The Gemini Virus
Wil Mara
Forge, October 2012
ISBN 9780765324313
Hardcover
Also available in ebook format

An ancient organism, reborn in a vicious new strain and spreading fast…. A terrified society, growing more savage as the death toll climbs…. The most powerful nations of the modern age, baring their teeth and on the brink of launching World War III…. And one man, gifted with genius but tormented by a horrible past, working frantically to find a solution…. The newsmedia call it ‘The Black Plague of the 21st Century,’ and the prelude to the long-predicted end of all things…. But in fact it’s just the beginning…of The Gemini Virus.

It starts with a sneeze. It kills in four days. There is no cure.

Bob Easton thinks he has a cold. Before he dies in agony, four days later, he infects dozens of people. Local health agencies become quickly overwhelmed by the sick and dying and beg the CDC for help. Dr. Michael Beck and Cara Porter, a member of the Epidemic Intelligence Service, race to identify the deadly bug. They can’t cure it until they know what it is.

Dennis and Andi Jensen and their children are terrified. Schools and offices close. Fresh food disappears from store shelves. Three of their children’s friends die. Their neighbors are dying or running away, fleeing the unstoppable infection. Desperate, the Jensens join the exodus, making a nightmarish journey to their isolated mountain cabin along empty roads, through abandoned towns, past looted shopping malls.

The superbug—and the panic—quickly spreads beyond America’s borders. On a packed plane, someone coughs—and at their destination, the pilots are told, “you can’t land here.” US military bases are quarantined. Yet the virus continues to spread. Some believe the plague is man-made. Others see it as a sign of the end times.

In the lab, Cara Porter makes a potentially fatal mistake. In the mountains, Andi Jensen tells her husband that she doesn’t feel well.

The world is running out of time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The Gemini Virus is a terrifying tale of a mysterious lethal outbreak that starts in a small-town community and quickly goes global. It pits the nightmare virus against a talented team from the CDC as well as an assemblage of less-visible scientists and health care professionals. Thank your lucky stars the scenario is fictional!”
—Dr. Elinor Levy, Immunologist, Associate Professor of Microbiology, Boston University School of Medicine, and author of The New Killer Diseases

“Wil Mara has created a credible and chilling scenario and placed it in a fast-paced and immensely entertaining story. Thrilling and eerie. Once you open the front cover, you will not be able to put it down.” —Dr. Martinez J. Hewlett, coauthor of Basic Virology

“The Gemini Virus rocks its genre, setting a new standard for public fear. Wil took a familiar theme—a deadly pandemic—and crafted it into a tense and very exciting story. I’ve been a sci fi fan all my life, and this is, by far, one of the best doomsday books I’ve ever read. A taut thriller that grabbed me from page one.” —Robbie Dupree, Grammy–nominated singer and songwriter

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WIL MARA is a steadily working professional writer with more than one hundred books to his credit, primarily in the school and library market. His previous disaster novel, Wave, published by a regional press, won the New Jersey Notable Book Award. THE GEMINI VIRUS is the second book in the disaster series, with several more stories currently in development including an entirely new suspense series. For more information, please visit www.wilmara.com.