The Phoenix Strain
The Phoenix Strain (79,000 words) is a biothriller that combines the scientific authenticity of Michael Crichton with the emotional depth of Mary Robeson's The Cure and the propulsive action of Terry Hayes' I Am Pilgrim.
Dr. Eva Richter has spent three years developing revolutionary viral delivery systems, believing her work will cure genetic diseases. But when a colleague dies horrifically during a lab accident, Eva discovers her research has been weaponized by the Phoenix Order-a neo-Nazi organization planning to release a genetically-targeted virus that will kill four billion people deemed "genetically inferior."
The Phoenix Order's leader is Klaus Richter, Eva's own father.
Fleeing with evidence of the conspiracy, Eva reluctantly partners with Ben Carter, an ex-CIA analyst haunted by a Syrian operation that killed 47 civilians. Ben has been hiding in academia, but Eva's desperate mission offers him a chance at redemption. Together, they race across Europe, pursued by Phoenix Order operatives and international authorities who've been convinced they're the terrorists.
Eva's only hope lies in her late mother's research. Before Klaus murdered her and made it look like cancer, Elena Richter hid a counter-virus formula in the last place anyone would look-encoded in the lullaby she sang to Eva as a child. But decoding the cure requires equipment only available at Klaus's facility, forcing Eva to return to the scene of her childhood and confront the father whose love has twisted into monstrous ideology.
As Christmas Eve approaches and Phoenix Order operatives prepare to release the virus at twelve major airports, Eva faces an impossible choice. The counter-virus works, but synthesizing it requires a living test subject to prove its effectiveness. With Ben dying from his wounds and time running out, Eva makes the ultimate sacrifices she injects herself with both virus and cure, using her own body as the final battlefield.
Eva dies creating the cure, but not before uploading the synthesis formula to laboratories worldwide. Ben survives to hunt down remaining Phoenix Order cells and establish the Eva Richter Foundation, dedicated to preventing future bioweapons. In a thought-provoking epilogue, Eva's previously unknown sister Sophia emerges as an advocate for voluntary human enhancement, asking whether preservation of humanity as-is is noble or naive.
The Phoenix Strain explores timely themes of genetic engineering, scientific ethics, and the dangers of ideology while delivering the page-turning suspense thriller readers demand. It offers strong potential for a series following Ben Carter's continued fight against bioterrorism and the ethical dilemmas posed by enhancement technology.
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