TSI: The Gabon Virus...Review

About the book: 
Time Scene Investigators
An ancient disease, a modern pandemic, and the one person who offers hope for a cure has been dead for 350 years.

In 1666, a horrible disease took the lives of almost every person in Eyam (pronounced Eem), England. Helping the sick and the dying was the mysterious and ghostlike Blue Monk, whose strange appearance terrified even those who were comforted by him.

More than three centuries later the disease has returned, more virulent than before. Every day more people are infected; every hour more die.

The lives of millions rest in the hands of a bio-team -- the Time Scene Investigators -- that studies history to find cures for modern diseases. But the newest member of the team, Dr. Mark Carlson, has suffered a heartbreaking loss.

With every tick of the clock the world approaches a global pandemic. A race against time becomes a race across continents -- to find a frightened boy who is carrying and spreading the disease wherever he goes, to thwart the machinations of corporate greed and fanatical sabotage, and to find the connection between a great tragedy of the past and a potential catastrophe of the present. Our present. This book may become tomorrow's headline.

Fascinating and compelling are two words I'd use to describe this book. Moving back and forth between 1666 England and the modern day, we see comparisons between the plague epidemic and how the threat of viruses like Ebola today, can wipe out a community in hours, if not minutes. The addition of the Blue Monk and his story of how he helped those plague victims was fascinating, especially with the modern science to explain the explain the 17th century myth.

While I found it hard at times to keep track of who everyone was and what team they happened to be on, the story is fast-paced, with enough suspense to keep you wondering if the TSI team will really stop the pandemic. The authors capture the race against time to find Aaron, the frightened young boy who is spreading disease wherever he goes, and that keeps the pages turning.

This is not my usual genre of choice. I originally accepted this book for review thinking my doctor husband would review it for me. I'm sure he'll still read it, but I was curious and picked it up first, and I'm glad I did. An interesting and enthralling read. I look forward to more books about the Time Scene Investigators.

Thanks to First Wild Card and Jennifer Willingham of Simon and Schuster for the opportunity to review this book. You can read the first chapter here. You can learn more about Paul McCusker here and Walt Larimore here. You can purchase your own copy here.

Read 8/09

* * * *
4/5 Stars

Comments

  1. Ooh! Virus books are always interesting.

    Allison
    WellReadReviews.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. This sounds relevant today with all the swine flu stories going around!

    ReplyDelete

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