In a twist on the pandemic narrative, a small Lake Erie island in the direct flight path of a major wild bird migratory route is Ground Zero for the outbreak of a virulent, airborne strain of the bird flu virus. However, instead of racing to contain a fast-spreading outbreak, the island's isolation provides the CDC and the military the opportunity to play the long game of quarantining the island and allowing the virus to burn itself out among its unfortunate population and of keeping those on the mainland blissfully ignorant of how close it came to decimation. But what about those islanders?
Trapped inside a naval blockade, Danny Foe, a recent high school graduate, is conscripted by Kelleys Island Police chief, J.P. Sarter and Dr. Jennifer Bentham, an administrator with the county health department, to help identify and isolate the infected and to pacify a small but desperate population, increasingly hell-bent on defying the quarantine, a strategy which will leave the military no choice but to apply its most extreme measures for preventing the virus' spread.
All communication with the outside world is shut down. Blackhawk helicopters and surveillance drones hover incessantly overhead. The number of infected increases. Tensions rise to a feverish pitch, and warring factions form until the trio finds itself in a life-and-death struggle on three fronts with a killer virus, a hostile citizenry, and a merciless Army.
About the author - Ty Roth teaches literature and composition at both the high school and university level. He is the author of two previous novels: So Shelly (Random House/Delacorte) and Goodness Falls (First Edition Design Publishing).
keywords: Thriller, Epidemic, Pandemic, Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic, Medical Thriller, Epidemic, Contemporary, Realism, Socio-Political
