Author Stephen White

Several years ago a friend of mine handed me a book entitled, Privileged Information by a new author, Stephen White. The plot revolved around a clinical psychologist named Alan Gregory who lived and practiced in Boulder, Colorado. It was a murder mystery and the truth is, the only mysteries I'd read with any frequency were those of Sherlock Holmes. Some people consume mysteries like holiday peanut M & Ms; while I enjoyed them on film, I rarely read the book afterwards.

Privileged Information was different. For one thing, with the exception of the fictional house that Alan and his partner had converted into office space, Boulder was accurate down to the detail. For another, Stephen allowed the reader to experience the therapist's inner process; fact overlay fiction creating an introduction to clinical psychology in story form. That in itself was unusual -- so many novels with medical or psychological themes treat the science so superficially, you come away no wiser for having read them.

Not so Privileged Information. Its clinical and geographic reliability reflects not only extensive research, but the fact that Stephen practiced as a clinical psychologist in Boulder for several years. He obtained his PhD from the University of Colorado just down the street from Alan's "office." I've had the pleasure of getting to know Stephen a little bit and he's really a fine guy.

Privileged Information was his first book but now there are many others. The newest, The Siege, is due for release on August 4 and I'm looking forward to it. On his website, www.authorstephenwhite.com, you can read an excerpt. And no, this is not a paid advertisement - Stephen has no idea I'm writing about him this morning.

In fact, I'm bringing him up because some readers of this blog are medical students. It's true, medical students scarcely feel they have time to breath much less read a work of fiction. But there are vacations and I can hardly think of a writer who would appeal to medical students more. Partly because his work is refreshingly clinically-relevant, partly because he's been a clinician -- one of us -- and Alan's encounters with patients are proof of it.

For readers who aren't medical students, you'll enjoy Stephen's work because frankly, he's a darned good writer. He doesn't over-simplify the psychology but neither do you need a graduate degree to understand it. His style is intelligent and engaging, his characters human and humane. Stephen doesn't follow a formula, though, so no matter how many of his books you've read, you never, ever, know "who done it" until the final chapter.

(Update: Stephen White has announced the final two novels in the Alan Gregory series, the first, Line of Fire, to be released in August, 2012.)

(Creative Commons image of Kill Me by Stephen White by sweet mustache via Flickr)