Daniel Kalla Books In Order

Publication Order of Dr. Noah Haldane Books

Publication Order of Adler Family Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Daniel Kalla is one of the highly popular authors from Canada, who is famous for writing his books based on the mystery, thriller, and historical fiction genres. He is also a popular physician. Author Kalla has written a few very popular thriller novels in his writing career, all of which are based on the medical theme. As a physician, Kall used to serve as the director of the Emergency Medicine at the St Paul’s Hospital, located in Vancouver, British Columbia. Author Kalla was born and brought up in Vancouver. He still resides there and spends most of time during the day as a physician in the Emergency Room of a leading teaching hospital. Kalla likes to write and manage his other career only in his off time. However, after the recent success of his novels, he has started taking it more seriously. So far, author Kalla has written and published a total of 9 books, all of which were translated and re-published into as many as 11 foreign languages. The Shanghai trilogy novels that Kalla has written are in the talks to be made into feature films. The successful novels of author Kalla have helped him to become the finalist for the prestigious Spotted Owl Award on three occasions. He received the nominations for this award in the category of the best mystery book of the year of Pacific Northwest. Citing the tremendous success of author Kalla in such a short career span and also his interesting writing style, Chronicle Herald has dubbed him as the ‘next’ Michael Crichton. Kalla has stated that he got the idea to write his debut medical thriller, called Pandemic, from the clinical experience of his own during the SARS crisis in 2003. Five of his medical mysteries/ science thrillers delve into the diverse topics and themes like drug addiction, DNA evidence, superbugs, patient abuse, and pandemics.

The sixth book that author Kalla wrote is a family drama featuring multiple generations and describing a fictional hospital in West Coast with interwoven storylines. The latest book written by him, Nightfall Over Shanghai, is said to have completed Kalla’s Adler family trilogy historical series. The books that feature in this series weave together medical drama, romance, and intrigue; and depict the extraordinary and lesser known period in the World War II when the Asia and European cultures converged at a place in Shanghai. Kalla’s books in the historical fiction series are fast paced and stirring. They give a grand and sweeping account of the tumultuous times and an intriguing saga related to the value of courage and family during the most difficult and darkest times. Author Kalla has made appearances on NBC, CBC Radio, ABC, CNN, City TV, Entertainment Weekly, Publishers Weekly, Fox News, National Post, Kirkus Reviews, and Vancouver Sun. He has even featured in a front page article of the review section of Globe and Mail and given interviews on CTV, CBC, and Global national TVs. Author Kalla has earned his B.Sc and MD from the British Columbia University in mathematics. Currently, he is working as an associate professor at the university. He is happily married and is blessed with 2 beautiful daughters. Author Kalla has a rich background in the field of medicine as both his father and grandpa were practicing physicians in Czechoslovakia. They fled just before the Nazi annexation in 1939 and took shelter in Canada. Kalla’s birth took place on May 4, 1966. In order to sharpen his writing skills and give wings to his ambitions in writing novels, he took a course at the Simon Fraser University in screenwriting. Kalla considers himself lucky that he has been able to manage both his careers efficiently.

The Alder Family series, also known as the Shanghai series, written by Daniel Kalla is comprised of 3 books in total, which were released between the years 2011 and 2015. All the 3 books feature the chief protagonist as Dr. Franz Alder. Kalla has set the plots of the books in and around the testing times of the Second World War. The first novel in the series is entitled ‘The Far of the Sky’. It was released by the Forge Books in 2012, after its first release in 2011. The story is set in November, 1938, in Kristallnachta. At the book’s start, Kalla has shown that the Nazi’s begin terrorizing the Jews all over Germany. At the same time, the Imperial Army of Japan rampages through the Chinese defense and manages to obtain a firm hold on Shanghai. The city becomes the last safe place for the numerous desperate Jews from Europe. Franz Alder, who is a famous surgeon, gets swept in the anti-Semitic violence wave and decides to move to Shanghai along with his young daughter. There, he visits a hospital full of refugees and comes across a dedicated nurse named Yi Sunnya Mah. Soon, they develop an immediate and intense chemistry between them. But Sunnya’s life gets shattered when her father gets murdered by a drunken sailor from Japan. Later, when the Japanese forces attack Pearl Harbor, the danger on the Jews of Shanghai seems to escalate. People begin suffering from disease and starvation. In such testing times, Franz Alder tries his best to keep the hospital running. He also tries to keep his family safe from terrible fate as that of the Jews. With this story, author Kalla has tried to explain an extraordinary period in the history’s of China, Japan, and the Jews, in which several heroic sacrifices took place in the quest for survival.

The next book of the series is titled as ‘Rising Sun, Falling Shadow’. Author Kalla set this book in Shanghai at the time of the year 1943. The opening sequence of the book shows that the Shanghai as well as the major parts of eastern China are swallowed by the Japanese terror. In spite of the hostile situation, Dr. Franz enters into marriage with Sunnya and the two try to keep the only refugee hospital of the city running. They keep adjusting as per the demand of the situation. Later, when Japan bows down because of the rising pressure from the Nazis, around 20 thousand refugees are forced to relocate, including the family of Franz Alder. All the refugees are asked to move to a 1 square kilometer area called the Shanghai Ghetto. They face constant threats of hunger, tropical diseases, and heat. However, they breed resilience by involving in activities of music, sports, and theater. Eventually, the Jews manage to keep their culture alive despite the subhuman conditions. The Alders too, continue to struggle for keeping their refugee hospital open by navigating through the espionage, subversion, worsening conditions, and Nazi treachery. Franz Alder makes desperate attempts to keep his family protected, while living at the mercy of Japan’s military forces.

One Response to “Daniel Kalla”

1. Tannis Percival: 2 years ago

   Heard an interview on CBC this morning and it wasn’t mentioned the name of the book Daniel spoke about. Would like to know the title so I can look for it. Thanks.

   Reply