Comforter

The Iron Eagle #26

by Roy A. Teel Jr.

"There was someone in that room I saw them I know they were there." Back Tamara Jenkins was a happy young woman in the prime of her life. She had gone to the doctor for some routine tests, and, in a matter of hours, her world crumbled around her as she was diagnosed with stage three melanoma that had metastasized throughout her body. She underwent emergency surgery and was in the ICU at Northridge Hospital. Shortly after three a.m., Doctor Brian Cantor was making his rounds when he spotted a figure moving from Tamara's room into an adjacent hall. Less than thirty seconds later, a code sounded, and Doctor Cantor found Tamara hemorrhaging and flatlining. He called a code, but there was no way to save her. Brian swore to all in the room that he saw someone enter and exit. But who? Was it a coincidence or the hospital's angel of death? Inside Doctor Brian Cantor had been a promising young surgeon until he got hooked on pain medication. He had a breakdown the previous year and had just gotten his license back and was trying to get back on his feet. In the weeks leading up to his breakdown, he swore that he saw someone going into and coming out of patients' rooms just before they died. Due to the drugs, he was believed to be psychotic and was hospitalized despite a long-held rumor about the hospital's angel of death known only as the Comforter. Once recovered, Doctor Cantor returned to Northridge Hospital, only to see someone exit Jenkins' room moments before her death. What at first glance appeared to be a terrible accident revealed, instead, that Jenkins was indeed murdered by someone desperately trying to act in secrecy. As a possible witness, Doctor Cantor's life now hangs in the balance as the killer's actions bring the Iron Eagle into the hunt to end the mysterious string of deaths once and for all.

198 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 5, 2020

About the author

On May 11, 1995, at 30, Roy's life was irrevocably changed. After walking into the hospital, he was admitted and later received a sobering and life changing diagnosis - Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis. His doctors gave him two years to live, and he left the hospital in a wheelchair. Roy, not one for giving up, and having a, then, three-year-old daughter and an 11-year-old son, went immediately into human subjects research at UCLA and spent 12 years (1995-2007) as a human research subject. His experience gave him a unique look behind the scenes of medicine and the processes that are required to get drugs through the research chain, from the animal research phase to using those drugs in humans in clinical trials, and, if successful, on to the FDA for approval. Roy participated in four major experimental drug trials, and one of those ended up giving him thyroid cancer, which was diagnosed in January 2001.

Life as a Survivor

Roy is a proud cancer survivor and has refused to let MS define his life. His dedication to his work and to human subject research both inspired his writing as well as showed the real human condition when laid bare. As an author, Roy A. Teel Jr. is very diverse, and his works include both fiction and nonfiction. He earned his bachelor's degree in Ministerial Studies through Berean University of the Assemblies of God then went on to earn doctorates of Divinity and Biblical Studies through ULC Ministries.

Nonfiction

Roy's first nonfiction book, The Way, The Truth, and The Lies: How the Gospels Mislead Christians about Jesus' True Message, was published in 2005 and is taught in both religious and secular universities in the U.S. and abroad. Against The Grain: The American Mega-Church and its Culture of Control was published in 2008. This second book reveals the unflattering true faces of the "Goliaths of God" and shows religion and churches for what they really are - businesses - very, very lucrative and influential businesses involved in many facets of American society.

Short Fiction

In 2008, Roy published a collection of short stories titled, Light of Darkness: Dialogues in Death. These collected stories were inspired by both his difficult and troubled childhood as well as his years in clinical trials. He met and knew many people, many whom lost the battle due to natural causes, or in some cases, by their own hand, that he felt compelled to fictionalize and share their stories.

Novel-length Fiction

In 2013, Roy released his first novel, And God Laughed, a neoplatonic dialogue between one man and God. Although now a secular humanist, Roy believes in God but rejects all religions as man's folly and wrote a fictional narrative about a relationship with God outside of religion.

Current Project

In 2014, Roy began publishing his latest and largest project - a 40-novel geographically-centered hard boiled, mystery, suspense, thriller crime series: "The Iron Eagle Series." The main character, a former Marine Corps Black Operative turned rogue FBI agent, hunts killers in Los Angeles. Each novel addresses different subjects, and while fiction, all titles deal with real world subject matter. "The Iron Eagle Series" is not about things that can't hurt you. What happens in these novels can happen to any one of us if we let our guard down and/​or are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Life as an Author

After battling Multiple Sclerosis for nearly 16 years, Roy began devoting his energies and passions to the full-time art of storytelling. Although he is no longer able to work in a high stress executive environment, his life has taken on a new mission: to inform and entertain. His disability has brought with it an unforeseen blessing. He can finally take medications to alleviate some of the pain from his MS and focus on the pleasures of character creation and the joys of putting words to paper.

Reviews

[Michele bookloverforever · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not as riveting as his others......