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Set Apart
Set Apart delivers an intriguing missing-persons detective story, combined with a plausible view of the inner workings of a fictional national health care system, misused by its overseers to the detriment of the American public. This fast-paced suspense novel is more than just a story; it contrasts sordid opportunism with the pursuit of high ideals, and taps into contemporary concerns as it offers a thought-provoking glimpse of an alarming and possible future.
- GenresEbooks
396 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 2010
104 people are currently reading
87 people want to read
About the author
K.J. McCall
6 books17 followersFiction author, K.J. McCall, was born in the mountains of Virginia and now lives in the mountains of Pennsylvania, where she devotes most of her time to writing and associated research. Mountains and writing – what a combination! Her career was spent in federal government service as an information systems specialist and technical writer, the last fourteen years with Department of Health and Human Services.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 4, 2019
Set Apart
by K.J. McCall
JJ Publishers, LLC
Mystery & Thrillers , Romance
Pub Date 14 Mar 2019
I am reviewing a copy of Set Apart through JJ Publishers, LLC and Netgalley:
Just as the president marks the first anniversary of a federally run health care which includes speeches and a parade a D.C detective investigates the disappearance of a woman who went missing from a parking lot.
Only a few city blocks away the D.C detectives sister works, his sister works as a health care databank administrator. As such she is able to learn the goings on of the mighty health care board and the potent behind-the-scenes data that rank people by level of importance. Just Ninety minutes to the north, in sleepy Dorsey Pennsylvania, his physician brother witnesses the steady decline of his patients’ health services. Each of them are seeing evidence of the same collision through different vantage points.
I give Set Apart four out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
by K.J. McCall
JJ Publishers, LLC
Mystery & Thrillers , Romance
Pub Date 14 Mar 2019
I am reviewing a copy of Set Apart through JJ Publishers, LLC and Netgalley:
Just as the president marks the first anniversary of a federally run health care which includes speeches and a parade a D.C detective investigates the disappearance of a woman who went missing from a parking lot.
Only a few city blocks away the D.C detectives sister works, his sister works as a health care databank administrator. As such she is able to learn the goings on of the mighty health care board and the potent behind-the-scenes data that rank people by level of importance. Just Ninety minutes to the north, in sleepy Dorsey Pennsylvania, his physician brother witnesses the steady decline of his patients’ health services. Each of them are seeing evidence of the same collision through different vantage points.
I give Set Apart four out of five stars!
Happy Reading!
June 30, 2025
I tried to finish, but I got to chapter ten before I just couldn't pickup the pace with any excitement. There was just too much filler storyline of word vomit. It seems too many times the writer was just not going anywhere with the characters in the storyline to fill up space. The story had only little specs of information about certain things dealing with where the plot was going. I see where this book mainframe is getting around and I would like to know that it would be exciting but I'm just not getting there. This book is kind of written like one of those people that got a lot to say and is filling the book up with nonsensical stuff in between to get to a point where characters,plots,and themes are bent to these views,datas,and stats to build up the book. This is what this book is giving to make it a whole but I'm just not willing to go through all that to get to that conclusion.
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January 20, 2026Really enjoyed the book. Loved the way she blended all the information about the problems any time the government tries to implement its control over healthcare, and thereby forms a monopoly that benefits the insurance companies, big pharma, and big government - leaving the citizens with few options for healthcare and doctors and nurses discouraged from actual caring for patients.
I really like books that both entertain and educate!
I really like books that both entertain and educate!
July 8, 2023
A thriller
This is a page turning book filled with "it could happen". A medical system not to far in the future where the haves get better treatment than the have nots. This book has the potential to be a forecast of what's to come with the health care system.
This is a page turning book filled with "it could happen". A medical system not to far in the future where the haves get better treatment than the have nots. This book has the potential to be a forecast of what's to come with the health care system.
November 2, 2023
Set Apart
An interesting subject in this story. It may already be happening. I hope not, but you never know. It left a lot of questions about organ replacement. I hope we soon have better ways to acquire them.
An interesting subject in this story. It may already be happening. I hope not, but you never know. It left a lot of questions about organ replacement. I hope we soon have better ways to acquire them.
October 12, 2011
With the conflicting romantic shades of the movie Witness interlaced throughout, and a frightening, but all too realistic possibility of government run health care, "Set Apart" is an apt title for McCall's debut novel. The gritty crime, corruption, and scheming of Washington, D.C.
is contrasted with an idyllic Pennsylvania community. Power and prestige is placed next to family values and neighborly relations.
A federal health care system enjoys its one year anniversary. Gordon Sand, a Washington detective, is seeing a connection between missing people who suddenly turn up a few days later with no memory of what happened. To relieve the pressure of the job, he takes weekend visits to his brother's family in Dorsey, Pennsylvania, where he slowly falls in love with a widowed
neighbor. Sand must come to terms with his two clashing worlds, while seeking answers to the strange cases. Meanwhile, Sand’s siblings, both involved in the medical care field (he a doctor, she a part of the federal health care administration), see the problems in the grand plan come to
fruition and wonder about the future effects they will have on the populace.
"Set Apart" paints a picture that is sometimes difficult to believe for some of its descriptions. Dorsey seems a little too perfect. However, it is a decent example of Americans just living out their lives. On the other hand, you have the elite pulling strings and manipulating people's lives.
While one part of the plot smacks of 'urban legend' (the one where one wakes up in a bathtub full of ice and discovers he's missing a kidney), the prospect of being judged by a criteria set by those in control, is all too real and scary. Don't expect too much gun-toting action or suspenseful
adventure with this one. Instead, enjoy a little thought provoking insight into a 'could be' world of tomorrow.
Review written by Stephen L. Brayton, author of "Night Shadows" and "Beta" for Suspense Magazine
is contrasted with an idyllic Pennsylvania community. Power and prestige is placed next to family values and neighborly relations.
A federal health care system enjoys its one year anniversary. Gordon Sand, a Washington detective, is seeing a connection between missing people who suddenly turn up a few days later with no memory of what happened. To relieve the pressure of the job, he takes weekend visits to his brother's family in Dorsey, Pennsylvania, where he slowly falls in love with a widowed
neighbor. Sand must come to terms with his two clashing worlds, while seeking answers to the strange cases. Meanwhile, Sand’s siblings, both involved in the medical care field (he a doctor, she a part of the federal health care administration), see the problems in the grand plan come to
fruition and wonder about the future effects they will have on the populace.
"Set Apart" paints a picture that is sometimes difficult to believe for some of its descriptions. Dorsey seems a little too perfect. However, it is a decent example of Americans just living out their lives. On the other hand, you have the elite pulling strings and manipulating people's lives.
While one part of the plot smacks of 'urban legend' (the one where one wakes up in a bathtub full of ice and discovers he's missing a kidney), the prospect of being judged by a criteria set by those in control, is all too real and scary. Don't expect too much gun-toting action or suspenseful
adventure with this one. Instead, enjoy a little thought provoking insight into a 'could be' world of tomorrow.
Review written by Stephen L. Brayton, author of "Night Shadows" and "Beta" for Suspense Magazine
November 17, 2016
This book was written by a local author with many references to local towns. She writes the story about a possible health care which puts people on different tiers depending on how important they are to society! This was an interesting read!
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March 21, 2019“A well-paced, attention-grabbing mystery that explores universal health care.” — Kirkus Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews