Virologist Jason Mitchell can’t keep his mouth shut, can’t lie convincingly, and can’t follow orders. He’s an unlikely candidate to help the CIA locate and destroy a deadly virus stolen from Jason’s lab at the University of Minnesota.
Virologist Jason Mitchell can’t keep his mouth shut, can’t lie convincingly, and can’t follow orders. He’s an unlikely candidate to help the CIA locate and destroy a deadly hybrid virus stolen from Jason’s lab at the University of Minnesota. From Washington to Djibouti, from Minneapolis to Yemen, Marines cringe, Senators turn livid, and CIA agents shudder as Jason struggles to prevent the virus from becoming a biological weapon in the hands of jihadists.
Excerpt
The next morning, Jason woke up to his alarm with a pit in his stomach. His apprehension increased when he arrived at Joe’s to give him a ride, but Joe wasn’t waiting outside his building. Impatient, Jason honked his horn a couple of times and waited several minutes.
He swore, parked his car, and went to the intercom box. He pushed the button marked “Zedong Xue” repeatedly. There was no response. Jason stood by the door and waited until a blonde in a hurry exited the building. He caught the door before it closed, dashed up two flights of stairs, and trotted down the hallway to Joe’s door. Joe didn’t respond when Jason knocked, nor when he pounded on the door.
Jason called his graduate advisor, Professor Paul Schmidt, and
was rolled into voicemail. He left a message to see if Joe had gotten
another ride and got back in his car. He was going to be late getting
to the lab.
Jason had to wait his turn on the metered ramp for the four-lane
bumper-to-bumper crawl on Highway 36 to Snelling Avenue. Snelling wasn’t as crowded, but he hit a red at every stoplight and nervously checked his watch as he turned into the empty State Fairgrounds. He remembered to slow down for the speed trap by the fair’s grandstand and made it to the parking lot next to the campus without getting yet another ticket. Anxiously checking his watch, he swore and jogged
the block to the dark brick Veterinary Sciences building. He stopped briefly at Paul’s office. Breathing hard from his run, Jason asked, “Were you able to reach Joe?”
Paul, his head bent over his desk revealing his thinning gray hair, was holding a phone to his ear. He looked up and covered the mouthpiece with his hand. “I have him on the phone now. He’s coughing and sounds delirious—babbling in Mandarin or Cantonese.”
“I’m teaching the lab this morning and I’m already late. I’ll check
in with you after class.”
Paul dismissed Jason with a nod and tried talking to Joe again. “Joe, unlock . . . unlock your door and go to bed. I’m calling an
ambulance for you.”
Paul hung up and immediately called the University Hospital. “This is Professor Paul Schmidt on the St. Paul campus. A graduate student from Hong Kong is sick. He was coughing and his breathing sounded labored when I talked to him on the phone just now. He seemed to be delirious. Can I have an ambulance pick him up at his
apartment?”
“Hong Kong! This kid is from Hong Kong?”
“Yes. He’s a recent arrival.”
There was a prolonged pause before Paul was given an answer. “I’ll transfer you to an infectious disease specialist.”
Waiting on hold, Paul tried to remember how often Jason and other students had been exposed to Joe. Few were aware of it, but a tourist from Hong Kong had introduced SARS to Canada last year.
There’d been a twenty-percent case mortality rate.
Professional Reviews
Fast Paced, Smart, Witty
This fast-paced, smart, witty, and tautly written thriller explodes with an international setting and a great cast of characters including the unlikely hero-a young university bovine virus researcher in St. Paul, Minnesota. The author gives us high stakes with incredible details, creating an authentic and fascinating look inside university labs and politics as well as a jihadist plot that takes our hero around the globe to Cairo and back. Gary Jones is a great new voice on the thriller novel scene. A Jerk, A Jihad and a Virus is a highly recommended read." Christine DeSmet, mystery author and screenwriter, Master Class writing instructor, University of Wisconsin-Madison Continuing Studies --This text refers to the paperback edition.
Fun read full of accurate microbiology information
Fun read full of accurate microbiology information, but not so much as to bore the non-scientist. Offers an interesting view into the geographic region of the Middle East. The author has a great sense of humor while telling a story that just might not be as far-fetched as we'd like to think.
This story could easily become a movie
This author is a new shining star. This story could easily become a movie. I want to read more of his work, soon.
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