Child Zero by Chris Holm - hardcvr & SIGNED!

Hardcover format.  Signed by the author!

Hot of the press and HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!  Scroll down for our review!

From molecular biologist turned Anthony Award-winning author of The Killing Kind comes a fact-based thriller about our species’ next great existential threat—perfect for fans of Michael Crichton.

It began four years ago with a worldwide uptick of bacterial infections: meningitis in Frankfurt, cholera in Johannesburg, tuberculosis in New Delhi. Although the outbreaks spread aggressively and proved impervious to our drugs of last resort, public health officials initially dismissed them as unrelated.
 
They were wrong. Antibiotic resistance soon roiled across the globe. Diseases long thought beaten came surging back. The death toll skyrocketed. Then New York City was ravaged by the most heinous act of bioterror the world had ever seen, perpetrated by a new brand of extremist bent on pushing humanity to extinction.
 
Detective Jacob Gibson, who lost his wife in the 8/17 attack, is home caring for his sick daughter when his partner summons him to a sprawling shantytown in Central Park, the apparent site of a mass murder. Jake is startled to discover that, despite a life of abject squalor, the victims died in perfect health—and his only hope of finding answers is a twelve-year-old boy on the run from some very dangerous men.

--- OUR REVIEW ---

If you had told me that in 2022 I would pick up a book about a possible future in which disease and bacterial threats run rampant, and not only read the whole thing but ENJOY IT, I would have laughed at you in a way that could only be labeled as insane and hysterical. But guess what? I did. 

Chris Holm has a talent. Even consciously feeling a resistance to the subject matter, I couldn't help turning page after page. Why? Because his characters are real. Not only are they real, they are dealing with horrifying life events in as normal a way as possible -- because that's what you do when you're in a real crisis. You stick together with the people who mean something to you, no matter how difficult, and you keep on going, however you can. I'm not a fan of books that manipulate me, that utilize manufactured drama to zoom my emotions all over the place. I had to stop and think after a while - why are my drama alarm bells not going off here? 

It's because Child Zero has real heart, and it doesn't tear your heart out to make you feel what the characters are feeling.  I highly recommend giving this book a read. I suspect you'll have a similar experience, and be glad you opened its cover and gave it a try.