about the Author

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Mhairi Haarsager is my married name, but I practiced medicine as Mhairi G. MacDonald, M.D., in the United States for over 40 years.  I am of Scottish heritage; my given name is Gaelic.  I was born at the end of World War II in what was then Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, to two British codebreakers.  

Like the main protagonist in this book, I was an immigrant (from the U.K.) and a newborn-intensive-care physician with PTSD.  The book is set in the late 1980s, when openly admitting that one suffered from a mental disorder was unlikely to enhance a medical career.

During my years of clinical and research practice, I published widely in my medical field, including textbooks and research papers.  I also edited a medical journal.  I was on the faculty of George Washington University and retired as Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics.

After I retired, relearning the skills required to fulfill my lifelong ambition to write fiction took far longer than I anticipated.  I owe my success ot the contributions of many excellent writing tutors.

In this quick-hitting thriller set in Baltimore in the late 1980s, Lussi Sim, a Norwegian-born neonatologist, uncovers a deadly conspiracy that reaches from her intensive care unit to the highest levels of international intelligence. 

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Discover hope and resilience in every page of Mhairi Haarsager, M.D.'s gripping medical thriller, where themes of moral injury unfold.

In this quick-hitting thriller set in Baltimore in the late 1980s, Lussi Sim, a Norwegian-born neonatologist, uncovers a deadly conspiracy that reaches from her intensive care unit to the highest levels of international intelligence. 

Haunted by childhood trauma and driven by a need to protect others, Lussi has devoted her life to saving sick newborns. An excellent physician, she copes with the stresses of her job by reflexively entering the “rescuer” role she adopted when attempting to protect her mother from spousal abuse. This instinct has always been to confront conflict headlong, even when diplomacy would be safer.

When she uncovers the medical conspiracy, rooted in a secret financial arrangement between the CIA and a Middle Eastern royal family, Lussi herself becomes the next target. As the story unfolds, her life is threatened both by the perpetrators and her own risk-taking. To save innocent lives, she must, with the invaluable assistance of her nurse colleague, Ann Castle, outwit powerful actors before they silence her forever.