Joe Connelly Knihy

Only someone with nearly a decade of experience as a medic in New York City's Hell's Kitchen could craft a novel as gripping and authentic as this debut. Connelly immerses readers in the intense reality of Frank Pierce, a brash EMS medic whose life is unraveling as he grapples with the weight of saving lives. Addicted to the adrenaline of the job, Frank is overwhelmed by five years of grief and guilt, feeling that his role has shifted from saving lives to merely bearing witness. His personal life is in shambles; his wife has left him, he drinks on the job, and he carries the haunting memory of an eighteen-year-old girl he feels he "helped to kill." This loss manifests as a waking nightmare, with her ghostly presence shadowing him. In desperation, Frank attempts to resurrect another patient, whose life is now a mere shadow of existence. The narrative unfolds over two frenetic days and nights, capturing the excitement and dread of emergency calls, the dark humor that sustains the medics, and Frank's reflections on his vocation. As he confronts his newest ghost, the resurrected patient, Frank must grapple with the unsettling notion that the demands for release into death may be the most rational thing he has encountered in months. This novel is a powerful exploration of life, death, and the burdens of those who save others.