by Chris Holm
First published 2022
Detective Jacob Gibson lost his wife in the 8/17 bioterror attack that devastated New York City. Now he stays home caring for his sick daughter while antibiotic-resistant diseases ravage the globe. Bacterial infections that doctors once easily treated have returned with deadly force. Meningitis strikes Frankfurt. Cholera spreads through Johannesburg. Tuberculosis kills in New Delhi. The drugs that saved millions no longer work. When Gibson's partner calls him to a Central Park shantytown, he expects another grim crime scene. Instead he finds mass murder victims who died in perfect health despite living in squalor. The only witness is an eleven-year-old boy fleeing dangerous pursuers. Gibson must protect the child while unraveling a conspiracy that threatens human survival. The same extremists who orchestrated the bioterror attack now pursue a darker goal: pushing humanity toward extinction.
Genres: science-fiction, dystopia, mystery, crime, thriller, action
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, investigative-journalism, reluctant-hero
Setting: Frankfurt, Johannesburg, New Delhi, New York City, Central Park
Period: 8/17
320 pages · Kindle Edition · Mulholland Books
Content warnings: death, violence