Rise and Shine: The Extraordinary Story of One Man's Journey From Near Death to Full Recovery

Simon Lewis was a film producer whose life was turned upside down when his car was broadsided and sent careening into a tree. The accident killed his wife instantly and left him severely injured. He entered a coma he wasn't expected to emerge from, but he did, and over the next dozen years he disproved medical professionals and textbooks with a full recovery while also navigating the labyrinthine insurance industry and managing to find his faith. It's difficult not to be moved by Lewis's story, but the narrative is poorly framed. Much of his tale concerns the multitudinous medical procedures and insurance struggles, neither of which possess, or are given, much drama; Lewis is surprisingly placid for a man relating a series of life-threatening procedures and desperate battles with insurance companies. While readers going through their own medical struggles may find Lewis's experience inspiring and informative, the casual reader will wonder where the story is. (June)