The Fifth Stage - Tapa blanda

Dr. Jack Connor has recently moved from the Midwest to a small, southern coastal town in northwest Florida. His goals are straightforward and typical of any new doctor–professional and financial success, comfort and predictability. But while predictability failed to make an appointment, Kelly Moore has. Kelly, an EPA microbiologist working on Santa Rosa Island, is the breeze that steers Jack off his charted course. Stuck in the grieving process since the death of her mother Kelly comes to Dr. Connor for help. Dr. Connor treats Kelly with Remtoril, the first in a new line of antidepressants. And while the depression improves Kelly reports an unexpected side effect—wonderfully vivid dreams. Her lucid dreams are filled with profound insights and lead to a curious enlightenment. Rerouting and rewiring her neurochemistry, Kelly’s unique “knowing dreams,” come at a price. Frightening rebound episodes follow the insightful dreams and the findings of a subsequent sleep study are revealing. The rebound episodes worsen and threaten Kelly, the woman he has come to love and Jack is driven to find her cure. His search of the elusive fifth stage and Kelly’s remedy lead them through a shadowy world of blackmail, corporate conspiracy, and covert military operations. As these forces bear down upon them with a lethal determination Jack comes to a tantalizing conclusion-Kelly’s cure may very well exist, in the past. Journals written by Kelly’s great ancestor nearly two centuries before, hint of a cure. To find this cure they must recover her ancestor’s missing journal. Jack and Kelly's epic quest for the truth is a poignant and perilous journey, one that takes them to the depths of the Gulf of Mexico, the murky backwaters of Mississippi, and a barrier island where they discover the secret of a pre-Civil War fort. Intrigue. Mystery. Passion. Insight. THE FIFTH STAGE–the stuff that dreams are made of.

Born in the middle of America, in Dayton, Ohio, Richard Stachler was brought up in what he considered an idyllic middle-class family where he was one of nine children. Early interests included drawing, painting and photography, and he built his own black and white photo lab in his parents’ home. While in high school he and his brother Herb experimented with 8mm stop action movie making and they both became certified scuba divers. His musical interests began to flourish after he taught himself guitar while working as a parking lot attendant. Eventually he began writing songs and recording original music in his home studio. While still impassioned with art and music, he developed a keen interest in science and eventually chose a career in medicine. Richard received a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Wright State University in 1978 and began working on a master’s degree in Human Physiology. He received his medical degree from WSU Medical School in1984, and completed residency training in Internal Medicine in1987. He has practiced medicine for 26 years and is Board Certified in Internal Medicine. He practiced medicine in Ohio and Sacramento before relocating to Florida in 1991. For nine years, Richard dodged hurricanes and practiced on Pensacola Beach before settling into his current medical office in Gulf Breeze, Florida. Drawn to exotic and off-the-beaten-path destinations, Richard’s travels have taken him to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. His favorite dive trips include sites in the Caribbean, Oahu, and Tahiti where he dove with sharks. He has toured Germany with his family, driven in Rome during rush hour and lost his way in Greece, as well as the South of France. He has three sons and lives with his wife Karen, his in-house editor in Gulf Breeze.