This story was first published in 1998 and was a futuristic tale that takes place in 2010.  Now that 2010 is near, the malicious virus of the story seems all the more realistic. It is the story of a virus that mutates constantly, and defies science.  It first appears in Africa, and the Doctors Peter Maryk and Stephen Pearse, working for the Bureau of Disease Control, are summoned to what they believe is an outbreak of smallpox...but it isn't smallpox. They can't seem to successfully treat any of the patients, who die, one by one. The team discovers a  radioactive cave where the virus has been festering and mutating for generations. They destroy the cave, sealing it off.  But somehow, the malicious virus escapes to reappear, drastically changed and catastrophically deadly, in a small New England town.

Only three people survive that outbreak.  The two doctors had previously managed to synthesize a safe, clean substitute for human blood, enhanced by elements from Maryk's immune system that protect him from all disease. Now they hope to use the blood of these survivors to immunize or cure other cases of the virus. Then two of the survivors are brutally murdered, and Maryk and Pearse begin to suspect that this virus might be a thinking and planning entity, and that mankind may not survive its treachery. When Stephen is struck down by the virus, the tension takes a whole new turn and Maryk realizes that he is alone in his war to save mankind, and the virus just might win.

Hogan has written a truly terrifying novel, and since the discovery of Ebola and flesh-eating viruses, it’s easy to think of this story as prophetic.  The current threat of swine flu, and its sometimes deadly consequences double the fear after reading this novel.  Chilling.