipes. Later, the tools get more refined and the picking becomes more focused as you try to get the thing out with the least damage possible. In this regard, writing is all about revision, revision, revision. I can't stress the importance of that idea. Revision. And you have to read. Can't be a writer if you don't read. Period.
I am a surgeon in the daytime. I rarely write about medicine and surgery as the prime subject, but frequently feature some offbeat account of medicine or surgery in my stories. I take great pride in my ability to write for the masses (for lay readers). I do often include graphic scenes of surgery—not necessarily in an operating room and not necessarily by a trained surgeon—so if you are the sort who covets shows like Trauma in the ER or New York Med, or you secretly long to be a voyeur amid the trauma and carnage of a big city ER (Bellevue in New York, Charity in New Orleans—which was destroyed by Katrina, Parkland in Dallas, MLK in Los Angeles, etc) my books are probably for you. As noted above, I put ordinary people in extraordinary situations. The machinations of how they squirm is the story.
Influences (in no particular order) include Cormac McCarthy, Alexander Laing (The Cadaver of Gideon Wyck is a spectacular & classic horror story from the 1930's), Stephen King, Neville Shute, Ray Bradbury, Shelby Foote, Erich Remarque, Ken Follett, Antony Beevor, Lovecraft, Mary Shelley, Herman Melville, & many, many others.
You can follow me on twitter, @surgeonwriter. Thanks!
My hallmark in fiction: ordinary folks caught in the maelstrom of extraordinary circumstances. My tales are calculated to keep you in suspense & my writing is intense, no doubt about it. I like to think of it as life charged to the highest intensity. Engaging, heartbreaking fiction that doesn't disappoint.
In the words of Charles Dickens, AMERICAN NOTES: "All that is loathsome, drooping, or decayed is here."
My stories run to the darker aspects of human nature, but no gratuitous violence. I paint pictures with words. I am one of those who believes a story is a found thing, like digging a fossil out of the ground. At first you work with big tools, taking large swipes. Later, the tools get more refined and the picking becomes more focused as you try to get the thing out with the least damage possible. In this regard, writing is all about revision, revision, revision. I can't stress the importance of that idea. Revision. And you have to read. Can't be a writer if you don't read. Period.
I am a surgeon in the daytime. I rarely write about medicine and surgery as the prime subject, but frequently feature some offbeat account of medicine or surgery in my stories. I take great pride in my ability to write for the masses (for lay readers). I do often include graphic scenes of surgery—not necessarily in an operating room and not necessarily by a trained surgeon—so if you are the sort who covets shows like Trauma in the ER or New York Med, or you secretly long to be a voyeur amid the trauma and carnage of a big city ER (Bellevue in New York, Charity in New Orleans—which was destroyed by Katrina, Parkland in Dallas, MLK in Los Angeles, etc) my books are probably for you. As noted above, I put ordinary people in extraordinary situations. The machinations of how they squirm is the story.
Influences (in no particular order) include Cormac McCarthy, Alexander Laing (The Cadaver of Gideon Wyck is a spectacular & classic horror story from the 1930's), Stephen King, Neville Shute, Ray Bradbury, Shelby Foote, Erich Remarque, Ken Follett, Antony Beevor, Lovecraft, Mary Shelley, Herman Melville, & many, many others.
You can follow me on twitter, @surgeonwriter. Thanks!
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 15, 2013
A medical thriller with supernatural overtones-think Stephen King meets Michael Crichton. The plot is fast-paced and the medical scenes are told in stunning detail, due to McDaniel’s actual profession as a brain surgeon.
In The Burden, neurosurgeon Jordan Maine discovers within himself a door to the other side, which he uses to see his dead daughter. However, he can only open this door when he touches someone as they die, and there is something on the other side that wants to get out.
A solid first effort. Intriguing and well worth reading.
In The Burden, neurosurgeon Jordan Maine discovers within himself a door to the other side, which he uses to see his dead daughter. However, he can only open this door when he touches someone as they die, and there is something on the other side that wants to get out.
A solid first effort. Intriguing and well worth reading.
Displaying 1 of 1 review