Maya Hope

Dr. Nicklaus Hart #1

by Timothy Browne

A doctor stumbling through life. A North Korean bioterrorist plot.
The two collide in an unforgettable tale.

Dr. Nicklaus Hart, a gifted trauma surgeon, searches for meaning in his life. His self-reliant spirit is broken with the death of his missionary best friend, found sacrificed at the base of a Maya Temple. Going to Guatemala to fill the shoes of his friend at the mission hospital, he discovers God’s redemption and peace in the smiles of the children he cares for. But his own life is in danger as he and his team stumble onto a deadly North Korean plot.

As Nick delves into the mystery of his friend’s death, he exposes the very cause of the extermination of the Maya race…a virus which is about to be released upon the entire world through a bioterrorist scheme of global proportions. Will Nick and his team stop them in time?

Genres: Mystery Thriller, Thriller, Mystery, Medical, Christian Fiction, Suspense

387 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 15, 2017

Reviews

[Milana Marsenich · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Timothy Browne’s excellent novel: Maya Hope. Dr. Nicklaus Hart’s missionary best friend is murdered in Guatemala. Dr. Hart, a trauma surgeon, is devastated by the news and goes to Guatemala to help finish the work that his friend was doing. While there, he searches for his friend’s killer. This leads him into a dangerous situation with a deadly North Korean plot. Maya Hope is well-written, fast-moving, heart-touching and especially surprising. Like another reviewer, I wondered how much of what Browne has written was based in truth. The plot is both feasible and terrifying. This novel is full of love, humor, inspiration, and thought-provoking moments. I highly recommend Maya Hope to anyone who likes medicine, thrillers, literary visits to other countries, or just a story with a lot of good heart and surprises.

[Joni Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

What could be better than a medical thriller written by a physician? Not since COMA by Robin Cook, and The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton, have I been this excited about a medical thriller. Author and physician Timothy D. Browne's Maya Hope offers a devastating medical what-if scenario and then he backs it up with layers of believable science and human nature. The story is set in the medical mission field, those end-of-the-earth places where people suffer from lack of medical care. Places the rest of the world ignores. Places where the poor are the most vulnerable. Take a thrill ride to the remote villages of Guatemala where something is happening to the villagers that a visiting physician cannot ignore or explain until he digs deeper into unspeakable danger.

[Mandy Walkden-Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written medical thriller.

Really enjoyed the medical portions of this book and the international conspiracy was intriguing.
But it's certainly Christian fiction and the continual references and Bible quotes became a little cloying at times.
The main character, Nick, was interesting though and the North Korean terrorist plot kept me glued to the page. Enjoyed it enough that I've purchased the sequel, The Tree of Life, and am looking forward to seeing what Nick finds himself entangled in next.

[Dana K · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the intrigue of Dr Nicklaus Hart’s story. I would describe the story as a Robin Cook medical thriller meets a Clive Cussler adventure. Those are two of my favorite authors so the combo is really fabulous!

Dr Hart is a man you want to root for; he’s intelligent, principled, caring and passionate about the field of medicine. His day to day life is in a bit of a rut. He is working for a hospital that cares more about the dollar bills than the patients and it’s starting to wear on him. When his best friend is killed while serving in a mission in Guatemala, he’s suddenly thrust into a world that lights a fire in him again. He is caring for patients who truly need him and building bonds with other charity-minded Christians. In the process of helping these children, dealing with his grief and investigating his friend's murder he is ardently hoping to find the hand of God upon him in a way he’s never felt before.

I enjoyed the ride of the novel. There was lovely bits of adventure as well as historical and cultural tidbits that I was utterly wrapped up in. Being in the medical field myself, I always love that aspect of a novel as well although I must say, it was perhaps a bit much reading about a devastating virus through the lens of 2020. I appreciated the depth of Nick’s character and that he wasn’t some archetype hero lost in toxic masculinity but a man who relied on courage when needed and was truly vulnerable at times.

Thanks to the author for sharing this story with me in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Barbra Brettman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put the book down! Well written and completely engaging. The author presented a compelling and relevant story line that had me hanging on every word. I highly recommend this fantastic adventure and personally look forward to the sequel.

[Onemoment · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adventure, Faith, Compassion

Medical procedures and an adventure wrapped in compassion for the unfortunate frosted with a faith story that isn't a heavy-handed. What a wonderful surprise this novel is!

[Kathleen Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

HE brings HOPE to a

What an uplifting story! The conflicts and pain balanced with love and assurances, bring the truth and reality a satisfying balance. As a medical professional myself, I appreciated the details shared while explaining their significance. The storyline itself......so timely and real.
Thank you for your medical work and storytelling skills! I am on to the next book.

[Diane Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting

We in this country are greatly blessed in so many ways. This picture of lack of available medical care in most of the world is grevious. Add to that a demented and evil plan to gain control of the world and create a new world order via biological warfare and you have a sobering page turner . Possible?

[Karen Sargent · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, I have to confess. Medical thriller is not my genre, so MAYA HOPE was a new reading experience for me. Here's what I love about this book. According to the back cover, the author is a practicing surgeon who has traveled the world as a medical missionary. In his author's note at the end of the book, he states that the issues that drive the story are based on truth and his experiences. Because of this, the story is written with an authority that makes it so believable...and believable makes a thriller that much more thrilling! If this is your genre, you're going to love MAYA HOPE. If this isn't your genre...you're going to love MAYA HOPE!

[Charles Vrooman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maya Hope by Timothy Browne was well written and had believable characters. It was listed on Amazon as a Medical Thriller and Christian Suspense. Since I read and write Medical Thrillers, I wanted to check this novel out. The medical part was excellently presented but the thriller part lagged behind for pacing the action of a true thriller. Therefore, I would classify this as a Christian Suspense. Since I am a Christian, I applaud the author for using a novel to evangelize and have his main character accept God by witnessing the good works of others and believing in miracles.

[Dwayne Roberts · Rating 2 out of 5]

Christians through prayer and courageous action save the world from a humanity-ending viral attack. The grace of God reverses the Noah Initiative. A doctor heals some impoverished natives in a Central American jungle and comes to see the light of the Lord. A vision in a dream moves a brutal dictator toward Christ the Savior, Lamb of God.

[Julie Howard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It is a little bit scary with everything going on in the world at the moment but what seems like a plot to an interesting mystery, has the potential to become reality, so please any bad guys don't read or listen to this book. I enjoyed it because so much was happening, there is a lot of religious quotes but I think because it takes place mainly in Guatemala that it was appropriate. The contrast to the hospitals in the two countries is really well done and you definitely get a sense of what It is like. It is a medical thriller, so at times you did have your heart in your mouth but it certainly keeps you hooked from the start until the end. Off to start the next book.
Nick a busy trauma surgeon is no stranger to death but when his best friend is brutally murdered in Guatemala he takes it hard. When he flies out for the funeral he learns about the good work his friend had been carrying out and seeing his wife trying to carry on without him, Nick makes a judgement call and decides to stay for a few weeks. Here he is faced with surgeries that are life threatening to the patients but normal everyday operations back home. Unable to cope with the demands for his services especially when a high number of cases are for the same thing Nick enlists help from fellow doctors. Is there a reason so many children have club feet? Why has the birth rate in the area dropped to zero? Nick and his friends start to ask these important questions and in doing so uncover a sinister plot by the North Korea one that might just have lead to his best friends death.
I liked the narrator and thought he used a good a variety of voices to bring the characters to life in this jail biting adventure.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

[ArynTheLibraryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feels Like You're There.

*See Note below for cautions.
This book puts you in the center of the action. Which can be a really good thing, and sometimes very scary. I loved the miracles that occurred. My parents were missionaries in Guatemala, so some of the story felt like I was listening to them all over again. None of the 'miracles' stretched my imagination or seemed impossible because I know from first hand accounts that those things really happen.

Dr. Hart was really well written. His character growth was awesome. Maggie and Anna were fantastic examples of Christ's love. As painful as it was, that's exactly what we're called to do. I hope I can live up to half their example.

I didn't find the book preachy at all. Most of the 'spirtiual conversations' were between Christians, and while there is a conversion, it's not really an evangelical book.

I think (even reading this in April 2020) the idea of engineering an ancient virus to cause a global catastrophe in such a sneaky way was very clever/believable. I'm looking forward to the rest of this series.

*Cautions: The prologue is very intense, and not for the faint of heart. If you're squeamish, I'd skip it.
Chapter 1 is intense and uncomfortable in a whole other way. If I didn't know for a fact that the whole book wouldn't be like that, I would have given up. I don't like reading about flings. This chapter is NOT graphic, just sets the stage for where Dr Nick is in life, so the light of Jesus shines clearly in later parts of the book.

I purchased this book on Amazon when it was free. I chose to leave a review, and all thoughts are my own.

[Deb Threadgill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Nicholas Hart is an orthopedist surgeon who works at the Med in Memphis. He has just completed a surgery and is told hi father is in his office to see him. He can’t imagine what would bring his father, a retired orthopedic surgeon to come see him. He tells him that his best friend John Russell who with his wife Maggie work in a small town in Guatemala at a place they call The Hope Center. He was also an orthopedic surgeon but he and his wife felt the call to come help the people in this very small place. They also have an orphanage there. John has been murdered and his body will be brought back to his hometown to be buried. Dr. Hart goes to the funeral and he is not a Christian like John and Maggie were but after a couple of weeks he decides to go to Guatemala to see if he can help. He is in shock at how the people live and how little medical care they have. There are also evil people working to create a virus that will cause people to become sterile. There is lots of action, but good work being done and The Hope Center keeps Jesus and God at the center of it all. There are lots of good and bad things that happen, but I think you should read them for yourself. I highly recommend this book.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting combination of North Korean bio-terrorism and Christian ministry in the heart of Guatemala. The author smoothly takes the reader back-and-forth between locations – primarily Pyongyang and the Hope Center mission facility. This is an inspiring Christian faith-based story with lots of action and some humor included. It took me a while to warm up to Dr. Nick Hart but he becomes more like-able as his faith grows.

"He believed you give your very best to the poor, not your leftovers.”

As it turned out, Tikal was exactly where the virus was found. It was very much dormant and very much present. Its only mutation was that it was no longer contagious to humans. But that was easy to overcome; Kwon and his team supercharged its infectious nature.

Buck looked Nick in the eyes and smiled. “Well, nothing that a little mouth-to-mouth and a few chest compressions couldn’t solve.” Nick opened his eyes wide, realizing what Buck had done for him, and then he cracked up. “I’ve been wondering why my sternum is so sore. And why I’ve had this overwhelming urge to brush my teeth over and over.”

[J C B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Faith Inspired Writing at It’s Best!
I am almost speechless! Just finished Dr Timothy Browne’s first book ‘Maya Hope’ & I am so deeply touched by his ability to witness thru his writing...beautiful, poignant, & necessary are the best terms I can find to describe his work in this novel! What a blessing to have found ‘his work’... both the author’s & our Lord’s... wrapped up in an exciting novel. I am thrilled to find another very adept writer to expand my Faith based author category! I have enjoyed many Ted Dekker & Frank Peretti novels (more fantasy based storylines, w/often more subtle Faith notes) but I must admit, Timothy’s bold Christianity throughout his writing is a true gift for my eyes, heart, & soul!
I’m captivated by lyrical prose, demonstrated proficiently by Dean Koontz; but inspiring & expanding my faith has only been accomplished by my reading of our Holy Bible & now a simple, albeit fictional, story written by Dr Timothy Browne!
God bless you & your family Dr Browne & thank you for the love of Jesus that shines throughout this novel!
Can’t wait to start the next book In his series.
I’m truly in awe

[Janice Spina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maya Hope is a gripping medical thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. The main protagonist, Nicklaus Hart, needs to gets his life together after the death of his best friend who was a missionary in Guatemala.

When Nick visits his friend’s wife in Guatemala to try to fill his friend’s shoes in the Mission Hospital he finds that for once in his life he finds peace helping the villagers with their medical problems. It’s nothing like working at his job back home at the MED where his supervisor was impossible to work with and unreasonable. He wants more than ever to find who was responsible for his friend’s death. Once he begins to delve into clues he ends up taking on more than he bargained for when sinister forces Involving viral aerolization from North Korea are revealed.

There are interesting and likable characters that the author has created in Nick, Buck, Annie, a Korean spy, and an intriguing story line that make for an excellent read. There is a spiritual theme to this lovely story that I thoroughly enjoyed.

[Sheila Holmes · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. No... the gruesome details notwithstanding, it is for me a solid 5 STARS!

I'm a little bit at a loss as to how to evaluate this book. I think it is one of the most powerful books I've read in ever so long! It is gritty, a bit gruesome in detail, and amazing!

My concerns are for whom I would suggest reading this, and for whom... not. This is strictly for adults. I wouldn't recommend for children or YAs. Not for filth, illicit sex, etc. But, because it deals with the realities of old Mayan civilization (which was brutal), as it affects contemporary characters. However, the Gospel is clearly represented and plays an AMAZING role in the lives of the main characters. The ending is unbelievable and had me fist pumping, saying aloud, "Yes!!!"

I am still reeling from this one! Amazing story! Simply amazing!

[Susan Stewart · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to like Maya Hope, but in the end, I just didn't. This was described as a medical thriller. There are two important things that were left unsaid: First, this is a Christian book. I don't usually mind that but I felt like had been tricked. There are plenty of scripture verses, lots of prayers, and a complete discussion of how and why you should be saved. Second, there was no mention of the fact that it is also a novel about North Korea and a plan to release another horrible virus. At the very end, our hero Dr Hart is invited to Kim Jong-un's palace where he asks Dr Hart to tell him about Jesus. The story of Dr Hart in Guatemala, and a story of North Korea. After a few chapters, I got tired of listening to all the political junk and just skipped the whole North Korea story line with very little consequences. This book is not up to the standards I expect in a book.

[Georgia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written by a doctor and gives hope to people in despair. He excentuates what it means to be a doctor; people in pain, grief, etc. those who cannot afford care. He studies the importance of faith in people's lives. He seems to be a well traveled person going to the poor country of Guatemala and the ambitious country of North Korea and the existence of evil. In the author's notes, he states that much is based on truth! In view of our Covid dilemma, it is interesting that the North Koreans in the book are manufacturing a virus😢

[Julie Browne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so moving to my spirit...the characters brought me laughter and tears! I appreciated how the main character had regular daily struggles and wrestled these out with God. I fell in love with Buck and marveled at how his life was changed as a Marine and transformed by the Wounded Warrior Project. I couldn't stop thinking about the story when I wasn't reading. Am I ever thankful that this is the first book in a 3 book series so that I can follow them all even more.

[Trahlyta Crawford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maya Hope

A very good story of people alive by the Word as much as they can. And when they reach the place of need then they call upon the only name of power ' Jesus'. They call on their knees, bow down their thoughts, expect His help and He answers. Then there is a newly who has found his way but doesn't know the hazards of the road. Add all that with evil men who want to glory in destruction and this is Maya Hope. This author had me crying, rejoicing, and examining myself.

[pam moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldn't put it down

My husband and I greatly enjoyed this book. A philosophy that the population of the world needs to be drastically controlled is growing in popularity. This book demonstrates how catastrophic this philosophy is. This book is definitely action-packed and thought provoking.

[Conrad Samayoa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maya Hope

A good plot, mixed with real cases from Guatemala' s highlands. The incredible love these volunteers display is incredible. I am convinced that God sets one's destiny. The biblical quotes are enlightening and we'll placed. I enjoyed the rich description of awesome places and real life characters. Conrad Samayoa.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action packed, Riveting, Spellbinding and Heart Wrenching!

I became enthralled with the storyline from the very beginning. It was very well written and kept my attention from beginning to end. I love when an author tries to put in some local history and color about the areas the story is situated in.

[Cindy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book! I wasn't sure if I'd like it at first, but it's held me captive from the start. The historical, geographic, and political issues are based on truth, as are the stories about the children, which makes the book even better. In fact, the author even includes pictures of one of the very special children at the back of the book. I highly recommend this book.

[Kimberly Patton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't typically read thrillers or even much Christian fiction. But I can tell that this author has a lot of medical experience to back his writing. Each page is crafted carefully and methodically, and you really have a sense of place in the story. I enjoyed getting to know the character's and seeing the transformation in the main character. Kudos to Dr. Browne for a great book!

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good book about a Doctor who isn't a believer and the missionaries and Christian friends who influence him and make him question his non-belief. Add this to the mystery of why his best friend was killed in such a horrific way and the feelings he seems to be developing for his late friends wife and you have a great story. I really hope there will be a lot more in this series.

[Lois · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting Adventure and Hope

This is the best book I've read in the past two years (out of over a hundred books). I almost stopped after the first or second chapter but the content in them had great purpose for the rest of the story. Provoking, surprising, heart breaking, uplifting.

[Jim Rickard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it.

I loved this book. Great plot. Started off in the dark side, and then turned into a story of light vs darkness. Good medical plot, good international plot, good spiritual plot. Some graphic parts. Will read next book