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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

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 ped

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 unknowi

"A job well done! " --- Book Review by Cyrus A. Webb, Conversations Book Club President

"One thing I have come to believe with a book penned by author Darden North is that you should expect the unexpected. In Fresh Frozen he pushes the envelope further in his career with a novel that takes us into the most intimate experience a couple could experience together and shows what happens when the gifted hands of man try to replace the all-powerful hands of God. Rife with conflicts that cross moral decisions and emotional rollercosters that travel all imaginable feelings, this is one that will be read throughout the South with pride but across the world with respect and enjoyment. A job well done!" --- Cyrus A. Webb, Conversations Book Club President http://www.thebestbookclub.info Friday, November 28, 2008 Conversations Reviews FRESH FROZEN by Bestselling Author Darden North "One thing I have come to believe with a book penned by author Darden North is that you should expect the unexpected. In Fresh Frozen he pushes the envelope further in his career with a nov

Darden North to appear in "Thriller Author Panel" - Southern Independent Book Association Trade Show

Darden North, MD, author of Fresh Frozen will paricipate in the four-member "Thriller Author Panel" at the annual Southern Independent Book Association Trade Show Friday, September 26, 2008, from 4:00 until 5:00 p.m. This year the event is being held at the Arthur R. Outlaw Convention Center in Mobile, Alabama. Darden will be joined by F. Paul Wilson, Jack: Secret Histories ; Kirk Curnutt, Breathing Out the Chost ; and Erica Spindler, Breakneck . The moderator of the panel is Molly Weston,the Mystery Maven. Molly Weston Meritorious Mysteries Mystery Reviews) http://mysteryheel.blogspot.com/ http://web.mac.com/mysteryheel

A Novel Every Three Months Would Do It

9/1/2008 11:01:10 AM To celebrate the completion and upcoming release of his third medical thriller, FRESH FROZEN hardcover, October 2008), author Darden North, MD blogs again. After two years of tapping on laptop keys, enduring multiple edits, working through some research, and waiting for divine inspiration, the manuscript of my third novel, FRESH FROZEN, is finally complete and headed for publication. The urgency imposed by its October 2008 release helped me shed five needed pounds (not from the manuscript, that is, but from my torso), so I figure that completing a novel every three months would squeeze me into some clothes now ignored in my closet. However, the impossibility of writing that efficiently has instead pushed me into expensive new tennis shoes and into walking a couple of miles or so a day with my wife. The dusty treadmill stands ready for inclement weather. The completion of FRESH FROZEN not only entailed the gain of physical weight but there were emotional burdens as

FRESH FROZEN - New Novel by Darden North

FRESH FROZEN ISBN-10 0977112632 ISBN-13 9780977112630 By Darden North, MD coming in hardcover, October 2008, 344 pages Ponder House Press Description In this third medical thriller by award-winning author and practicing physician Darden North, human reproductive tissue becomes an unexpected commodity. In Fresh Frozen , a fictional young policeman and his tormented wife fail miserably to produce a family, finding themselves outcasts of the renewed baby boom sweeping the United States. Yet, there is one last hope for them: a catalogue of human embryo and egg donors peddled by a woman whose standards are easily dismissed for the right price. Pursuing their futile attempts to become parents has nearly cost the wife her life and pushed the couple to the brink of bankruptcy. This seemingly last chance for Wesley and Carey Sarbeck to satisfy their place as parents in Middle America unknowingly tosses them in the midst of a grisly murder, the world of Hollywood celebrities, and a heist

Losing My Blogging Virginity --- Trip to his 2008 Book Expo America book signing sparks author's personal interest in blogging.

6/1/2008 7:53:30 AM This morning I noticed with much appreciation that a visitor to my AuthorsDen website http://www.authorsden.com/dardennorthmd had clicked on the My Blog link sometime between midnight last night and eight o'clock this morning. However, I must confess that the unfortunate Internet night owl was gravely disappointed (at least I hope that he or she was disappointed, or maybe even just a little bit) by the blank space found there. Hopefully, she or he then went on to reference the many other listings on the site that I try to keep updated on a regular basis. You see, I have never blogged. I am a forty-plus year-old blogging virgin. My excuse has been that every spare writing moment is needed to complete my third mystery/suspense/medical thriller manuscript FRESH FROZEN , due for release in hardcover later in 2008. But the truth is that I simply have never known how to blog ... but then I have never tried until now. (Well, like most virgins, I have blogged one time

HOUSE CALL Wins International Writing Award

HOUSE CALL , a non-stop suspense novel by Dr. Darden North, is awarded Finalist in the 2008 Next Generation Indie Book Awards Doctor by Day, Author by Night, Darden North's HOUSE CALL wins a National Writing Award. Jackson, Mississippi (PRWEB) May 19, 2008 -- HOUSE CALL by Mississippi obstetrician/gynecologist Darden North, MD, has been named a Finalist in the Mystery/Suspense category of the 2008 Next Generation Indie Book Awards according to C. Goulet, Awards Administrator. The novel was previously nominated in Fiction by the 2006Southern Independent Book Association Awards. As young Dr. Knox Chamblee struggles in HOUSE CALL to establish a medical practice in a southern town, both his social and professional conquests are derailed by a psychotic killer. However, no one connects the first victim, an attractive hospital nurse discovered floating in a bloody bathtub, to the near-frozen body of Dr. Cullen Gwinn, Chamblee’s mentor and chief proponent, found at the base of a deer stan

Darden North featured author on The Final Twist

The Final Twist Houston Chapter of Sisters in Crime™ www.thefinaltwist.com. House Call & Points of Origin by Darden North “ … A suspenseful ride striking up feelings of fear, sadness, joy, and shock." --- Delta Magazine "North may become to the medical mystery genre what Grisham is to the legal thriller." --- Bluffs and Bayous Magazine " … intricate, suspenseful … The author grabs the reader immediately." ---Portico Jackson “... a fast-paced tale ... for murder and intrigue fans." --- Allbooks Review "House Call leaves readers wanting more." --- The Delta Democrat Times “Points of Origin ... heart-stopping, spellbinding ending ... haunted me for days after closing the cover." --- Reader Views "I devoured both ... uncanny character development along classic southern lines.” --- Kathy Spurlock, Executive Editor, The News-Star "North reminds readers that things are not always as the

Read an excerpt from HOUSE CALL

HOUSE CALL by DARDEN NORTH, MD PROLOGUE Its metal casing rusted by years of moisture, the glass doorknob creaked as it turned slowly to the right. Steaming water pouring from the nearby faucet masked this sound as well as that of the approaching footsteps, soft as they crossed the damp tile floor. Taylor firmly squeezed the plastic bottle, releasing salon conditioner in streaks over her freshly shampooed hair. Leaning forward to rinse, she felt a firm hand grab the highlighted strands.With her head angled severely backwards, screaming was impossible, particularly as the conditioner rolled down onto her face and mouth. Now almost entirely submerged in the slippery bathtub, Taylor Richards could not struggle but only gag and cough. Moments later her chest exploded, tearing and burning, as the thrusts between her ribs were swift and repeated. Blood pouring from the punctures mixed with the soapy water, forming a red scum on the sides of the porcelain tub. Glancing hopelessly at the bat

Read an excerpt from POINTS OF ORIGIN

POINTS of ORIGIN by DARDEN NORTH, MD Prologue The newspaper obituary was poorly written. Even my tenth grade education picked up the grammatical flaws, not to mention the rambling content and elementary sentence structure: at least two run-ons and way too many commas. Although there was a subject-verb disagreement toward the close of the piece, misspelling was not an issue; I guess the Larkspur Ledger mercifully ran it through spell-check. No doubt the bereaved, overwhelmed author could have benefited from such a book as Obituaries for Idiots or perhaps a Google search for tips on writing death announcements. Unfortunately, that long column, an eruption of gut-wrenching sadness and bitterness, would be just the first of two the writer would ultimately pen. Running alongside several others that day in the newspaper, the obituary mentioned the immediate family as survivors as though merely a single group was devastated. By anyone’s standards, the lives of

Recent Book Review - POINTS OF ORIGIN

Reprinted from The Rankin Ledger April 19, 2008 North spins a gripping tale in second novel By Cyrus Webb Guest Columnist Darden North is not your typical author. In his day job, he's an obstetrician/ gynecologist at Jackson Healthcare for Women in Jackson and has delivered more babies than most people can count. But it's his work as a writer, and his second novel Points of Origin that is gaining cheers all across the country. The book, set in Mississippi, takes us into a world that seems so unlike any that many of us know with its glitz and glamour and high-priced facades. But a second look reveals that nothing is ever as it seems, and in that view, we begin to see more of the world in which all of us live. Take the main characters, the Foxworths. Dr. Dan Foxworth is a man who has amassed quite a name and fortune for himself and his wife and son, Sher. But like everything else in fictional Larkspur, Mississippi, things are never what they appear to be. After experiencing unim

Darden North quoted in PMA Independent

Mystery novelist Darden North is interviewed by Linda Carlson in her recent article appearing in the February 2008 edition of PMA Independent the publication of PMA, the Independent Book Publishers Association (pages 40 - 42). North shares his thoughts and experiences with Carlson regarding promoting his work in venues that are not primarily geared toward selling books. He shares news of successful results with gift stores where flexible payment arrangements and persistence work to everyone's advantage, particularly the reader. Excerpts from PMA Independent , the publication of the Independent Book Publishers Association, February 2008: Darden North, a Mississippi obstetrician-gynecologist who writes medical thrillers for his Ponder House Press, agrees (with the mutual benefits of approaching gift and specialty stores about promoting an author's work.) "Even in cases where gift shops do not commonly carry books, the stores have been receptive to inventorying my books-even

New Reader Comments - Email from Rachel of Covington, LA

Know you don't remember me - but we were both hosting a booth at the Mandeville, La. Castine Center (Junior League of Greater Covington Spring Market).I bought both of your books and promised to write and let you know of my thoughts. (blond, female, selling cajun food, "My biggest fan in Covington" which I am sure you signed all your books the same). I devoured them in 2 days but due to my busy schedule, I am just now getting back to you. I loved the multi-storied and multiple lines of thought working throughout the books - I love the fact that your books make the reader work for the understanding. I love that you make the reader focus on your words and think!!! Very few writers in this day and age actually draw in the reader and make them pay attention to the verbage. I loved the read of both of them and just when I thought I knew where you were going- you changed direction. I really appreciate your ability to outwit me on the endings!!!! I usually can read a book, even

HOUSE CALL and POINTS OF ORIGIN and the Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse

Author Darden North, MD, and Ponder House Press were priviledged to participate in the fundraiser for the Mississippi Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse held Saturday, January 12, 2008, at the Beau Rivage Resort in Biloxi, MS. Copies of North's novels POINTS OF ORIGIN in hardcover and HOUSE CALL in paperback were donated in appreciation to the sponsors and promoters of the well-received event. Fashion designer Deborah Kennedy and Camille Tate brought producers and stars from the long-running and popular The Bold and the Beautiful television series to Biloxi for "A Fashion Extravaganza" that auctioned many of the clothes and jewelry worn by the late Darlene Conley who played Sally Spectra on the show. Deborah Kennedy's designs were also featured in the fundraiser. Pictured are Sally and Darden North with cast members present.