Z: The Final Countdown

By Bob Mayer

Book Overview

How do you solve the problem of scarce resources and over-population with one devastating act?

ANGOLA. A RUSSIAN SATELLITE CRASHES IN THE JUNGLE CARRYING SOMETHING THAT SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN LAUNCHED. WITHIN DAYS, AN ENTIRE VILLAGE IS DEAD.

Former Green Beret Dave Riley is in Angola as security for reporter Conner Young, covering a UN peacekeeping mission. It's supposed to be routine-embedded with an elite Special Forces team, documenting the 82nd Airborne's deployment to stabilize a civil war. But when their helicopter picks up a dying Angolan sergeant who literally dissolves from the inside out, vomiting blood and tissue, everything changes.

The sergeant came from a village where everyone died screaming. Bodies burned in piles. Pregnant women bleeding from every opening. Survivors with welts covering their skin, begging for death. This isn't Ebola. It's not Marburg. It's something new-a hemorrhagic virus so lethal it kills in days instead of weeks, liquefying organs and turning victims into bags of blood and dissolved flesh.

At Fort Detrick's bio-weapons lab, virologist Michael Kieling recognizes what he's seeing: a cousin to Ebola, but faster, deadlier, and with no cure. Patient Zero was in that village. And the only thing that could have brought it there was the Russian satellite that crashed three weeks earlier-a Proton booster that was supposed to be empty space junk but came down far too fast, far too deliberately, in exactly the wrong place.

Someone launched a bioweapon into space. Someone else brought it down in the heart of Africa. Now it's loose in a war zone where hundreds of American soldiers are landing, where refugee movements could spread it across borders, where the infrastructure to contain an outbreak doesn't exist.

Riley and the Special Forces team must race to find the crash site before the virus spreads beyond control. But they're not alone in the jungle. Mercenaries are hunting the same target. Someone wants that satellite-or wants to make sure no one ever finds it. And as Riley's team ventures deeper into rebel territory, members start showing symptoms. Bleeding from the eyes. Welts appearing on skin. The clock is ticking down to complete organ failure.

With no vaccine, no treatment, and no way to stop the spread, Riley faces an impossible choice: contain the outbreak by any means necessary-even if it means sacrificing everyone infected, including his own team-or let the virus escape Angola and trigger a global pandemic.

Z: FINAL COUNTDOWN is a terrifying bio-thriller from Bob Mayer that combines military action with pandemic horror. Perfect for fans of Richard Preston's The Hot Zone, Tom Clancy's techno-thrillers, and high-stakes military fiction where the enemy is invisible, unstoppable, and already inside the wire.

Bookpage: "Take an original look at a simmering world hot spot, and generates a lot of suspense along the way. A winner on all points."

Library Journal: "A heart-pounding thriller about the emergence of a deadly ebola-like virus. The panorama of modern warfare and the details of hand-to-hand combat encounters add excitement. Inventive, entertaining, and realistic adventure. Highly recommended."

Kirkus: "A ripping good biotech/military thriller that plausibly depicts the high costs of combating unseen enemies. An absorbing and well-written series.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1621253015
• ISBN13: 9781621253013
• Release Date: January 2014
• Publisher: Cool Gus Publishing
• Length: 310 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Really enjoy Reilly

I really enjoy Mr. Mayer's stories. His characters kind of seem real and their sense of humor in the face of danger makes for fun reading. I can lose myself in his books and just enjoy the story. I really do enjoy this character and storyline.

Action Packed

It's a great book that I couldn't put down. It makes you wonder whats really out there. The Ebola is a very deadly virus that has killed many. It makes you wonder what else nature can whip-up.

A VERY TIMELY STORY

Given current events in Africa, this thriller is surprisingly accurate. Angola, South Africa, diamond smugglers, mercenaries, are all tied together as American troops go once more into the dark continent on a peacekeeping mission. The action never lets up in this fast paced adventure story. If you like thrillers, try this book.

THE 6TH AND LAST IN THE RILEY SERIES

I found this book took the entire series to a higher level. Fast paced and exciting. I recommend it.

Pretty Good

Z was a pretty good book. Sure Dave Riley was a little "upstaged" by Conner Young in the earlier prtions of the book, but the end is pure Riley. This novel was pretty tense towards the end, and had plenty of action with Dave Riley "as he was meant to be". Read it, you'll enjoy it