Misfits (2021)
Dr. Lawrence E. Matrick is back with another collection of short stories, Misfits: Characters Only a Mother Could Love. This time, the collection focuses on the various personality and character disorders that affect the marginalized in our society, such as Gilbert, the arsonist, Conrad, the narcissist, and Oliver, the homeless man. Each story is meant to highlight a specific character disorder and illustrates how they affect the lives of those afflicted and others around them.
From sympathetic stories such as the homeless just trying to experience some autonomy to cautionary tales of what can happen when abusive personalities are allowed to continue the cycle, Misfits examines the effects of character disorders and how we, as a society, perceive them. After each chapter, Dr. Matrick then explains the facts behind each character disorder, the recourses available for those who suffer from it, and what we’re currently doing to help—and what we could be doing better.
JUSTINE is a normal teenage girl with normal teenage problems: boys, grades, parents, and other things that cause anxiety in her life. What starts off as a cathartic means of getting back at those around her quickly turns into a compulsive desire to take things that aren’t hers. She isn’t a thief, but now everyone believes her to be one. And Justine is forced to accept that, as a kleptomaniac, she is not so normal.
ARNOLD is a lawyer, a Scouts leader, and organizer for the local church choir. He is an upstanding citizen and considered a leader in the community. But Arnold has a shameful secret: he finds young boys sexually attractive. Arnold would like nothing more than to quell this appalling obsession, but admitting to it could quickly get him arrested for pedophilia. Who can Arnold turn to for help—and who can he find to love?
After losing his wife, his child, and his home, CHARLIE has little left in his life—except for the piles of photos, personal belongings, and trash he refuses to get rid of. His brother’s family graciously agree to take him in, not realizing that they are inviting a hoarder into their home. Can his loving niece be enough to make Charlie feel like he can finally let go of the material objects in his life?
M.D. Confidential (2020)
In his collection of short stories, M.D. Confidential (It’s All Very Hush-Hush), Dr. Lawrence Matrick explores the topic of mental illness and how it is perceived in society. Our mental health is just as important as our physical well-being; so why, then, don’t we want to talk about it? Why is it kept so very “hush-hush”? Dr. Matrick’s stories examine this phenomenon and how it affects those whose mental health is in jeopardy.
From common maladies like anxiety and depression, to greater challenges such as schizophrenia and manic-depressive disorder, contained within this collection are a sequence of stories about mental illness that are designed to both illustrate and educate. Experience the uncertainty of a family facing their father’s progression into Alzheimer’s, the terror of a young man combating PTSD while surrounded by those who have no patience or understanding for his struggles, and the redemption to be found by a young woman given the care and resources she needs to overcome a substance abuse disorder.
After each tale, learn the medical/psychiatric facts of each condition, the challenges they and their loved ones face, and the recourses available to them from a professional in the psychiatric industry, Dr. Lawrence E. Matrick. Join the author in dispelling the stigma surrounding mental illness and the “hush-hush” attitude.
The Madhouse (2019)
At a Canadian mental institute in the early 1960’s, American doctor Alex Gage dreams of making substantial changes: giving patients decent living conditions, reducing violence on the wards, and eliminating prefrontal lobotomies as the go-to procedure for difficult cases. But when a series of assaults on female patients and nurses turns lethal, and the director of the institute shows signs of his own mental instability, Alex may be in over his head. The feeling only worsens when a co-worker begins blackmailing him over a misdemeanor from his youth. Alex has to confront his own morals and weigh his obligations as a psychiatrist against the continued personal risk to his life in Canada if he wants to succeed at the institute.
The Quisling (2018)
The Quisling is a contemporary action thriller that follows the story of practising psychiatrist, Dr. Zack Scarlatto as he tries to get out from under the thumb of a Mexican drug cartel. The quisling, Carlos, a traitor, has been uncovered within the organization, and had his face slashed in retribution. It’s become dangerous to be even remotely associated with the gang, as Zack is—marginally. What’s worse, Maria, the woman that Zack has fallen for, knows who—and more importantly, where—the quisling, her husband is. But she has disappeared.
But Zack has his own problems in trying to raise the crumbling psych ward that he has been assigned to in San Diego back to respectable heights—even if he must use whatever means available to get it done. Navigating a world of abuse, suicide, dysfunctional personalities, and organized violence, Zack must decide if the woman he loves, Maria, and the life he is building for himself can ever exist side-by-side.
“In an era where thrillers about Latin American drug cartels are all the rage, Lawrence Matrick’s novel is distinguished by its depth and highly illustrative prose.”
Best Thrillers
Road to Recovery: Following your Motor Vehicle Accident (2015)
Having a motor vehicle accident and an injury is bad enough, but sadly that’s not the end of it. Then you find yourself buried by the volume of forms, treatments, appointments with consultants, meetings with lawyers… and the list goes on and on. I have seen many people who have been involved in a motor vehicle accident, being overwhelmed by the added stress of the medical-legal process. If you are one of these people, reading this book will help you to understand the medical-legal relationship as you prepare your injury claim.
I am a qualified physician and psychiatrist, in practice for many years. I have written hundreds of independent medical evaluations, or IMEs. I have been qualified by the courts as an expert witness dealing with people who have been involved in motor vehicle accidents, or MVAs. Almost every patient I’ve seen in this capacity is nervous or frightened before and during the consultation.
This book discusses many important questions that people like you have asked me over the years.
Questions like:
• How do I deal with the insurance company?
• Do I need a lawyer?
• What type of doctors and other therapists will I need to see and what type of therapy will I need?
• And, most importantly, will I get better?