"Munchausen ... a chilling, condition not often discussed..."

Josh Goldin's world is turned completely upside down when he gets a call that his infant son is in intensive care. His wife Dori is frantic and the doctor's are doing what they can for Zack.

The situation goes from bad to worse when one of the hospital's doctors, pediatrician Darlene Stokes, suspects the baby's injuries have been caused by his mother. Thus begins a harrowing story of how Dr. Stokes tries to verify what happened and then protect Zack from his mother.

Dr. Stokes suspects she is dealing with Munchausen by proxy, a rarely diagnosed and controversial phenomenon where a mother intentionally harms her baby. It is a nightmarish situation for Josh and Dori as well as the medical people who have to sort through the mess.

Explaining that it is much more common in the US than people realize, thousands of cases of Munchausens are documented each year but many more go unreported.

Since the novel was released, Strauss reports that, "Many doctors contacted me to say they know it happens, but that it's so hard to prove...It only happens in rich countries, such as ours or the UK. It's a disease of luxury, of idle minds."

Reviewed by Bob Walch
Posted October 10, 2009