Interview with Rudy Mazzocchi, Author of Equity of Fear

Rudy is best known as a medical device and biotechnology entrepreneur, inventor, and angel investor, with a history of starting new technology ventures throughout the U.S. and Europe. He's been privileged to have the opportunity to see the newest innovations in healthcare and work with some of the most brilliant researchers, scientists and physicians in the industry.

Authoring more than 50 patents, he has helped pioneer new companies involved in cardiology, oncology, orthopedics, neurosurgery, ophthalmology and even embryonic stem-cell development. Through these efforts, he has become the recipient of many technology and business awards, including the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Healthcare and the Businessman of the Year Award.

Combining these experiences and opportunities, with thousands of hours of travel and long evenings in hotel rooms, he found the initiative to start writing a collection of medical thrillers based on true events, known as The EQUITY Series. The first book of which is entitled "EQUITY of EVIL" (released March 5, 2012), and the second entitled “EQUITY of FEAR” (released March 25, 2013).

Book Titles: EQUITY of EVIL (Book One) & EQUITY of FEAR (Book Two)
Website: http://www.rudymazzocchi.com
Blog Link: http://rudymazzocchi.wordpress.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MazzocchiAuthor
Twitter: http://twitter.com/RudyMazzocchi

Amazon Links: EQUITY of EVIL http://amzn.to/L9DCyW
EQUITY of FEAR http://amzn.to/16bDUfY

Barnes & Noble: EQUITY of EVIL http://bit.ly/HjK0P1
EQUITY of FEAR http://bit.ly/WPJEcC

Book Trailers: EQUITY of EVIL http://bit.ly/xusDAW
EQUITY of FEAR http://bit.ly/11nFRHv

When did you begin writing?

During an extended cruise through the Panama Canal while celebrating my 50th birthday. Prior to this, I had only authored business plans, patent applications and a handful of medical journal articles. It took three years to write, edit and publish my first novel, EQUITY of EVIL.

What is this book about?

EQUITY of FEAR is Book Two in The EQUITY Series. It is not a sequel to the first book, but carries a similar theme, one in which well-intended businessmen pursue controversial, high-risk medical technologies designed to improve our quality of life. Unfortunately, the technology eventually comes under the control of evil-doers who strive to use the technology to control the minds and wills of unknowing subjects. The story’s characters are pulled into another dark and evil world where scientists and foreign corporations will do whatever it takes to control the ability to manipulate our fears and memories.

What inspired you to write it?

As with the first novel, this is based on true medical science and certain events that have taken place in my life. My intention with The EQUITY Series is to make readers aware of several bold new medical technologies that are under development and to give them insight to how they might impact all of our lives in the future – for better or worse. Several of these themes may require us to reconsider how we might deal with future political, ethical and moral issues.

Was the road to publication smooth sailing or a bumpy ride?

I would call it “challenging.” Early in the process of drafting my first manuscript, I decided to pursue the conventional route to publishing rather than consider self-publishing. With a professionally edited manuscript in hand, I pursued the best literary agency and publishing house that would consider a new unknown author. Releasing the eBook version of EQUITY of EVIL took approximately two years once I inked the deal with an agency. This included another editing session, re-naming of the book and selection of a cover design. EQUITY of FEAR (book Two), was released approximately four months following the completion of an edited manuscript.

If you knew then, what you know now, is there anything you would have done differently?

Ironically, there’s not much I would change. I needed the time to learn this new industry and to experience the process first hand – regardless how frustrating it was at times. If anything, I may have spent more time identifying a proper publicist to help me with some pre-release promotional activities.

Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?

Identified above….

Do you have a video trailer to promote your book? If yes, where can readers find it?

Identified above…

What is the best investment you have made in promoting your book?

I spent considerable time chasing down an appropriate reviewer for the purpose of providing the best possible “blurb” on the front cover. I was fortunate enough to connect with the International Best-selling Author, Dr. Robin Cook (Coma) who eventually provided a “blurb” for the cover of EQUITY of EVIL. I’m attempting to do the same with Dr. Sanjay Gupta for EQUITY of FEAR. In addition, I found it rewarding to submit these novels for a variety of literary awards. Receipt of several awards has been extremely helpful in promoting these novels and creating my brand recognition as a thriller writer.

What is up next for you?

I have begun my research to support the third book in this Series. This one is going to require a slightly different “process” since the theme is less familiar to me. The first book in this Series revealed a dark world involving abortion, human trafficking and organ cultures. The second book deals with the subject of the re-wiring of the brain to eliminate fear or to restore or alter memory. This third book will address the controversial subject of euthanasia. I then have a burning desire to write at least one non-fiction book, the first one regarding my career as a start-up CEO and the subject of Entrepreneurism.

Author Spotlight and Interview with Frank Edwards, Author of Final Mercy

Dr. Jack Forester, director of the New Canterbury University Hospital emergency department, is about to win an ongoing battle to modernize the ED when he’s stymied by the power-hungry dean, Bryson Witner. Then someone tries to murder Jack’s mentor and the former dean, setting it up to look like suicide.

Bit by bit, Jack uncovers facts that suggest several other recent tragic accidents may not have been in the least accidental. The deeper he digs, the closer danger creeps, and the phrase “life or death” begins to take on a new and very personal meaning.

Read the excerpt!

He walked faster. Having skipped the media circus at the hospital, he’d caught up on his sleep, and his legs felt strong. Past the main quad and nearing the foot- bridge, he was alone yet had the odd sen- sation someone was trying to get his attention. He stopped and looked around. Nothing.

He continued. Nearer the footbridge, he felt it again. He didn’t stop this time but strode more quickly. He continued through the grove of trees along the iron fence bordering Mt. Seneca Cemetery. Then he was on the footbridge, cars siz- zling by on the wet pavement twenty-five feet below.

He was a third of the way across when he heard someone behind him.

The footsteps approached at a jogger’s pace, and the back of Gavin’s neck tin- gled. He stopped and turned. The man coming toward him wore a black sweat- shirt with the hood drawn tightly around his face.

A potent chill crept up Gavin’s back. He turned and hurried toward the hospital end of the narrow bridge, but it was still fifty feet away and the footfalls were closing.

Read the reviews!

“FINAL MERCY is a medical thriller that I couldn’t put down. I stayed up late on two consecutive nights in enthralled reading. The novelist – who is a medical doctor — not only creates a tale of suspense and intrigue, but he also gives interesting details about hospitals and medical schools and emergency medicine.”


--H.H. Gregory, reader

"What I found most exciting about the story was we know who is behind the wrong doings so it is not so much of a who did it, but a more of a why and how did they do it...I hope that the character of Dr. Jack Forester shows up again in another novel."

--Lucky Rosie's

"...if you love medical TV dramas and such, please get a copy of this book."

--Book Reviews by Molly

A Conversation with Author Frank Edwards

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

With a mother who was a natural story teller, I fell in love with books at a very early age and began writing when I was in my early teens. I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do when I graduated from high school and ended up enlisting in the Army. I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but something about the experience of being in Vietnam lit a fire in my belly to become both a physician and a writer. William Carlos Williams became my role model in medical school. After getting my MD I gravitated to emergency medicine, then a brand new specialty, because it would give me a practice where I could more easily carve out blocks of writing time, and also, I think, because it resembled what I’d done as a combat chopper pilot—spells of routine activity broken by unexpected bursts of urgent focused activity. After thirty years, these two parts of my life—medicine and writing—still compliment each other.

Where did you grow up?

I was born in what is now the inner city of Rochester, NY. My parents migrated to the suburbs when I was little, then kept moving further out into the country. Part of my teenage years were spent on the same farm of my mother’s childhood, right next to a creek full of blue gills where I taught myself to fly fish. There was an artesian well that scented every breeze from the north with rotten eggs.

What is your fondest childhood memory?

My parents didn’t have many books in the house, but they did buy a set of storybooks for us kids. This set contained all the old fables, tales, and nursery rhymes. My mother enjoyed reading to us, and I loved every one of those stories and couldn’t get enough. When I was cleaning out my parent’s house after they died a few years ago, I came across another book I’d completely loved when I was little. It was Skipper John’s Cook, by Marcia Brown, and it’s sitting this moment on a shelf not far from my desk. I love to look at the line drawings still. It’s about a boy named Si and his dog George. Si signed on as Captain John’s cook and he became very poplar with the sailors after switching their diet from beans and beans, to fish and fish, and by the time the crew got tired of fish and fish, they were home again. My mother wrote the date she bought the book on the first page. I was three.

When did you begin writing?

I had my first poem published when I was fifteen, also the same year I wrote my first short story, which was science fiction and borrowed a lot of atmosphere from George Orwell.

Do you write during the day, at night or whenever you can sneak a few moments?

I mainly write during the day. But because I can’t do it every day, I grab time whenever I can. I’ve done a lot of writing in the hospital at night when things are slow. That’s where I am right now.

What is this book about?

Final Mercy tells the story of Dr. Jack Forester, whose dream is to modernize the ER and start a training program for emergency doctors. The interim dean of the medical center, however, Dr. Bryson Witner, has begun throwing roadblocks in his path, and the reason appears to be Jack’s refusal to endorse Witner’s ambitions to become the permanent dean. Though a great many people have fallen for Witner’s charm and energy, Jack never fell under his spell. When Jack’s mentor and old friend, Dr. James Gain, returns to town suspecting that something is wrong at the Medical Center, Gavin becomes the victim to a murder attempt set up to look like suicide. Jack doesn’t buy the suicide story, and with the help of a beautiful journalist, Zellie Anderson, he begins a race against time to unravel the truth about Witner’s insanity. The tension builds as someone tries to sabotage Jack’s car, then Zellie doesn’t show up for a date and Jack Forester finds himself on the prow of a small boat in the middle of a blizzard scanning the water with a searchlight.

What inspired you to write it?

I’d been trying for ages to write a literary novel but found myself veering toward the creation of suspense stories and mysteries, and I would stop in frustration. I finally gave into the urge and the end result was Final Mercy. With me being a doctor, it was only natural to give the novel a medical setting. I’d done too much research to pass up.
Who is your biggest supporter?

I’m eternally grateful to have a wife who by and large understands that I need to write.

Who is your favorite author?

A tough question. My taste in books is very eclectic. I love fiction, non-fiction and poetry in just about equal measure. If pressed I’d have to say that my favorite novel would be A Confederacy of Dunces. The character of Ignatius J. Reilly is so beautifully realized, so human, so vital and his quest for self-expression and self-justification is so funny and improbable—I don’t know. I still can really explain why this book works so well for me. There’s just something about the language flowing out and circling up. It’s the cosmos in a teacup. My favorite poet for many years has been Billy Collins.

Was the road to publication smooth sailing or a bumpy ride?

Getting Final Mercy from a cluster of ideas to a published first novel took approximately eight years, and I learned a lot of craft through pure trial and error. Then, last summer, my editor, the talented Liz Burton of Zumaya Publications, and I spent about three weeks doing the final edit, and I cannot begin to describe what a fantastic learning experience that was. We did it in real-time on Google Documents—me in New York State and Liz in Austin, Texas—and it was wonderful, going over the story line by line, tinkering and polishing. Things I’d wrestled with for years finally fell into place. I learned more about the craft of story telling in that three weeks than I had in the previous half a decade. It mainly had to do, I think, with learning how to see each scene through the reader’s eyes.
Where can readers purchase a copy of your book?

Here the link to Final Mercy’s page on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Final-Mercy-Frank-J-Edwards/dp/1936144204. It’s available in paperback and a Kindle version. The book can also be purchased on line at Barnes and Noble, and at Zumaya Publications.

Do you have a website and/or blog where readers can find out more?

My website is http://www.frankjedwards.com/. I’ve got a blog there. I try to keep up a discussion about writing, and would love to have more people visit and join in.

What is the best investment you have made in promoting your book?

The modern state of book promotion is very different from what I’d expected, and is extremely dependent on the Internet. I did two things. One was to develop a relationship with a local publicist, who helped me create a good website. The other was to hook up with book promotion specialist, Dorothy Thompson at http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/.

What is one piece of advice you would like to share with aspiring authors everywhere?

Don’t be discouraged. Persistence really is the key.

What is up next for you?

I’ve got two projects going on right now I’m very excited about—a sequel to Final Mercy, and a book of poems. The sequel is called Bedside. Jack Forester’s wife has discovered a disturbing feature about a new medical device being tested at Jack’s hospital and that has the potential to change human evolution.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Just to thank you again for this opportunity!

Frank J. Edwards was born in Rochester New York. In 1968 he entered the US Army and served a tour in Vietnam as a helicopter pilot. He received a BA with honors in English from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill then attended medical school at the University of Rochester, graduating with an MD in 1979. In 1989 he received an MFA in writing from Warren Wilson College in Swannanoa, NC. After practicing for a decade in North Carolina, he returned to the Rochester, area in 1990 where he remains in active practice.


He has published a number of poems and short stories in literary magazines including Carolina Quarterly and The Virginia Quarterly Review, along with numerous medical articles. In 1988, Henry Holt published his first non-fiction book, Medical Malpractice: Solving the Crisis. His second non-fiction book, The M & M Files: Morbidity and Mortality Rounds in Emergency Medicine was published by Hanley & Belfus in 2002 and has become a standard text in emergency medicine.

For the past thirteen years he has taught creative writing seminars to medical students at the U of R. In 2004, the University of Rochester Press published his collection of poems and short stories, It’ll Ease the Pain.


Final Mercy is his first novel. He is married to a former emergency nurse from Canada and lives with his family on Lake Ontario near Rochester.


You can visit his website at www.frankjedwards.com.

Final Mercy is available from Amazon as a paperback or in a Kindle edition.

Let the Readers Decide: Ethical or Unethical? by Dr. Harry Saranchak, Author of Betrayal of Hippocrates

Today's special guest is Dr. Harry Saranchak, author of Betrayals of Hippocrates.

Dr. Alston Crowley’s medical career took flight on the wings of his parents’ dream. With fluctuating grades and a half-hearted desire to become a doctor, Alston much preferred to set his sights on specimens of the female variety. Not wishing to disappoint his parents, however, he decided to compromise, and set out for the Caribbean island of Montserrat, where he studied while basking in the natural beauty around him. Then, during his residency, the euphoria of paradise soon morphed into the harsh, clinical reality of New York Charity Hospital, where he met his nemesis, the brilliant practitioner, Dr. Maggie Finney. Under her relentless scrutiny, Alston’s medical career teetered on the brink of annihilation – until he was given a second chance to study at Physicians Scientific Research Institute in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, under the mentorship of Dr. Harry James Thornton, M.D., Ph.D.. At the Institute – metaphorically somewhere between Montserrat and Alcatraz, Alston’s life unexpectedly converged with researchers and practitioners in a tangled web of good versus evil.

The subject of everyone’s focus: tiny yellow, red, and green frogs, emitting a mysterious substance. In the right hands, the discovery had the potential to revolutionize medical science. When in the clutches of the sinister Dr. Vincent Edison Longfellow, however, it altered countless lives and generations, engendering debates about the definition of “life” and its preservation. The ensuing challenges were not for the faint of heart, and beckoned Alston and his colleagues to probe and question the integrity of their profession. Ultimately, they found their way home – to the core meaning of “justice,” and the true essence of themselves.

In this intense narrative, blended with intrigue, romance, and humor, author Harry J. Saranchak asks his readers to do the same. No one is immune to unethical practices and, where lives are at stake, the world is involved. Anyone, anywhere who has been privy to injustice must rise to the cause and have a voice.

Let the Readers Decide: Ethical or Unethical? by Dr. Harry Saranchak

As a retired general and vascular surgeon for over 30 years, I have seen many changes in the training of a physician, as well as a surgeon. My wife Kathy, who is also is and has been in the healthcare field for about the same amount of time as I, have many conversations regarding healthcare and ethics. Much of the material we write about is inspired by these chats.

There are some policies that we hear about from friends regarding prescriptions for instance.

Here is a typical scenario: A person goes to the doctor for back pain. The doctor runs tests, takes a full medical history, asks for a current list of medications, allergies to food or drugs, supplements, over the counter drug usage, herbs, sports drinks, etc. etc. etc., and comes to the conclusion/diagnosis: muscle spasm of the low back. Laymen’s terms. The doctor orders a muscle relaxant. The prescription is for say 30 tablets.

The patient goes to the pharmacy to have the prescription filled. The pharmacist asks if the patient has any questions about the medication. Along with the bottle of tablets is a medication education sheet, that is given to the patient. The patient pays for the medication, pays a co-pay or not, pays full price or not for the 30 tablets.

The patient takes the tablet according to the directions and about an hour later, begins feeling “ funny”. ( fill in the blank…..)

He calls the office of the doctor who prescribed the tablets, and is told by the doctor, to stop taking the pills and make another appointment, or is prescribed another medication, or treatment plan reassessed.

Problem: The patient, in some form, has paid for the 30 pills. Took 1. Now owns 29 tablets that he/she, cannot return to the pharmacy.

Now it’s time for the reader to decide. Is it ethical for a pharmacy to fill a prescription and not have a policy for returns of medication? Is it in the interest of business to fill medications in bottles, rather than in individual plastic packs, like drug samples?

Please note this one anecdotal story may be happening with medications that cost .05 per tablet, or $10.00 a tablet or more for thousands of people.

We offer this possible case an opportunity to think, react, question.

Betrayals of Hippocrates: Crimes against Innocence is about a research scientist who decides to further his experiments without any conscience or thought about the rights of a human being, no matter what the condition of that human being is.

It is a medical thriller, because bringing an entity to justice is a road paved with twists and turns, a thrill ride, if you will.

The case of a patient’s need for freedom from back pain, without creating an expensive in home pharmacy filled with unused, out dated medications can be just as important to our readers as Maggie and Alston’s need to bring darkness to light.




Dr. Harry J. Saranchak earned a B.A. degree cum laude from Georgetown and followed it with an M.D. from University of Connecticut School of Medicine. For 30 years he was a vascular and general surgeon in three Connecticut hospitals, and for 25 of those he was also educator and mentor to medical students, residents and colleagues—while receiving eight Golden Scalpel awards for teaching excellence. A Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Dr. Saranchak co-authored seven medical journal articles from 1974 to 1984. After retiring from his private practice at Grove Hill Medical Center in New Britain, CT, he wrote Betrayals of Hippocrates: Crimes Against Innocence.

You can visit his website at www.harryjsaranchak.com.