GRANT, Pete
(A pseudonym; Jon Dijon, Paul Kuehn, additional pseudonyms)

PERSONAL:

Male. Education: Attended University of Connecticut, 1941; completed M.D.

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o Author Mail, Newmark Publishing, P.O. Box 603, South Windsor, CT 06074.

CAREER:

Surgeon and author. Chair of cancer commission for American College of Surgeons. Military service: U.S. Navy; served as a pilot in Night Torpedo Squadron, 1941-45.

MEMBER:

American Cancer Society (president of Hartford Unit and Connecticut Division), New England Cancer Society (president).

WRITINGS:

(Under pseudonym Paul Kuehn) Breast Care Options: A Cancer Specialist Discusses Breast Care Options, Risk Factors, and How to Cope with Breast Cancer, Newmark Publishing (South Windsor, CT), 1986.

(Under pseudonym Paul Kuehn) Breast Care Options for the 1990s, Newmark Publishing (South Windsor, CT), 1991.

(Under pseudonym Jon Dijon) Who Is Robin? (novel), Newmark Publishing (South Windsor, CT), 1993.

UNDER PSEUDONYM PETE GRANT

Night Flying Avenger, Newmark Publishing (South Windsor, CT), 1990.

The Surgical Arena, Newmark Publishing (South Windsor, CT), 1993.

Destination 2020 White House (novel), Newmark Publishing (South Windsor, CT), 1999.

The Medical Supreme Court (novel), Newmark Publishing (South Windsor, CT), 2001.

SIDELIGHTS:

Pete Grant, Jon Dijon, and Paul Kuehn are all pen names used by a prominent surgeon and World War II naval pilot who chooses to remain anonymous as an author. He has drawn on both his wartime experience and his medical career to provide the foundation for the thrillers and nonfiction titles that he writes. As Paul Kuehn, he has written two nonfiction titles on the treatment options available to those diagnosed with breast cancer, as well as the risk factors to watch out for; as Jon Dijon and Pete Grant, he is the author of several novels.

His first Pete Grant novel, Night Flying Avenger, was described by his publisher as "autobiographical historical fiction." Pretending to be the subject of his own novel, the author has written the story of a young man named Pete Grant, who joins the navy right after Pearl Harbor and sees action as a pilot in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. Blessed with unusually good eyesight, Grant proves extremely valuable in a navy plagued by primitive radar and landing instruments. Soon he is put to work flying dangerous nighttime operations against German subs and later in the bloody battles as U.S. forces island-hopped toward the Japanese mainland. "Although the book is clearly heartfelt, it is poorly organized, confusing, and awkwardly written," wrote Library Journal reviewer Edwin Burgess. In a more favorable assessment, a Kirkus Reviews contributor found that "the flying is as hair-raising as anything in Tom Cruise's Top Gun."

Grant turned next to the genre of medical thriller. As Jon Dijon, he published Who is Robin?, the story of a frantic, nationwide search for an androgynous, possibly HIV-positive transsexual who may be involved in a double murder. At least one reviewer was disappointed in "Jon Dijon." "Bad grammar … unnecessary explanations … even egregious bathos, this book has it all," maintained Library Journal reviewer Rex Klett. The same year, the author published The Surgical Arena, again as Pete Grant writing about Pete Grant. This time, Grant is a surgeon who takes the reader through a series of fictionalized operations and consultations, while elaborating on issues such as malpractice and socialized medicine. The author "is at his best when describing his work and … at his worst when trying to develop a plot," maintained a Publishers Weekly contributor. "As a novel writer, he fails to include the element of suspense.…It's a shame, because Grant can write," concluded Library Journal reviewer Ralph DeLucia.

In his more recent novels, Grant has incorporated overtly political interests while being less autobiographical. In Destination 2020 White House he tells the story of Kelli Fitzgerald, the granddaughter of a naval flier who decides to become a navy pilot herself. Overcoming sexual harassment, the hostility of some superiors, and violent threats, Fitzgerald becomes a Top Gun fighter pilot and a Gulf War veteran, ultimately landing a choice assignment as an aide to the secretary of the navy. She gives this up to settle down with an old flame and raise a family. But boredom drives her to reenter politics, first in Congress and then as a presidential candidate. Although finding Kelli "robotic and cold," a Publishers Weekly reviewer noted that her "bid for the presidency … is neatly executed and adds some texture to the narrative."

The author next published another political thriller, The Medical Supreme Court. Starting with the kidnapping of three Supreme Court justices by an odd alliance of Islamic terrorists and Montana militia members, the book progresses through a series of curious events, including the resignation of five justices, a number of controversial constitutional amendments, and ultimately the calling of another constitutional convention by President Palmer. What comes out of this is a series of rules covering term limits, as well as the establishment of a Medical Supreme Court to evaluate the health of political officeholders and judges and oversee controversial medical lawsuits. Throughout all this, President Palmer must deal with foreign policy threats and save her own teenage daughter from danger. "Grant's enjoyable, optimistic yarn also comes as quite a relief—a good story without sex and violence," commented Booklist reviewer William Beatty.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, September 15, 2001, William Beatty, review of The Medical Supreme Court, p. 191.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 1990, review of Night Flying Avenger, p. 518.

Library Journal, April 1, 1990, Edwin Burgess, review of Night Flying Avenger, p. 136; August 1, 1993, Rex Klett, review of Who Is Robin?, p. 159; September 1, 1993, Ralph DeLucia, review of The Surgical Arena, p. 221.

Publishers Weekly, March 11, 1990, Sybil Steinberg, review of Night Flying Avenger, p. 248; August 30, 1993, review of The Surgical Arena, p. 74; August 16, 1999, review of Destination 2020 White House, p. 62.*