Lin Wilder

There is a hidden marriage at the heart of My Name is Saul, and once it comes to light, it quietly reframes everything.
Wilder opens in Mamertine Prison on the last night of Paul's life, his young jailer Aurelius recording the old man's dictated memoirs by torchlight. From there she carries us back through Saul's boyhood in Tarsus, his goatherding apprenticeship, his years of study in Jerusalem under Rabban Gamaliel, and his close friendship with Stephen, whose stoning he will eventually vote show more for and never fully recover from. At the center of it all is Hannah, the girl he loved and married and lost in an earthquake in Tarsus, along with their young son. Saul buried this life so completely that most came to believe him an icon of celibacy. The grief he carries into old age is one of the novel's most quietly bruising achievements.
The conversion on the road to Damascus lands without sentimentality. It feels earned. The dual voice, Saul narrating and Aurelius reflecting, gives the book space to breathe and to question its own subject.
My one honest critique is that the early chapters move slowly. Wilder lays her foundation with great care, sometimes at the cost of momentum, and a few scenes settle in longer than they need to.
But this is a thoughtful, carefully researched novel that treats its famous subject as a full and fallible human being first. That is not a small thing. It stayed with me. show less

Plausible Liars is a smart, fast-moving medical mystery that keeps the tension high from the opening chapter. Dr. Lindsey McCall is once again a capable and compassionate protagonist navigating ethical dilemmas, dangerous secrets, and conflicting truths. Lin Wilder combines medical realism with a tightly woven plot, making the stakes urgent and personal. The pacing is fast, the twists are believable, and the mystery rewards your attention. Fans of character-driven crime fiction will like the show more depth of relationships and moral complexity. A compelling installment that works well on its own while enriching the series overall. Recommended show less

Texas author Lin Wilder earned her doctorate in Public Health and served as Hospital Director at UMASS Medical Center. Her initial publications were focused on texts related to academic health care administration, and now she devotes her skills to writing novels. Her popular medical mystery series includes the Dr Lindsey McCall mystery series, of which PLAUSIBLE LIARS is the fifth installment.

Wilder’s gift for establishing suspense from the opening is evident even in the Prologue: show more ‘Lindsey’s breath of relief stuck in her throat. She felt pinned to the chair and tried to look everywhere but at that table, at those seven faces filled with pure, unadulterated malevolence. What are the odds? A billion to one? Two indictments for murder in four years?...’ The author distills the plot well - Dr. Lindsey McCall and investigative journalist Kate Townsend delve into a high-stakes conspiracy involving medical ethics, federal indictment, and explosive social controversy. Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Kate Townsend knew she would lob an incendiary device into contemporary culture if she wrote and published her series, Corrupting America's Children: Creating Chemical Eunuchs. But because of what she'd witnessed in her son's pre-kindergarten, she felt obligated to do it. In a remarkable convergence of events, Lindsey McCall is also drawn into the explosive world of transgender politics. For the second time in four years, Lindsey is facing indictment for unintentional murder. The US Department of Justice has indicted both McCall and Townsend in a conspiracy of mammoth proportions.’

Incorporating issues that are front and center today – the transgender discussion – and molding a highly suspense filled mystery, Wilder’s superbly crafted mystery is enhanced by her knowledge of health-related information. The result – a completely satisfying thriller! show less

The man who would become St. Paul was interested in just one thing – truth!

Texas author Lin Wilder earned her doctorate in Public Health and served as Hospital Director at UMASS Medical Center. Her initial publications were focused on texts related to academic health care administration, and now she devotes her skills to writing novels. Her popular series include the Dr Lindsey McCall mystery series, and the Ancient Novel series - I CLAUDIA, THE RELUCTANT QUEEN, and MY NAME IS SAUL.

Wilder show more creatively opens her book as though ‘written’ by Aurelius, heightening the value of blending history with her artistic skills: ‘On this third day of the ides of June, 811 years following the founding of Rome, I. Aurelius Maximus, legionnaire of the Roman Empire, testify that the word you are about to read are those f Paul the Apostle. Although the script is my own rather than his, the document was dictated to me during our teacher’s last night on earth...’ The author distills the plot well - ‘St. Paul the Apostle is a towering biblical figure, but almost nothing is known about his early life as Saul of Tarsus. As death loomed over him at Mamertine Prison in Rome, under the watchful eye of his jailer and final follower Aurelius, he wrote: ‘I will die tomorrow. In the morning, around sunrise. There are two things for which I am eminently grateful: That I have been permitted to have fought the good fight and finished the race marked out for me; and that I will not have to endure another winter in this place.’ Starting from that pivotal moment, blending historical fact with audacious creativity, MY NAME IS SAUL propels us back through the life of the man who would become St. Paul – a tale of loss, transformation, and divine intervention.’

Written with skill and tenderness this novel. Is an enlightening experience for us all! show less