Daybreak — Frank G. Slaughter

The operation is simple.

It is called a frontal lobotomy, and its purpose is to pacify the violently insane. But by no means can it be called a sure cure. It may merely reduce the patient to a willing, thoughtless robot who will do anything he is told.

As a state-employed doctor, young Jim Corwin was forced to use this technique. But he drew the line with Lynn. She was young and beautiful, and she was a born artist. He would resign as a doctor before he took her wonderful talents away from her with a scalpel.

But he had only six weeks to find another way to save her.

And despite the scoffing of his fellow doctors, those six weeks on continual, unrelenting effort to reach and abandoned soul paid Jim Corwin back a millionfold.