The End of October

The End of October is a medical thriller about a devastating virus that begins in Asia and soon thereafter goes global. This riveting story begins at in internment camp in Indonesia where forty seven people die from acute hemorrhagic fever. When microbiologist Henry Parsons travels there on behalf of the World Health Organization he suddenly learns that his driver is infected and is on his way to join millions of worshippers in the annual Hajj to Mecca. Henry joins with a Saudi prince and doctor in an attempt to quarantine all of the pilgrims in the holy city.  It doesn't work.  The deputy director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security is a Russian immigrant who scrambles to mount a response to what she thinks may be an act of biowar. Some people believe that the virus was bioengineered by Putin because there are few cases of it in Russia. The Russian leader, of course, blames the Americans. As the disease travels throughout the U. S. it decimates the population and religious, scientific and governmental institutions are dismantled. 

Obviously, this  novel is timely.  It was published in April 2020 so I doubt that the author had any idea that we would be dealing with a pandemic when he wrote the story. It is interesting to note that the president in the novel wears orange pancake makeup and the vice president will not make any decisions without praying first. To add to this phenomenon the main character worries about the danger his family could face while camping in off grid sites in Grand Teton National Park.

The sense of emergency contributed to the fast pace.  The reader does not know what the virus is or how fast it will kill people. Henry goes through a mental checklist to help him identify the origin of the virus and when it was revealed in the last 3 pages, I was astonished. I was not expecting this ending. Given all of my newfound knowledge on pandemics, I knew where the plot was heading. It was still a fantastic read. 4 out of 5 stars.