Overview
After gaining fame on the reality show The Dental Apprentice, Dr. Michael Murphy settled down to practice as the clinical director of the Washington Center for Esthetic and Restorative Excellence, Murph expects peace and quiet in DC, but his plans are quickly altered. Together with his girlfriend, archeologist Carli Chamoun, they are invited to attend a State Dinner at the White House in honor of the new President, Franklin Buchanan, and his VP, Murph’s old friend, Brooks Borlon.
At the conclusion of the dinner, Murph and Carli are approached by a Secret Service Agent with the polite request that they join the President in the private quarters of the White House. It’s an offer that they can’t refuse. Arriving on the second floor residence, they find the President in excruciating pain, swearing a blue streak. After dinner, Frank Buchanan had retired to the Treaty Room to watch a baseball game, but an un-popped popcorn kernel had ruined his evening.
It only took a few seconds for Murph to determine that the President had fractured a molar in half and that the only to relieve the pain was to take out the tooth. Murph and Carli bring the President and his personal protection detail to the dental clinic. After taking the necessary x-rays, Murph numbs the President up, relieving the pain. As he extracts the broken tooth, Murph makes a startling discovery.
The molar extracted from the President has a peculiar pink cast to the enamel. Murph knows that only one thing causes pink-tooth . . . a root canal done using the sterilizing agent resorcinol. The only problem is that resorcinol is banned in the US and is used exclusively by dentists in . . . Russia.
Murph and Carli are left with the burning question; If you suspect that the most powerful man in the world is not who he says he is, whom do you tell?
Faced with the dilemma, Murph and Carli decide that they must solve the mystery themselves. Their quest leads them on a race around the world, from DC to Rome to Israel, and back to Murph’s hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.
As they reveal more of the plot, a shocking plan becomes clear, with a goal so diabolical that it sits outside the realm of conventional wisdom. With the peace and stability of the world hanging in the balance, Murph and Carli must unravel the mystery in time to prevent a catastrophe of Biblical proportions.
In The Black Swan Event, Matthew Messina weaves a clever, fast-paced thriller. Treating readers to taut suspense, Messina skillfully blends historical events with entertaining fiction, creating a fresh new hero in Mike Murphy. And if you think dentists lead boring lives, then you’ve never met Murph. Smart and athletic, the former Jr. Olympic volleyball champion, Mike Murphy DDS, shatters all stereotypes by charging at the face of danger to solve the mystery and heroically protect his friends and the woman he loves. It’s all in a day’s work for the most interesting dentist in the world!
