Rating: 
Summary: Terrific Medical Tales Set In Warring&Exotic Locales!
Review: While there may be a surplus of great short stories out there, this collection should definitely rank among the all time greats! If you're looking for some great,terse, to the point writing about the current situation in places like Rwanda, India, and similar exotic locales, this is the best place to start! Mr. Murray tells a great story, and though there is plenty of expert medical procedures and info here, you won't feel condescended to in the least. Yes, we all know how horrible cholera is. Read this first story to REALLY know about it! And the same holds for every tale here. In short, an absolutely top collection!
Rating:
Summary: I had butterflies in my stomach!
Review: Wow, my gut wretched at the stench of the medical tent in the slums of India. I could feel the warm, moist South Florida air early in the morning. I could smell and almost taste the exotic scents and flavors from around the world as this facinating(and promising) new author treated my senses and emotions to many thrills. Feeling the pain of a fathers' duty and final escape from it. Sharing the fear of a son that he had been made in the same image and needed to rescue the father, only to find his own salvation. Insightful to say the least. This book has intelligence, insight and intrige (the three "I's" of successful short story writing).The characters were a grand collection of individuals who focused their lives around order and science, yet experienced (or yearned to experience) great adventure, love and emotion. Brav-O I say to John. And Brav-O to Valerie, whomever she is!
Rating: 
Summary: Butterflies
Review: Yet again, i seem to disagree with the majority of Amazon reviewers...it's not deliberate i hasten to add! This is a collection of short stories that don't seem to be linked by a common thread - all the stories bar one feature fathers, many feature doctors and/or medical dramas (Murray trained in medicine), many feature India or Indian ex-patriates - but there is no one common theme. It could be that these stories are all Murray has written, but if not you have to ask yourself if the editor really thought things through. By halfway through, you start each story wondering if yet again Murray will be using the same themes....the story that is a bit different 'Blue' with its austere setting, is all the more striking for not featuring the tropics. By the end, you feel that the writer is being arrogant, and rather than writing for a reader, he is simply working out his 'issues' story after story to the detriment of enjoying his work. Except for the last story, these don't seem to work very well as short stories, rather they feel like chapters from novels; or perhaps ideas for novels that didn't quite grow. While there is some lovely prose, there is not nearly enough to cover its flaws. The characters are interesting as isolated examples, but they become very boring when then seem to be in each story, just in a different guise - son/daughter dealing with clever and methodical father/grandfather while mother tries to grow as an individual. It will be interesting to see if Murray writes a novel, and if so if he moves on to exploring new themes. Until then,
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