An Open Heart: A Novel

I love Dr. Harry Kraus' writing. I've been a fan of his for a long time. If he were my doctor, I might actually go once in a while. An Open Heart by Harry Kraus, published by David C. Cook, takes advantage of Dr. Kraus' African medical missions and surgical knowledge and plants the reader smack dab at the Kijabe Hospital where his protagonist Dr. Jace Rawlings, a celebrated heart surgeon, and his now deceased sister Janice were raised in Kenya as missionary kids. Jace hopes to start up a heart program for the local people in this place of bittersweet memories, thinking if he returns, he might be able to pay a debt of some kind or find a remedy for his immense guilt.

The problem with Jace is the bitter memories far outweigh the sweet, and they've taken a toll on his spiritual heart leaving it cold, dead, and closed to all the things that gave his twin sister her vibrance and confidence. If ever there were two twins who represented the lost and found, it would be Jace and Janice. And if ever there was a patient who needed spiritual open heart surgery, it's Jace Rawlings.

When Jace operates on the governor of his state and saves his life, the governor's attractive model wife takes a liking to her husband's surgeon. Jace denies the appeal of her attention to him after his wife Heather's objections but struggles with his attraction to her. After a fatal car accident which leaves the governor's wife dead with Jace injured, confused, and the subject of scandal, he begs his wife to go back to Africa with him because of some kind of vision he experienced immediately following the wreck - one he believes is from his dead sister beckoning him back to Africa where she is buried. His memory of the events preceding the accident are missing, and Heather isn't sure she believes him.

When Jace heads to Africa alone, his operating equipment is detained at customs, and his initial experience involves a goat, jail time, and the first evidence of supernatural interference. With politics dictating whether or not he will be able to retrieve his donated equipment, he faces the disdain of the head surgeon at the Kijabe Hospital who lives with the reality of unavailable blood supplies not tainted by AIDS and the lack of skills and finances to perform such surgeries at this hospital.

When political pressure inserts itself into Jace's life, he performs his first Kenyan open-heart surgery on a young woman from a ghetto town after securing two of his best assistants from back home. All goes well until she wakes up to deliver a startling message to Jace which he ignores and attributes to a drug reaction. However, when two other patients come out of surgery with equally disturbing messages, Jace begins to sense the spiritual drama playing out in his life over which he has no control. Fear begins to make a stark entrance into his hardened heart, reminding him of the powers unleashed on the "dark continent". He has no idea how much danger he's in until he has no choice but to see it face to face.

And in looking at that fear, he finally sees himself face to face, who he is, who he was, who he's become.

I've been told by people in the medical community that surgeons are a unique breed. Some aloof, some almost seeming sociopathic in order to make impartial and medically necessary decisions, they can be persistent perfectionists, structured and demanding. Dr. Jace Rawlings is a dedicated surgeon who fails to see the big picture if it doesn't exist outside of himself. He has moments of reflection but mostly he's defiant until humbled by circumstances he created. It's hard to hope for Jace because of his cynicism and consequently his self-absorbed attitude, but somehow Harry manages to keep just a hint of a tender heart visible in the man to keep us turning the pages.

Heather is equally unsympathetic. Taking on the full-dress of a woman scorned, she fluctuates between likability and self-righteousness. While her distrust and suspicions are understandable, she consciously decides to push her husband away before gaining the truth of his accident and his involvement with the governor's wife.

With two characters who stretched my ability to like them, I kept reading this story because of Harry's quality writing, his authentic depiction of Africa, capturing politics both there and here, showing acute spiritual warfare which is more visible there but certainly not any more active than here, the stream of background information supplied to add depth to the two main characters, and for a satisfactory conclusion I knew would eventually arrive. Sometimes you have to open a heart to see the problem, and then you have to fix it.

Another fascinating look into the medical and spiritual fields of endeavor, Harry Kraus creates An Open Heart to demonstrate the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the human heart and how to fix them when they're sick and damaged.

(Free for review from the CFBA Tour)

I enjoyed this medical suspense novel that combines Christianity with witchcraft. It is intense, and I must admit, I now much prefer remaining at home. I'll be content to travel through novels like this one.

The author is a board-certified surgeon in East Africa, and he writes about what he knows best. When he includes medical information, the story deepens. I found myself engrossed and easily able to follow along.

Discussion Questions included.

Thank you to Bonnie at Christian Fiction Blog Alliance and David C. Cook for my copy.

I couldn't read this book fast enough to discover all the mysteries within the story. As the reader you will pick up on things that will make you want to reach into the book and say to the characters, "Put this together. Don't you see the connections?"

From the back cover blurb I thought the book would be a bit different, but still it was a great read. It didn't move as fast at times as I wanted it to. A lot of backstory, but it is needed, so I see why the author slipped it in there and in small chunks. It kept me flipping the pages so I could see the big picture by the end.

Most of the story takes place in Kenya and the author gives you a wonderful glimpse into it's beauty, poverty, corruption and customs.

Jace is like many of us -- his faith has been shaken and he doesn't even know if he believes in God anymore, even though he was a missionary kid. Things have happened in his life that make him question what is real and what does he believe? Can't we all relate, haven't we all been there at one time or another? I know I have.

Jace is struggling to discover who he really is. But maybe the more important question is....who does God say he is?

Of course I spotted some Genesis 5020's in the book, can you?

A copy of this book was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Set in the beautiful but corrupt landscape of Kenya, Harry's Kraus latest book offers up medical drama, suspense, and spiritual warfare in a fast-paced read. I greatly enjoyed that the book largely takes place in Africa, and the fact that the author himself resides in Kenya shows in the authentic feel to the descriptions of people and places and cultural nuances. I was particularly fascinated by the witch doctor who plays a prominent role in the story, and the way that the people of Africa are so much more open to acknowledge the spiritual forces that are at work behind the scene. I have found this to be true myself in the missions trips I've taken, such as my recent trip to Thailand. Kraus' inclusion of this aspect of Kenyan culture made for a unique twist to the plot and one that I hope to see in future novels from him as well. In terms of the controversy surrounding Dr. Jace Rawlings, I must admit that the actions of the villain did not always make sense to me (and I can't say more without ruining the plot). Nevertheless, the cross-cultural element of the threat over Jace's life made for some extra-intense scenes indeed! As with all of Harry Kraus' books, I most appreciate the way in which he can so seamlessly weave the power of what Jesus has done on the cross into his novels. "An Open Heart" not only provides an entertaining ride, but points to the grace of Jesus at the same time.

I award this book a solid rating of 4 out of 5 stars. Plan on picking up a copy of this book for yourself. You'll be glad you did!

Book has been provided courtesy of the publisher and Christian Fiction Blog Alliance, for the purposes of this unbiased review.

WOW! I was drawn into the story from the beginning. The danger and suspense kept me turning the pages. I so appreciated the faith element woven throughout this story. After reading this story, I now have a greater admiration for those who are called to the mission field. I highly recommend this book!

*I won this book in a giveaway. All views expressed are my own.*

I'm not super far into the book but so far I am liking it. It is intriguing and makes you think about how you would handle the situation and circumstances. There is mystery and some suspense because of not knowing everything (yet) about Jase's family members and wife.

Great reading

A good read. That being said, I found myself skipping pages when the characters did or said things that just didn't follow. I found myself saying "they just wouldn't do that" or "how could they be so naive."

The novel jumped from present to differing times in the past, which I found disorienting. It worked well enough, but took a couple of lines to figure out who, what and when I was reading about.

Like I said, it was a good read, but could have been better.

Very good

Mystery and medicine perfectly mixed! Very hard to put down for the entire book! Have purchased others by him and each is wonderful!