Harry Chapman, a physician beginning his career, delivered a young indigent woman's child in 1952. Facts about that birth remained dormant for 20 years. But then, in 1972, an unexpected encounter set in motion a number of events that would impact Chapman's life, and in ways he never imagined possible. By now, Harry is a successful and honored physician, and perhaps the top OB/GYN practitioner in Los Angeles. Although unknown to him, his world would begin to fall apart when Greg Weston, a young man he doesn't know, is persuaded by girlfriend Gail Gordon to explore his past-that is, being blind at birth. Greg works for a law firm and knows how to obtain documents. What he discovers infuriates him and he presses forward and presents what he has found to his boss, Hal Winslow, a top malpractice lawyer. Winslow agrees that they have a case, and this initiates a domino effect that will affect a number of lives. Most notably Harry Chapman but also his wife Helen and their family; Harry's best friend and lawyer, Sid Shapiro; golf pro Phil Rogers; Greg's birth mother Laura Smith; and even Greg and Gail. ... As the case moves toward trial in Los Angeles Superior Court Chapman is shocked by the accusations and what he learns. Bad turns to worse, and Harry secures the services of top malpractice defense attorney Tom Loman, but this is just the beginning of what happened in 1952 for now millions of dollars are at stake. ... Add los Niños, the most feared Latino street gang in Los Angeles, to the mix, and suddenly life includes a price tag. As the situation spirals out of control lives begin to fall apart; sex and even the consideration of murder enters the picture. Everything comes down to Harry Chapman vs. Greg Weston with Judge Jason Kimberly presiding, and only one of them will emerge the victor.
The Discovery is about conception, birth, a brilliant career, discovery, accusations, and shock. Moreover it is about people-good people-who face dire consequences if a court decision goes the wrong way. ... It is a medical thriller in the genre of Robin Cook's best selling books (such as Cell) with one difference. Instead of a character-driven thriller that confronts the evils of medicine or pharmaceuticals, it is about a doctor and his wife at the crossroad of their lives.
About the Author: Louis Kraft has been selling his writing since the mid-1980s when he began writing articles, talks, and then books-fiction and nonfiction-about race relations of the American Indian wars, most notably about people of different race who put their lives at risk to prevent or end war. Beginning in 1990 he began writing for such corporations as L3 Communications, Yahoo!, and Oracle while his freelance efforts continued. In 2012 he stopped writing for the software world and has since focused on the Indian wars. His novel The Final Showdown (1992) was followed by nonfiction; including Custer and the Cheyenne (1995), Gatewood & Geronimo (2000), Lt. Charles Gatewood & His Apache Wars Memoir (2005), and Ned Wynkoop and the Lonely Road from Sand Creek (2011). Over the years he has won numerous awards, including the prestigious Western Heritage Wrangler Award. The University of Oklahoma Press will publish his next nonfiction book, Sand Creek and the Tragic End of a Lifeway, which deals with the lead-up to an attack on a peaceful Cheyenne-Arapaho village on Sand Creek, Colorado Territory, in 1864; the attack; and its aftermath as seen through the eyes of the major participants.
Robert S. Goodman was born in New York but raised in Los Angeles. Realizing early in life that he wanted to be a physician, he excelled in school, and this led to his acceptance into the UCLA premedical program. He joined the ZBT Fraternity while continuing to excel in his classes. His pre-med grades offered him acceptance to the Stanford University School of Medicine and Chicago Medical but he decided to remain at UCLA where he was one of the fifty students in the new UCLA Medical Center. In his second year he was accepted into the AOA Honor Medical Society. After graduating second in his class Goodman decided to remain at UCLA for his internship and then his three-year residency in internal medicine and then a one-year fellowship in cardiology. In 1966 he opened his practice in Encino, California, a practice that continues today after over fifty years. During this time he has served as chief of medicine at two facilities and chief of staff at the Encino Hospital Medical Center. During the course of his long and honored medical career he began to document it and think about a possible novel. The Discovery is the result of his partnership with Kraft.
