As a doctor in the post-Blackout United States of America of 2087, Joe Barnes struggles to save his patients and uphold his Hippocratic Oath.
Even so, he’s an idealist, and his home life is one of happy expectation as he and his wife Mary prepare to welcome their first child after a “medical miracle” makes their dream possible.
"A dystopian thrilled so supremely paranoid it actually brings reality into focus."
- Ben Loory, author of Tales of Falling and Flying
A teenaged boy dies unexpectedly on Barnes’ watch and a girl goes missing, and as Barnes becomes obsessed with finding the killer, patients keep dropping dead from strange diseases that should no longer exist at the end of the 21st century.
With the help of his mentor, he chases a phantom force at work in the hospital and discovers a terrifying link to a human experimentation program from the barely-remembered chaos of World War II.
The forces behind the spreading pestilence threaten to spark another global cataclysm – and slaughter Barnes’s young family – unless the good doctor can stop them in time.
Reviews
"The historical basis for the tale's medical horrors lends them an appalling credence, underscored by glimpses of a debased, cruel popular culture as see in a reality show that's slightly reminiscent of Terry Southern's The Magic Christian(1969)... an involving, tense, and visceral near-future thriller."
"Augenstein skillfully weaves throughout his narrative the spirit of IUshii as an impetus for the latter-day fictional project. The story ultimately reveals the horrors of a run-away biological and chemical weapons program. Augenstein's engrossing descriptions prompt the reader to wince in sadness and empathy for the victims. His video imagery is testimony to superb writing skills."
— Dr. Leonard A. Cole, author of Clouds of Secrecy
"Fans of Michael Crichton rejoice! Here is a fast-paced techno-thriller, made all the more chilling by the fact that the story's inspired by secret experiments that took place during World War II."
— Susan Breen, author of The Fiction Class