Vital Signs

by Kathy Herman

ISBN: 1590520408

Multnomah Publishers Inc., October, 2002

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Jennifer is a young, pregnant woman who finds herself abandoned by the man she thought she loved. She returns to her parents for the remaining time in her pregnancy only to discover during labour that she is not going to be raising one baby on her own but two! Overwhelmed with the responsibilities of twins, an infectious outbreak separates her from her babies. Because Jennifer was in contact with this deadly virus, as well with the congregation of a church, she must spend 10 days in isolation while strangers care for her newborn babies. However, one of the people turns out to be not a stranger after all.

As if that wasn't enough to wreak havoc in their lives, the hospital and the community is in danger from a rogue citizen's group who is determined to rid the town of the deadly virus one way or another.

Woven throughout all the action and chaos in the character's lives is the strong theme of God being in control of their lives. The characters must learn to trust God with their lives and the lives of loved ones.

Vital Signs is the third in The Baxter Series from Kathy Herman. It is an interesting novel. While the story is set within a hospital and hospice near the hospital, it is not a "medical drama" in the same genre as ones written by the writing team of Hannah Alexandra. Instead of giving us the "inside scoop" on the medical side of the story, it deals more with the characters' reaction to the medical problems they are encountering.

In this way, it endeavours to be real and genuine in its' expression of panic among the characters as an infectious disease takes control of their hospital and community. A disease that no one seems to know how to deal with. It shows the panic that can run wild in a small community when rumours blaze through it. It shows the role of the media in controlling or fanning the flames. The book brings up the interesting issue of how much should the community know during a hostile takeover - by either humans or an epidemic infection. How much do people "in the know" have to tell the public during such situations? Should the information be released in a controlled manner? There are many interesting questions that this story inspires around this issue.

However, the story itself is interesting and the story line plausible and possible. I found the characters to be a little flat. For example, I didn't have alot of empathy for Jennifer. She seemed to be fairly emotionless and even gave up the care of her newborns without much emotion or passion. Dennis, the father, is much more developed and he's the one whom the author allows the reader to get to know and the one who undergoes the self-metamorphasis.

I had one major problem with this story and it is with the "story book" ending. Everything works out too perfectly in the end. While I understand that the author is probably trying to eschew Christian family values (mom staying home to raise the kids, for example), I found it to be way too unreal. Life isn't tidied up that neatly. How often does a single mother end up getting an inheritance or scholarship or huge monthly support so that she is able to make the choice to stay home and raise her children? Being in a situation where I have to choose to work when my children are young, I resent the fact that this issue was so tidily cleaned up in this novel. It was provided for way before the issue had to be raised. I find that quite strange. Perhaps it's an issue the author herself wrestled with or wrestles with. I'm not sure why it is even included in the novel as it seems almost irrelevant to the rest of the story. I guess it shows the change and commitment to fatherhood of Dennis. Maybe that is the sole point of including it. Anyways, lest I go on and on.... I think I'll end here.

Will I look for other books by Kathy Herman? Yes. Do I recommend this book to others? Yes, but not as a medical drama, I don't think.