About The Cuts That Cure
Alex Brantley is a disgraced surgeon whose desperation to start a new life outside of medicine leads him to settle in a sleepy Texas town close to the Mexican border, a town that has a dark side. Its secrets and his own past catch up with him as traits he thought he’d buried in the deserts on the frontiers of the border rise up again to haunt him.
To the citizens of Three Rivers, Henry Wallis appears to be a normal Texas teenager: a lean, quiet kid from a good family whose life seems to center around running cross-country, his first girlfriend, and Friday night football. That Henry is a cultivated illusion, however, a disguise he wears to conceal his demons. Both meticulous and brutally cruel, he manages to hide his sadistic indulgences from the world, but with that success, his impulses grow stronger until one day when a vagrant is found murdered.
When Alex and Henry’s paths cross, it starts a domino effect which leads to mangled lives and chilling choices made in the shadows along la frontera, where everything is negotiable.
Book Review
A big thank you to Blackthorn Book Tours for providing me a copy of The Cuts that Cure for an honest review.
Alex Brantley slogged through medical school, working long hours until he reached the point of burnout. But still, he persisted thinking everyone in his chosen profession felt the same way. Until he reached his breaking point and walked away from being a surgeon. Now loaded with college debt, Alex decides to start life over in Three Rivers as a science teacher. But his past isn’t ready to let go of him. And one of his new students, Henry Wallis, is hiding a dark secret. One that may pull Alex down if he isn’t careful.
The Cuts that Cure is a book unafraid to explore the dark sides of humanity. Readers will meet a cast of characters who harbor darkness within, and unleash it in various ways. This is not a book for those easily disturbed. Arthur Herbert is adept at balancing between multiple viewpoints and crafting a story that is as disturbing as it is compelling.
There were some points where characters had large bouts of exposition through dialog. Not all of the information seemed relevant to the story and slowed the progression down a bit. But once the characters finished talking they generally ended up in high-intensity moments that propelled the story forward once again.
And just when I thought I knew the main plot for The Cuts that Cure, Arthur Herbert threw a twist I never saw coming. It was like pulling the rug out from beneath my feet, and I stared at the pages wondering where the story could possibly go. But of course, I had to keep going, I had to know what else was in store for the characters. And the surprises kept coming, the story constantly shifting in new directions making it an unpredictable, but enjoyable read.
The Cuts that Cure is a book full of surprising twists, suspense, and some quite disturbing situations. If you enjoy psychological and medical thrillers, give it a try.
To Purchase: http://mybook.to/CutsThatCure-AHerbert
About the Author
Arthur Herbert was born and raised in small town Texas. He worked on offshore oil rigs, as a bartender, a landscaper at a trailer park, and as a social worker before going to medical school. He chose to do a residency in general surgery, followed by a fellowship in critical care and trauma surgery. For the last seventeen years, he’s worked as a trauma and burn surgeon, operating on all ages of injured patients. He continues to run a thriving practice.
He has recently contracted his debut novel, The Cuts that Cure, to White Bird Publishing in Austin Texas. It’s due for release in early 2021. He has begun work on his second novel.
Arthur currently lives in New Orleans, with his wife Amy and their dogs.