Paperback, 400 pages
Expected publication: October 8th 2012 by Marble City Publishing (first published July 18th 2012)
About the Book . . .
Southern Cameroon, West Africa 1936
A virus mutated and crossed the barrier from primate to human. In less than a century it had claimed the lives of twenty-five million people. Africa, a land of natural beauty and riches, ripe for plunder, full of dark menace.
In a near future scenario of viral pandemic, global religious conflict, climate change and mass migration, America and the Middle East are locked in a religious fundamentalist race to Armageddon, while the old nations of Europe flex their imperial muscles. Will mankind rediscover the Garden of Eden or ignite the crucible of the apocalypse?
The Europeans are using stealth and Thomas is the most deadly of mercenaries. Any conscience he had died with his wife and children under a blood-soaked African sun. He works for an agency with a taste for righting wrongs on a grand scale - an organisation with deep pockets, altruistic motives and a pragmatic approach to the dispensation of justice.
A virus mutated and crossed the barrier from primate to human. In less than a century it had claimed the lives of twenty-five million people. Africa, a land of natural beauty and riches, ripe for plunder, full of dark menace.
In a near future scenario of viral pandemic, global religious conflict, climate change and mass migration, America and the Middle East are locked in a religious fundamentalist race to Armageddon, while the old nations of Europe flex their imperial muscles. Will mankind rediscover the Garden of Eden or ignite the crucible of the apocalypse?
The Europeans are using stealth and Thomas is the most deadly of mercenaries. Any conscience he had died with his wife and children under a blood-soaked African sun. He works for an agency with a taste for righting wrongs on a grand scale - an organisation with deep pockets, altruistic motives and a pragmatic approach to the dispensation of justice.
Greg is a failed philanderer and small-time inventor, struggling to earn a crust for his family. When the enigmatic Thomas steals his identity, Greg is lured into a web of global corruption, conspiracy and murder. But are these unlikely friends really on the side of good or evil?
About the Author . . .
"I've pedalled the pushbike of life through the Shires' rolling hills, along the folded rocks of Scotland's lochs and out west to the fractured reaches of North Wales. Love found me in MacGillycuddy's Reeks. The Swiss Alps cured me of obsessive compulsion and yielded progeny.
Misfits, rogues and psychopaths take form in Peril, The Baptist and other works. Their voices, they speak to me. I plead with them, but the demons are real.
My writing is dedicated to the memory of my late grandfather Robert 'Ruby' Barnes." - author's bio
Reader Review . . .
In 1936, a mutated virus passed from monkey to human, and a deadly epidemic was born. Set in a near but undated future, the world is in what would be its last turmoil. While the United States is poised to begin an Armageddon-like battle in the Middle East, Europeans are emigrating en masse to Africa, believing they are returning to the birthplace of mankind. Both groups are fueled by a fundamentalist religious fervor, one believing they are bringing about the prophesied end of the world, and the other believing they are bringing about the rebirth of civilization. When Thomas steals Greg's identity, he brings him into a double life as a conspirator. Greg's parents have already traveled to Africa to begin their new life, and his wife wants to relocate there as well. But Greg knows too much.
Ruby Barnes has taken an entirely new direction with this new novel. A political thriller, the AIDS pandemic, conspiracy theories, and a bit of lust and romance all combine to make this impossible to put down. The only problem? It was only Part One. Now, I anxiously await Part Two.
4 stars
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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