In the summer of 1953, two 11-year-old boys--best friends--are playing in a Little League baseball game in New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills his best friend's mother. Owen Meany believes he didn't hit the ball by accident. He believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen after 1953 is extraordinary and terrifying. He is Irving's most heartbreaking hero.

Dr. Jessie Copeland is a respected neurosurgeon who spends her days waging life-and-death battles in the OR and her spare time holed up in a lab, spearheading the development of a robot that could revolutionize brain surgery. It could be months before the robot is ready for use on human beings--or so Jessie thinks, until her ambitious department head jumps the gun and uses the robot in a high-profile case that nets worldwide attention.