PARTICLES IN THE AIR

A medical investigator seeks the source of a catastrophic virus in Podjasek’s medical disaster thriller.

When a tsunami triggered by a 9.1-magnitude earthquake rains destruction upon Southern California, Dr. Mallory Hayes is dispatched by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help contain any subsequent outbreak of disease. Storm damage to sewer lines threatens exposure to E. coli, while the lack of running water makes hand-washing difficult and increases the spread of contaminants. But “a few bizarre deaths in otherwise healthy, young adults” point to an even deadlier and more immediate threat—one generated by human evil rather than tectonic forces. Meanwhile, in Sweden, Dr. Erik Lindgren has accrued gambling debts serious enough to warrant a menacing visit by two henchmen who beat him and pull one of his teeth. He vows vengeance against the company that fired him just before receiving his big payday for developing a protein for them, and he wants to get back at his wife for reporting his physical abuse. He hatches a plan to collaborate with Islamic terrorists to spread a virus around the world. The author etches a terrifying vision of the ensuing pandemic, as quarantine zones are established in Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Southern California, Las Vegas, Sacramento, and Lake Tahoe. There is a substantial shortage of soldiers to enforce order, and in the six weeks it would take to develop even the first batch of a vaccine, the virus could spread across the entire country. While the attention given to Mallory’s personal baggage occasionally detracts from the virus’s very real and relatable danger, Podjasek provides a hateable villain in Lindgren. As an allergist/immunologist, the author knows her way around terms like “hemodynamically unstable ventricular tachycardia.” A medical thriller needs a viable, visceral menace to keep those pages turning, and Podjasek obliges.

A credible and all too timely medical thriller with a hero who could go viral.