First published 2020
Forty-seven bodies lie dead in an Indonesian internment camp. Dr. Henry Parsons arrives to investigate the hemorrhagic fever outbreak for the World Health Organization. He discovers something terrifying: an infected man has left for the Hajj pilgrimage in Mecca. Millions of worshippers gather in the holy city as Henry teams up with a Saudi prince to attempt an impossible quarantine. Meanwhile, a Russian émigré who serves as deputy director of U.S. Homeland Security fights to coordinate a response to what appears to be biological warfare. The virus spreads beyond containment. Global alliances crumble under pandemic pressure. In Atlanta, Henry's wife Jill struggles to keep their children alive as society collapses around them. The disease tears through America, destroying scientific institutions, religious organizations, and government agencies while killing millions. Henry races against time to find a cure as the world falls apart.
Genres: adventure, action, 21st-century, apocalyptic
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: global-crisis, race-against-time
Setting: Indonesia, Mecca, Atlanta, United States
Period: 21st-century
376 pages · Hardcover · Alfred A. Knopf
Content warnings: death, violence