Author: Dr Jenna Podjasek

Publisher: Bancroft Press

ISBN: 978-1-61088-537-9

If you enjoy reading spine-chilling medical thrillers, this one is a doozy!

With her debut novel, Particles in the Air, Dr. Jenna Podjasek draws heavily upon her background as an allergist/immunologist and her encounters dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic. The result is a shocking narrative involving biological terrorism. 

The yarn's prologue places readers at Mission Beach, San Diego, where the most devastating tsunami in US history has recently struck, taking the lives of many Americans. To house the displaced, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has set up a camp, employing the Army to provide medical aid. We ultimately learn the catastrophe killed 2,214, with thousands still missing.

Over the next few chapters, we are introduced to Dr. Erik Lindgren, a gifted scientist working in his laboratory in Malmo, Sweden. Erik is greatly respected in the scientific community for his groundbreaking research in gene therapy.

Unfortunately, Erik has some tormenting personal issues. He is hooked on gambling and is indebted to a shady character who threatens to kill him if he doesn’t pay back his enormous debt.

If that is not enough, his wife Ada, ten years his junior, leaves him after he assaulted her. 

Aida notifies Erik’s boss of the altercation, and Erik is fired. All his ground-breaking research conducted at the lab will stay the company’s property. A financial arrangement between Erik and Ada quickly materializes, where she will receive a generous sum.

Erik now finds himself without employment and in a precarious financial situation. He must discover a path out of his bleak status. 

He sells his soul to the devil and forms an ominous alliance with Islamic militants. With his extensive scientific knowledge, Erik comes up with a plan to produce a lethal pathogen that would obliterate millions of Americans.

He offers to sell his idea to Islamic radicals for a significant sum, telling them he would produce a lethal poisonous contagious agent. The zealots embrace his invitation and are resolved to strike while the enemy is vulnerable.

The displaced person camp in San Diego furnishes them with an ideal opportunity where the virus could be transmitted, which soon or later would be circulated throughout the USA.

To achieve their objective, three of “Allah’s soldiers” are to be sent to the camp to do this “extraordinary work.” They are trained how to vaccinate themselves and told that the vaccine would insulate them from the ill effects of the virus while allowing the transmission to others.

The story shifts to Atlanta, Georgia where we meet Dr. Mallory Hayes employed by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Mallory’s research involves the Marburg virus that precipitates a devastating human infection with a clinical picture similar to Ebola.

When word gets out concerning the San Diego catastrophe and the horrid living conditions in the FEMA temporary relocation camp, Mallory is swiftly dispatched to the camp. She realizes the prospect of widespread contamination at the camp, where some extraordinary pathogens are appearing.

While in the camp, Mallory stumbles upon a young Arab, Habib, who had recently appeared from Sweden with his twin brother, Omar. Unfortunately, while at the camp, Omar dies from complications of pneumonia. Originally, there was no hint of biological terrorism or that Habib and his brother were linked to the virus’s dissemination. 

Mallory and her colleagues face the colossal challenge of pinpointing the pathogen and stopping it from flowing from the camp to the rest of the USA.

The strength of the narrative is how Podjasek integrates our prevailing circumstances with Covid-19 with an alarming scenario, but not as far-fetched as it may seem. In addition, with strong storytelling mastery and in small gestures and poignant reflection, she effectively makes Mallory’s struggles part of her character rather than dwelling on the societal fallout.

Thrown into the yarn is Mallory’s disintegrating relationship with her boyfriend. 

Podjasek has crafted a timely and haunting debut that will keep you asking, could this indeed happen? 

Follow Here To Read Norm's Interview With Dr. Jenna Podjasek