Could I Have This Dance?

By Harry Lee Kraus

Description:

You can’t dance this dance unless it’s in your blood. Claire McCall is praying it’s not in hers.
Claire McCall is used to fighting back against the odds. Hard work, aptitude, and sheer determination have helped her rise from adverse circumstances to an internship in one of the nation’s most competitive surgical residencies. But talent and tenacity mean nothing in the face of the discovery that is about to rock her world.

It’s called the "Stoney Creek Curse" by folks in the small mountain town where Claire grew up. Behind the superstition lies a reality that could destroy her career. But getting to the truth is far from easy in a community with secrets to hide. As a web of relationships becomes increasingly tangled, two things become apparent. One is that more than one person doesn’t want Claire to probe too deeply into the "Stoney Creek Curse." The other is that someone has reasons other than the curse for wanting Claire out of the picture permanently.

Somewhere in the course of pursuing her career as a surgeon, Claire lost touch with the God who called her to it. Now she realizes how desperately she needs him. But can she reclaim a faith strong enough to see her through this deadly dance of circumstances?

Book Takeaway:

How can we learn to trust God in the face of overwhelming trial?

Awards:

Why the author wrote this book:

I was intrigued with Huntington's Disease, a genetic disease that often sits quietly unnoticed until midlife when it strikes its victims with a vengeance, causing progressive loss of control of the voluntary muscles until the person is in a constant "dance" of motion (historically, the disease was called "St. Vitus Dance.") Specifically, I was intrigued with the idea of a character who feels called to be a surgeon and then discovers that she may be at risk for Huntington's Disease. How would this character respond? I wanted to show the betrayal that the character felt as a result of having to give up her dream of being a surgeon because of the possibility of a horrible disease lurking.