Nan Graves Goodman Reviews FRESH FROZEN for PORTICO JACKSON Magazine

Reprinted from ...

WHAT TO READ
BY NAN GRAVES GOODMAN
PORTICO JACKSON Magazine - December 2008 - Page 14

Fresh Frozen by Darden North, M.D. (Ponder House Press)

Jackson (MS)OB-GYN physician and author of House Call and Points of Origin, both recipients of literary awards, has woven yet another spellbinding medical world novel of suspense and intrigue, this one based in the modern, expensive world of frozen embryos. When an infertile, nearly bankrupt couple decides to choose from a human egg and embryo donor bank, the trouble begins. The non-ethical owner of the baby-making business runs a shady place, located just north of Jackson, Mississippi. The lives of Hollywood celebrities, a Mississippi socialite, and an Internet thief—who uncovers the baby factory’s shady dealings online—make for an interestingly mixed plot complete with greed, angst, and murder. North has become a master of medical suspense.

ARE BOOKS AND BOOKSIGNINGS RECESSION PROOF? MAYBE THEY’RE JUST AN INVESTMENT OR, PERHAPS, EVEN A LITTLE FUN

Not often a factor analyzed by the national media as it dooms the national and global economy, book signings may be holding their own --- at least around here. Even as my third novel, FRESH FROZEN, was enjoying an October 2008 book release just as the economy was really tanking (not a cause and effect relationship, I’m sure), I along with hoards of other authors and publicists was busy. The goal was to line up and confirm appearances at bookstores, gift shops, art galleries, museums, outdoor festivals, schools, business conventions, family reunions, or any other location where a crowd of potential shoppers was anticipated. (Considering the long lines of folks waiting to vote before and on November 4, it’s too bad that book signings are not allowed at the polls.)

While book distributors may encounter difficulty in moving the hardcover works of even the “major” authors, hopefully books and book signings may prove themselves recession-proof in the long run. Then, of course, there is the issue of e-books, Kindle, etc. However, I’m talking about the never-to-die, old-fashioned aspect of marketing novels and other real books – hand selling. Call me naïve (I’ve certainly been called worse), but this method of climbing the ladder to the bestseller list -- one autograph at the time -- may be the only way to get there.

And that’s just where book signings and other author appearances come into play. I live in what is termed the Deep South, a much-blessed geographical region, which includes a plethora of bookstores in its good fortune. The welcome of numerous hanging-in-there independent and never-will-go-away chain bookstores, as well as a smorgasbord of other bookseller venues, made for me a densely-scheduled book tour during the fall and holiday seasons. Not only was time away from my other career minimized while promoting FRESH FROZEN, but so was gas guzzling.

Again, I'm taking the high road of optimism for the survival of "the book." During my ongoing author appearances, I have sensed that the savvier shopper and gift-giver seems to be taking a closer look at books. One loyal reader shared that even though she and her husband had made a pact to cut-back this holiday season, she had left my new book and a bottle of her favorite cologne on her must-have list. Oh, oh, for only a million more such fans.

Keeping the concept of giving books as a holiday remembrance and if an author’s work appeals to both men and women readers, then the book signing table offers a ready-made gift for both Uncle John and Aunt Cindy, or even both. Of course, this appeal can apply not only to hardcover fiction but also to many cookbooks, collections of nature photography, or the multitude of personal memoirs. Once more, batteries are not required, unless one is trying to read under a flashlight. And while with proper care a well-bound hardcover should last several lifetimes, a first-edition autographed by the author could, and should, escalate in value. (Someone once told me that the true collector of first-editions acquires one signed copy to read and another one or two to put away untouched for investment purposes -- just in case. Occasionally, I’ve sort of jokingly pitched that concept at book signing events but have never had any takers that I know of. On second thought … maybe I have.)

Another illustration regarding the absolute value of books was made the other day while signing in an upscale gift shop: the retail price of a small, breakable, although certainly beautiful, Christmas ornament surpassed that of my hardcover mystery/suspense novels.

Two days after Thanksgiving, I was invited to two local business establishments for a book signing, the locations well apart from each other, and there were plenty of shoppers to go around so as not to create a duel between stores. (Anyway, I’m not sure that either considered having this writer to sign his books to be an exclusive event. One manager even forgot I was coming.) However, in the larger of the stores, the book signing table, which was warmly labeled with the signage Proud to Present --- Darden North, MD --- signing FRESH FROZEN, was located at the entrance in close proximately to the coffee shop. Immediately to the left of me was a similarly-sized table stacked with books written by or about President-elect Obama. Unfortunately, he was not there concurrently to sign his own books. I guess he was busy doing other things, but his presence sure would have increased the buzz in the store. Maybe I could have snatched a few readers away from him as they stood in his inevitably long line.

Politicians and economics aside, any author subjected to a couple of hours of hawking his/her wares must find a sense of enjoyment in the adventure, even if takers are few. For me, the truly most memorable, if not almost painfully humorous, book signing encounters have involved kids. The most recent example involved a grandmother who walked up to my book signing table located just inside the front entrance of another nearby bookstore. All three of my novels were alluringly displayed, including an out-of-print hardcover of my premier offering. The caring woman, who was apparently babysitting during an afternoon of shopping, greeted me with “I want to get your newest book for my daughter for Christmas. I bought one of your other books for her a couple of years ago, but I’m not sure of which one.”
The precocious eight-year-old granddaughter, dutifully standing at the table with her, looked down at the “rare” find of a first-edition copy of my first novel HOUSE CALL, lying there face-up, beaming to the literary world.

As the talkative young girl pointed to my baby, she blurted to her money-spending grandmother, “This one right here is the book my mom already has. She keeps talking about selling it at a garage sale.”

--- Darden

©2008 by Darden North, MD
All Rights Reserved
www.dardennorth.com

Darden North is a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist who lives with his family in Jackson, Mississippi. He is the author of three novels: House Call (hardcover 2005, paperback 2007), Points of Origin (hardcover 2006), and Fresh Frozen (hardcover 2008).

Kenneth Jones reviews FRESH FROZEN for OXFORD TOWN/OXFORD EAGLE - October 30, 2008

Reproduced from Oxford Town/Oxford(MS)Eagle newspaper, published October 30, 2008

By Kenneth Jones

In North’s third medical thriller, Wesley and Carrie Sarbeck have struggled for years to get pregnant, all but bankrupting them and nearly killing Carrie at one point. Feeling left out of a society where having a child is almost compulsory, the Sarbecks decide to make one last, desperate grab for the American Dream, and visit the Van Deman Center, just outside of Jackson. Housed in what was once an abandoned, dilapidated building, the Van Deman Center has emerged as the pre-eminent fertility clinic in the United States. It is where the Sarbecks, superstar Allyn Saxton, and southern belle Cheryl Choice all go. But with an internet voyeur tapping into the clinic’s security system, and a poisonous mix of hormones and surgical treatments killing one of the aforementioned patients, the pursuit of life suddenly becomes a run from death. With desperate would-be parents, embryo and sperm peddlers, pepping toms, and doctors with reputations to maintain at any cost, the characters of "Fresh Frozen" seem to collide into each other. Ponder House Press, the publishing company releasing Dr. Darden North’s latest medical thriller, "Fresh Frozen," could not have chosen a more fitting moment to release the novel. With a presidential election only five days away from this article’s printing, the topic of abortion, and more broadly the issues surrounding fertility and stem cell research, are constant topics of conversation for both pundits and private citizens, and provide hours of entertainment fodder on shows such as "Dr. Phil" (where a recent episode had fathers arguing their right not to pay child support) and "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" (where a recent episode featured stolen embryos).

Denise Grones reviews FRESH FROZEN by Darden North for the November/December 2008 holiday issue of DELTA MAGAZINE.

DELTA MAGAZINE is published by Coopwood Magazines, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Review of FRESH FROZEN written by Denise Grones and reproduced from DELTA MAGAZINE - Nov/Dec 2008 - Page 31

Where else do you find a handsome, young doctor, a gorgeous socialite, a thief, a flamboyant personal shopper and a grisly murder plot? All in a Darden North novel, of course. North, a Cleveland native and practicing obstetrician and gynecologist in Jackson, has just released his third medical thriller, Fresh Frozen.

In this suspenseful novel, Wesley and Carey Sarbeck, a young policeman and his wife, desperately want to produce a family. After many medical problems, the couple is offered one last chance at the Van Deman Center of Reproductive Technology. The cutting edge center for infertility treatment is housed in a dilapidated building north of Jackson, Mississippi, along with many secrets that are being kept at any cost.

At the center, the Sarbecks' lives become unknowingly intertwined with that of a Hollywood celebrity, a Jackson socialite, a murder plot and a heist of freshly frozen human embryos. Amidst all of the drama, North's characters are enduring and even comical. He has a talent for creating engrossing, yet believable, characters. This novel was made for the screen. (Denise Grones)