FLEE

A man travels the globe to find a cure for an Army sniper who’s infected by a fast-growing virus in this second installment of a techno-thriller series.

Damon, a lone-wolf operative, hears Army sniper Claire Ferreti scream in her Washington, D.C., apartment. She has discovered that she is infected by the “runaway microbe” already reported in 143 countries that typically kills in 51 days (“Not since the Black Plague had so many died so fast”). He hustles Claire to his high-tech safe house in the Adirondacks and sets off to find a cure. His quest involves connecting with two figures: the Vietnamese man who first trained Damon in survival skills and the American president’s public-relations mastermind. The latter helps Damon gain access to a World Health Organization conference in Vienna. Damon meets a Viennese woman with an infected child; she joins him at the conference, which is disrupted by a terrorist incident. Damon instructs her to go into hiding in France with an intriguing conference scientist who may have a cure. Meanwhile, Jonny, an Alaska-based journalist and blogger, arrives at the Washington foundation that Claire runs. Her attractive assistant, perhaps directed by a powerful politician, urges Jonny to attend the conference as well. The compelling novel culminates with many players, including Claire, in a showdown at the London Eye observation wheel. Klingler introduced Claire and Damon in his debut thriller, Rats(2014), which focused on pipeline sabotage in Alaska. This sequel deftly builds on that promising launch with a timely pandemic topic and the entertaining use of international locales. The author thankfully avoids Bond girl–type clichés by ensuring that the women who meet motorcycle-riding hottie Damon and striving journalist Jonny have smarts and some agency in driving the action. Klingler’s narrative also serves as a powerful cautionary tale and warning regarding the dangerous interplay of science, technology, greed, and government.

A gripping race-the-clock tale featuring savvy female supporting characters and sobering social commentary.