Kidnapped doctor Steven L. Berk, M.D., returns to the scene of the crime in memoir, Anatomy of a Kidnapping

LUBBOCK, Texas - April 22, 2015 - PRLog -- Texas Tech University Press announces the paperback release of Anatomy of a Kidnapping: A Doctor’s Story by Steven L. Berk, M.D. Hailed as a “phenomenal memoir” by Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone, Anatomy of a Kidnapping (ISBN: 978-0-89672-934-6, trade paper) is now available wherever fine books are sold.

On Sunday, March 6, 2005, Dr. Steven Berk was in the midst of his typical Sunday morning routine when a dangerous and enigmatic criminal, armed with a shotgun, entered his home through an open garage door. On that beautiful spring day in Amarillo, Texas, Dr. Berk was kidnapped.

An unlikely target of a violent crime, Dr. Berk was thrust into extraordinary—and extraordinarily terrifying—circumstances. But it was his training as a physician and understanding of aequanimitas—the ability to stay calm and rational at all times—that enabled him to keep his family safe, to establish rapport with his kidnapper, and to bring his captor to justice.

Anatomy of a Kidnapping is his story. But Anatomy of a Kidnapping is much more than the story of a kidnapping. A powerful and profound tale that intersperses a vivid and chilling account of the day’s events with both professional and personal stories, Anatomy of a Kidnapping includes stories from Dr. Berk’s experiences as a physician—from Keams Canyon Indian Hospital in northeastern Arizona to Boston City Hospital in inner-city Boston, from East Tennessee State University’s Quillen School of Medicine in Johnson City, Tennessee, to Texas Tech University School of Medicine in Amarillo, Texas. Moreover, the book also includes Dr. Berk’s insights and recollections of being a student, a father, a husband, a son, a victim of a violent crime, and nearly two years later after the ordeal, a participant in the trial against his kidnapper.

Alternately harrowing and heartwarming, unsettling and uplifting, terrifying and touching, Anatomy of a Kidnapping is a story about patients, about physicians, and about life and death, mistakes, family, the practice of medicine, and the physician-patient relationship. Told in a straightforward, bold, and captivating manner, Anatomy of a Kidnapping is an extraordinary story about hope in the face of hopelessness, courage, survival and redemption.

In addition to winning the ForeWord Book of the Year Award (True Crime, 2011), Anatomy of a Kidnapping has garnered high praise:

         “….harrowing….stays with you” – People Magazine

         “….riveting from start to finish…” – New York Journal of Books

         “More than a reconstruction of a traumatic day, the book is a look back at the author’s career as a doctor and how principles from his training helped him successfully navigate the crisis.” – Washington Post

         “….compelling…a definite page-turner.” – Readers’ Favorite

Steven L. Berk, M.D. is dean of the Texas Tech School of Medicine and provost of Texas Tech Health Sciences Center. As a physician certified in infectious disease and geriatrics, Berk has treated an outstanding diversity of patients in his forty-year medical career.