Discovery

Eighty-five-year-old Helen Bryan thinks she might have found a new bird species on one of the many feeders in her yard. On the same day, her dead husband appears and tells her a riddle that brings back memories she would rather leave behind. As she tries to solve the mystery of the new bird, she must also find answers to the riddle. The two quests become deeply intertwined as she seeks help from her former ornithology professor, a mentor turned tormenter. When the professor kills the one new bird Helen knows exists and takes it back to his laboratory for study, her anger sends her on a quest to find more birds of the same kind. With severe arthritis, balance problems, and a recent painful shoulder injury, Helen is poorly equipped for searching the rugged mountains where she thinks a flock of the new birds might be. However, she secretly sets off to seek the evidence she needs. Along the way, her dead husband appears to her several more times, offering little help in solving his riddle but causing her to review and re-think the life she's lived. All she endures on her trek into the mountains fails to achieve the results she longs for, and she nearly dies in the effort. Only the intervention of the young editor of the local newspaper, a woman Helen wants to trust but still holds at arm's length, saves her. Helen winds up in a nursing facility, diagnosed with rapidly developing dementia. She learns from the newspaper editor that her nemesis has claimed credit for the new bird species. But the editor also has a secret, one Helen asks not be revealed until after her death. It's a secret that will, in small but significant ways, change history.

About the Author :
During his career, Christopher Ryan has been a children's author, screenwriter, novelist and educator. He holds a master's degree in English from the University of Kansas, where he graduated with highest distinction and was inducted into the honor societies of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi. He lives with his wife Fran, a psychologist, in Kansas City, Missouri.

Review :
I stopped in my tracks after the first page of this book . . . instantly riveted . . . wanting to know more and where the path was going to lead. Christopher Ryan is on to something . . . and it could be a masterpiece. Jayne Siemens, Shawnee, Kansas - President, Venice Communications Reading Discovery was a pleasure because there was a message I needed to hear: Don't trade your aliveness for security. Keep your dreams alive. They are your reason for being. Your passion is your gift to your family and to the world. Kayt Kennedy, Annapolis, Maryland - Editor, Wife, Mother, Grandmother, Widow, Dreamer Ryan has written a mystery with a gripping story and fascinating characters while exploring the mind of a senior. This novel is for anyone who is watching parents or friends age gracefully . . . or not. This book is a must read. Rich Ambler - Atlanta, Georgia, Film Director Having worked with patients experiencing various forms of dementia, I can speak to the pain and despair they, as well as their family and friends, feel as the disease progresses. In Discovery, Ryan captures these emotions and adds elements of human strength and compassion that bring dignity and even heroism to a tragic situation. The kind of grit the main character exhibits took my breath away, I couldn't put the book down, as difficult as it sometimes was to walk Helen Bryan's path with her. Diane H. Waanders - Retired Medical Social Worker, Overland Park, Kansas Midwest Book Reviews: Discovery is a novel about ghosts with riddles. 85-year-old Helen Bryan embarks on an unexpected adventure when her dead husband Ed presents her with a puzzle at the same time as a new species of bird visits her feeder. Christopher Ryan does an outstanding job of capturing the emotional and physical pain of old age - but he doesn't stop there. The title of his novel is, after all, Discovery. These moments emerge from unexpected encounters with ghosts, birds, and self to give the plot an intriguing countenance of growth that embraces the lightness of truth, however difficult it may be. Readers will become immersed in Helen's life, which in turn encourages her followers to consider their own aging process and reflections. These are delivered through encounters with nature which emphasize life and diversity: Perhaps one reason why Discovery is especially vivid is because it is fiction based on real people and circumstances. Christopher Ryan builds a biographical sketch laced with fictional drama and embellishments which make Helen and her relationships quite accessible to audiences: What circumstances could force Helen to correct a longtime mistake by eschewing the ornithological limelight and hiding her discovery? Libraries interested in moving stories of aging, reconciling past with present events at life's end, and birding objectives carried out in unusual manners will find it easy to recommend Discovery. The novel will appeal to audiences looking for emotionally compelling stories of old age and the special forms of self-examination and revelation that can emerge at the end of life. And then, there are birds . . .