Plague by Gary Berkin M.D.

"A Novel of Bioterrorism," the novel stated as I picked it up from its shelf. In actuality, the title "Plague" had caught my interest in the first place. I haven't read that many science fiction books these past years and this was to be the first of a couple more I plan to read.

It's about a psychotic bioterrorist who was set to show his prowess to the world by poisoning helpless kids in the hospital he works in. The protagonist, a doctor Annick Clement, is set out to discover who this person is and much more. The suspense was engaging and the ending wasn't what I was expecting it to be.

To poison without having the pleasure of watching them
suffer would fall well short of the mark.
By tomorrow, when the toxin is coursing through their
bloodstreams, I will set in motion the second part of my plan:
To bear witness to their agony.

It's quite a surprise to discover an author capable of making a medical novel interesting to the layman. I usually get turned off with too many jargon and technical terms shoved into one book, so I was very delighted to read the Plague and not feel the pressures of needing to browse the Internet often to figure out what the characters had been talking about. I also simply adore the fact that his portrayals of each character made every single one of them stand out- flawed, perfect, smart, clever, intuitive, psycho and elitist. Even the ones who've just appeared for a page or two, became memorable. That said, the incorporation of his medical expertise made it more medically feasible, authentic and realistic.

What made the story quite the catch was it was a master of keeping a person guessing. I was rendered helpless to resist reading page after page in an attempt to appease my burgeoning curiosity. Only 3 authors are capable of having that same effect on me. Dr. Gary Birken would be the fourth.