Book #2: Isolation

Title: Isolation
Author: Christopher Belton
Publication Year: 2003
Synopsis: Peter Bryant works for one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Japan as a Japanese to English translator for patents. The company he works secretly engineers a lethal bacterium as an agent of biological warfare for the Japanese government. A careless lab tech ends up exposing the bacterium to the populous of Tokyo and starts an epidemic. Peter is contacted by a "Deep Throat" who feeds him information about the germ. Meanwhile, people connected to the pharmaceutical company and the bacterium begin to die mysteriously, including the man who was working with Peter to expose the company. It is up to Peter and a mysterious online community to save Japan, and the world, by finding the cure and getting it into the right hands.

I'll tell you right off the bat, my husband enjoyed this book much more than I did. That was surprising to me, because it seemed like you would need a working knowledge of microbiology at the least to be able to keep up with the technical aspects of the story. The story was well written, however, so I guess you could work your way around what I felt was a bit over-technical in the plot. Also, being set in Japan, some of the names are a handful to remember exactly who they are.
This book will keep you guessing til the end about the identies of several of the characters, which keeps it interesting. It also make you think, because you know that goverments all over the world are probably doing what Hamada Seiyaku Pharmaceuticals is doing in this novel. What would happen if a clumsy lab tech, did, in fact, rip his suit or gloves and inadvertently take his work home with him? Though a bit slow to start, once the author gets his stride, the book just runs along with details falling neatly into place. There were a few things I thought wold happen, and they didn't, which made me like the book even more. Many authors would have taken what would be considered an easy way out, a quick way to generate a plot idea. But not Christopher Belton. He leads you along a twisted path, dodging obstacle and still getting you to the end wanting more.

The Reader's Rating: 7 out of 10 books


Amazon Link: Isolation
Related Books You May Enjoy: Contagion by Robin Cook
Bloodstream by Tess Gerritsen
Mount Dragon by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

And now, I ask you, What would you do if your city beame infested with a deadly pathogen?