In the classic suspenseful and easily recognizable style and voice of Brandilyn Collins, her latest novel Over the Edge, published by Broadman and Holman’s Pure Enjoyment line, has been dubbed the story she was “born to write”. Capturing the horrific symptoms of Lyme Disease administered to humans by tiny ticks with various types of infectious spirochetes, readers will learn more than they ever hoped to know about the nasty insects and will feel the intensity of the heroine Janessa McNeil’s pain. Having suffered through Lyme herself, Brandilyn Collins used hers and others’ experiences to provide an accurate portrayal of this debilitating and frequently misdiagnosed disease.
As I anticipated reading this novel, I wondered how Brandilyn would tackle the Lyme Wars, a battle which rages between those infected with Lyme and a portion of the medical community who know how to successfully treat the disease and those in the medical community who refuse to acknowledge the depth of the disease, how it can become chronic, and who have influenced the insurance companies not to fund excessive treatment for it—such as the respected entities which include the Center for Disease Control (CDC). I couldn’t help but ponder how it could make a good story. Silly me.
The familiar creepy scene which opens the novel tells us right away that Janessa McNeil (Jannie) is in for it. And “it” isn’t long before she finds out just how bad her life is going to get. With writing that makes you cringe every time Jannie must attempt to move or get up, the reader can almost feel the joint aches and the excruciating effort it takes just to navigate the basics of life while enduring unreasonable and crippling pain. The mental vacancy displayed in Jannie’s thought processes as she labors to understand what’s being said to her and how to retrieve lost thoughts or intended actions is masterfully done.
Jannie’s aloof husband, Stanford doctor and research specialist Brock McNeil, observes her flu-like symptoms before she receives a terrifying phone call that implicates she’s been infected with Lyme Disease. He insists on her visit to the emergency room where she is admitted and begins a battery of testing which includes the CDC’s version of the test for Lyme. Dr. McNeil is a hated opponent of the Lyme community because of his outspoken criticism of its potential chronic effects and because he refuses to believe the CDC criteria for testing can be incomplete. When that test registers negative for Lyme, Jannie’s husband becomes an equal enemy she has neither the ability nor energy to battle.
Brandilyn skillfully inserts so much information into this fast-moving, suspenseful story, of which the primary focus takes place in a matter of days, it’s absorbed rather than noticed. It’s a rare story that can educate without detracting from the storyline.
Told primarily from Jannie’s POV, we’re given occasional glimpses into the antagonist’s viewpoint (which is the norm for Brandilyn’s suspense novels) and allowed a few looks at Detective Jud Maxwell who is summoned after the first threatening telephone call. Even though a few readers might figure out who the culprit is, the resulting climax to the story provides a solid thrill.
I didn’t give you many of the additional details to the storyline because each one adds a different dimension to the heroine’s plight—as if the Lyme Disease symptoms aren’t enough of a challenge for this woman. Over the Edge is not just an entertaining suspense. From the clever cover with a tiny tick protruding from the attractive image to the boatload of information about Lyme and its sufferers to the book’s release during May, the month that features Lyme Disease Awareness, Brandilyn Collins gives you one of her best novels. Truly it is a story she was “born to write”.
Father, you know Brandilyn’s heart after you. She worships you in spirit and in truth. Please continue to bless her heart, body, mind, and soul as she applies all that you’ve given her to her work. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.
Into the Fire 
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