An Absent Mind — Eric Rill

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• 2014 LIVING NOW BOOK AWARDS GOLD MEDAL FOR INSPIRATIONAL FICTION

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AN ABSENT MIND, a riveting new novel and book club pick from Eric Rill, author of PINNACLE OF DECEIT and THE INNOCENT TRAITOR, is about a race against time. The ticking time bomb is Saul Reimer's sanity. His Alzheimer's is going to be the catalyst that will either bring his family together or tear it apart.

Although AN ABSENT MIND depicts Saul's arduous struggle with Alzheimer's, it is equally a story about his relationship with his loved ones and their shared journey.

Seventy-one, and a man used to controlling those around him, Saul finds himself helplessly slipping into the abyss in what he describes as his slow dance with death. As we listen in on his ramblings, humor, emotions, lucid moments, and confusion, we are also privy to the thoughts and feelings his family share with us--his wife, Monique, conflicted and depressed; caring, yet angry; his daughter, Florence, compassionate, worried about her father's health, yet proper and reserved; his son, Joey, self-centered and narcissistic, seemingly distant from his family's challenges. And Dr. Tremblay, Saul's Alzheimer's specialist, who provides the reader with facts and observations about this dreaded disease that imprisons more than 35 million people worldwide.

We know from the beginning how it has to end for Saul, because no one has ever outsmarted Alzheimer's. But how will he navigate the meandering road that will eventually destroy his health and result in his death? And how will it affect those around him as they live with strain and guilt, while at the same time being forced to face their own demons?

These questions are answered expertly by the author as he explores the conflicts that rise to the surface as the family deals with Saul's dementia.

Eric Rill's novel is reminiscent of Lisa Genova's Still Alice, Nicholas Sparks' The Notebook, and Alice Munro's Away From Her. Although a beautiful work of literary fiction, AN ABSENT MIND will expose the reader to the reality of Alzheimer's.