Shedrow by Dean M. DeLuke

I am so glad this book was offered for review and I am so glad I decided to review it! Here is the review on Pump Up Your Book!

In Lexington Kentucky, on the magnificent, perfectly manicured Midway Farm, a young multimillion dollar thoroughbred stallion dies mysteriously in the early morning hours. While the autopsy report initially points to the Equine Herpes Virus, something about that report doesn’t mesh for associate veterinarian Dr. Steven Highet. When the vet begins to dig deeper, aided by an eager young pre-veterinary student working for the summer at Midway, Highet finds his own life and the lives of others suddenly endangered. Even more endangered is Dr. Anthony Gianni, the prominent Manhattan surgeon who became involved in a racing partnership as a diversion from a thriving surgical practice and an ailing marriage. Now he is unexpectedly thrust into a brush with organized crime that will threaten to destroy his professional career. Chester Pawlak is principal owner of the deceased stallion, and because of his checkered past, he also becomes one of the key suspects in the cryptic death of his prized horse. From rolling pastures in Lexington, KY to darkened alleyways in Newark, NJ, from Manhattan’s posh ‘21′ Club to a peculiar and mysterious landfill in Eastern Kentucky, and from Saratoga Springs, NY to the tiny island of St. Lucia, Shedrow portrays a collision of characters from many divergent worlds. High society and the racing elite, medical and veterinary specialists, mob figures, and Kentucky hill folk become entangled in this unique twist on the medical thriller.
255 pages
You can visit Dean’s website at www.shedrow1.com.

About the author:

Dr. Dean DeLuke is a graduate of St. Michael’s College, Columbia University (DMD) and Union Graduate College (MBA). He completed residency training at Long Island Jewish Medical Center and also participated in a fellowship in maxillofacial surgery at the Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, England.

He currently divides his time between the practice of oral and maxillofacial surgery and a variety of business consulting activities with Millennium Business Communications, LLC, a boutique marketing, communications and business consulting firm. An active volunteer, he has served on the Boards of the St. Clare’s Hospital Foundation, the Kidney Foundation of Northeast New York, and the Albany Academy for Girls. He has also performed medical missionary work with Health Volunteers Overseas.

Though he had previously published a variety of works related to his profession, he set his mind to a work of fiction after meeting novelists Robert Dugoni, Michael Palmer and Tess Gerritsen. Palmer and Gerritsen, both best-selling authors, also had careers as physicians, and Dugoni was a practicing attorney for many years before he published his first best-seller.

“I did my best to study the craft and learn from three of the best,” DeLuke says of his participation in several writing workshops sponsored by SEAK, Inc. and featuring Palmer, Gerritsen and Dugoni. “As for my longstanding interest in books and writing, I credit a host of inspirational secondary school teachers at the Albany Academy, a school that counts among its alumni Herman Melville, Stephen Vincent Benet and Andy Rooney.”

For the subject matter of Shedrow, DeLuke drew from a history with thoroughbred horses that dates back to his youth, when he worked on his father’s horse farm in upstate New York. Dr. Dominick DeLuke, also a surgeon, raised many champion New York bred horses on their farm in Chestertown, NY. Dean DeLuke would become an owner many years later, as a general partner with Dogwood Stable in Aiken, SC.

The protagonist in Shedrow happens to be a surgeon, so it’s not a stretch for DeLuke to deliver real life drama from the operating room suite as well as the racetrack. The author is also quick to point out that the fictional Dr. Gianni “is really no one in particular, but a blend of several physicians that he has encountered over the years.”

DeLuke has arranged to donate a portion of all sales proceeds to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, a foundation whose mission is to save thoroughbred horses no longer able to compete on the racetrack from possible neglect, abuse and slaughter.

My review:

I have always loved horses and mysteries so this book was a perfect review book for me! This is Dean DeLuke's first novel and I hope it will not be his last. There was everything in this book: mystery, intrigue, great story line, tragedy,the Mob, a wonderful cast of heroes and bad guys, etc. I would definitely recommend this book and I'm so glad I read it! I also love the fact that DeLuke is donating a portion of the sales of this book to the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. So get out there and pick up your copy of this wonderful book!

Note: I was not paid to present this review on my blog.