Mantle's compelling and brutally honest narrative is as impossible to put down as any thriller. Cyclops Awakes describes his struggle for survival and his search for sanity in the labyrinthine half-world of a hospital stroke floor.

A veteran newspaperman and long-time foreign correspondent in countries spanning the globe, Mantle takes us inside the world of small-town journalism and allows us a rare peek into the mindset of a conservative South Carolina community that rallied around its curmudgeonly, liberal publisher and refused to let him die.

Anyone who has ever watched a loved one, relative or friend attempt to beat the odds of a major stroke, and struggle to regain their independence, will want to read this book.