Becky, Hugh, Dahlia, and Max. Friends who have formed a dysfunctional but necessary surrogate family. And then there is Callie, the crisis-prone, vivid, manipulative chameleon whose friendship has damaged them all individually but who still haunts their waking and sleeping dreams.

Set in the art-world of New York’s East Village, Karen McKinnon’s dissection of Becky and Callie’s lethal emotional rivalry and manipulation of all those around them is as disturbing as it is gripping. A provocative and edgy first novel by a writer whose characters in the words of Andrea Barrett are “acid-etched” and “unforgettable.”

Providing a bridge between research in healthcare and spirituality and practitioner perspectives, these essays on chaplaincy in healthcare continue dialogue around constructing, negotiating and researching spiritual care and discuss the critical issues in chaplaincy work, including assisted suicide and care in children's hospices. Each section of the book is introduced by an academic theologian, giving the book a strong theoretical base, before serving healthcare chaplains offer their perspectives and experiences with material drawn from practice in a broad spectrum of healthcare contexts. The integration of theory and practical application in these essays will be of interest to chaplains, healthcare practitioners, and students of theology and healthcare.