Book Jacket Synopsis

When Dr. Michael Ganson makes a daring decision to save one life, at the risk of sacrificing another, he is thrown into a medical malpractice nightmare, with strings being pulled by powerful people who have an agenda to take him down.

While mounting his defense and fighting his own demons, Ganson finds work as a doctor on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation, a land of fallen warriors and a still-proud heritage that has problems of its own with the outside world. The disappearance of an Anglo boy and his link to Bronco Dazen, a once-revered medicine man, has made national news. Did Dazen, a man marginalized by his own people, feel compelled to commit murder?

Seeming opposites – Dr.Ganson, a man of traditional medical science, and Bronco Dazen, a medicine man with a history of using snakes and lightning to treat his patients – both appear to have blood on their hands.

The journey to discover their guilt or innocence takes the reader deep into the heart and soul of the Apache people in this contemporary tale of passion, mystery and redemption in the American Southwest.

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Manifest West – A Love Letter to Arizona

A longtime resident of Arizona, Manifest West author Ken Jackson, MD took great pleasure in going into great detail about the unmistakable sights and sounds of Arizona. In addition to his brilliantly written words to paint readers a clear picture of the beauty of the Arizona landscape, he also took pride in peppering the novel with brief “shout-outs” to Arizona monuments, publications and people.

Below is a handy list of just some of his Arizona references:

Dr. Ganson notices anArizona Highways Magazineon the table. Since 1925, the Arizona Department of Transportation has published Arizona Highways, first as a guide to highway construction and other road maintenance being done throughout the state and then as a colorful travel magazine dedicated to everything and everywhere beautiful and unique in Arizona.

Dr. Ganson thumbs through theArizona RepublicValley and State Section. The Arizona Republic is Arizona’s largest and most highly read daily newspaper, and the Valley and State section helps readers find out topical news in their specific area of the state.

Dr. Ganson drives past a brand new school –Alchesay High School.This is a real high school in the Whitewater Unified School District in Arizona.

A man in a pizza parlor is reading theApache Scout. This is s real newspaper and still serves as the official newspaper of the White Mountain Apache Tribe today.

The crowd gathered for the parade applauds loudly for the Fort Apache Hot Shots. This is a real group of elite Native American firefighters from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The parade’s grand finale included the Apache Crown Dancers. Legend has it that Apaches learned thishealing ritual dance, which is still performed today, from the mountain spirits.

Silas John Edwards is mentioned as the most influential Apache medicine man of the 20th century and is credited for creating aWestern Apache writing system.

Both theUniversity of Arizonain Tucson andArizona State University in Tempe, Arizona are mentioned. Just two hours away from each other, they are the two biggest universities in Arizona and share a competitive athletic and educational rivalry.

When Dr. Ganson asks if a pet coyote is named Garfield after the popular cartoon cat, he is surprised to find that Garfield is really named after Phoenix Suns’Garfield Heard, who is famous for making the basket that took the Suns into a three-overtime game with the Boston Celtics in a mid-1970s playoff game.

Gus Martin admits consulting with psychics inSedona, Ariztrying to find the boy who mysteriously disappeared. Sedona is known worldwide for its New Age culture.

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Manifest West Book Cover

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Manifest West Author Photo

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