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Germs of War |
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| Germs of War by Ketan Desai Minerva Press UK 273 pages, 1999 ISBN 0754109887 Reviewed by Nancy Mehl Tracy Hopkins, a student enrolled in a MD/Ph.D program in the Microbiology Department of the Mayo Clinic, has had enough. Enough of Dr. Dan Howard, her committee chairman who has worked hard to make her life miserable. Enough of Dr. James Delmez, the program director who assigned her to Dr. Howard out of spite. Enough of the department’s chairman, Dr. Robert Webster, who has refused to take her complaints about Dr. Howard seriously. And enough of Dr. Tariq Bukhari, a strange, violent man who is doing his post-doctoral research at the clinic - under the auspices and protection of Dr. Howard. A huge grant is funding Dr. Howard’s program, and the money just seems to keep pouring in. Only a few people realize that the finances are coming from an Afghan terrorist group run by the Pakistan secret service, and that Dr. Bukhari is ensconced inside the clinic for a terrifying reason: to create a "super bug" that can destroy thousands of people without remedy. Dr. Bukhari’s attempt at using a human guinea pig as a test for his lethal creation results in the death of his subject - and the accidental contamination of the MICU unit inside the Mayo Clinic. The effects are devastating. Tracy, at the wrong place at the wrong time, is kidnapped by Dr. Howard and becomes an innocent pawn in a deadly game of espionage and murder. Religious fervor and political domination clash ferociously, as the evil plan is unfurled. Tracy’s father, a retired rear-admiral in the Navy, and Tracy’s boyfriend Rory, are pulled into a frantic attempt to rescue her. But will they find her in time? And where is the "super-bug?" Ketan Desai crafts an engrossing and exciting tale that never lets up. And the ending, while crashing into the reader with a sickening thud, is thought provoking and frightening. Germs of War is for those who are intrigued by the capabilities of medicine and the struggle for control by religious and political zealots. This is not light reading, but it is certainly a chilling look into the dark side of corruption. |
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