Final Epidemic:: A Novel of Medical Suspense

It begins with a pounding headache, joint pain, and a runny nose. The typical summer cold in appearance and it is highly contagious. For some, the symptoms escalate rapidly and within hours they are dead. For others, the agony goes on as the coughing slowly worsens and the vomiting begins. The lungs begin to shred and the victims begin to drown in their own bodily fluids.Instead of a summer cold, a bioweapon has been unleashed into Florida and Russia by a doomsday cult in Japan. When their cult leader is sentenced to death for the 1995 Sarin gas attack the cult pronounces sentence on the world. The virus, a modified version of the 1918 Spanish Flu that killed millions is released. The cult commits ritualistic suicide condemning humanity to its fate.As civilized society begins to crack at the seams, the President summons Beck Casey, now a professor from his self imposed exile. During his work with the CIA, Beck wrote the book on biological warfare and its implications on society. Beck has bad memories from his CIA work and for justifiable reasons is less than thrilled to be dealing with the CIA, let alone having to go back to Russia. Regardless of his feelings, his mission is to find a vaccine, a serum, anything left behind by the cultists that might save humanity from its fate.This book is very well written and as enjoyable as any fictionalized novel on the subject could possible be. Before the terror attacks of nearly two years ago, I looked at such books as nothing more than escapist literature much like killer asteroids from space, rogue comets, and the like. Doomsday scenarios that I wasn't likely to ever see or worry about. Just nothing more than a fun read as people tried to survive. Then the attacks happened and the son of my best friend who just happened to be a little late for work that day was still on a ferry as the first plane struck. Others were not so lucky and lives were lost. While I may live half a country away, I haven't forgotten and won't. For me, such books aren't escapist fun reads anymore as they have become all too real.That certainly is not intended, or to be taken as, a criticism of the author or his book. The story is well written with numerous subplots and multiple characters. The novel is very well paced and incredibly realistic. Taken for what is, it is good stuff and for those so inclined, I highly recommend this book. My comment is solely a reflection of how my personal reading tastes have changed and is something I was not really aware of until reading this novel.

I hate books that take at least 100 pages of being boring, before it gets interesting and you can't put it down. This is one of very few books I have read that got my attention from the first page and every chapter ended with a "cliff hanger". How the epidemic spread, the problems and repercussions it caused, and the frustration it caused the professionals fighting it, were extremely realistic and thought provoking. It was not far at all from the evening news headlines we see every day, and the scenario in the story could be tomorrow's evening news. I got the book to read, since we live in between Ft. Walton Beach and Eglin AFB, two of the settings in the book, but there are so many places the action was set that anybody coud relate to this story. In fact, I think that one of thee most appealing things about this book is that it could happen anywhere and at any time.

It all started in Fort Walton Beach, Florida when Dr Carol Mayer's emergency room began to fill up with tourists complaining of cold and flu-like symptoms. Within hours, it was obvious this was no summer cold or flu. The sick were getting worse by the minute, spiking high fevers, and developing severe respiratory complications, before keeling over and dying a horrible, gruesome death. As the CDC heads to Florida, and the wheels of government begin turning, former CIA bioterrorism expert, Beck Casey, is called back inside for a mission he can't refuse. Washington is already aware of this deadly virus, even the almost impossible circumstances of where it came from and what it can do, and feel Beck's expertise is their best weapon against what could turn out to be a pandemic of unrivaled proportion. As the virus begins to spread worldwide, cities are quarantined, hysteria mounts, law and order collapses, and citizens begin to act irrationally. Beck Casey circles the globe, forming alliances and meeting with some of our worst enemies to stop this scourge and save the human race, and this mission has become very personal. His only daughter, he learns, is vacationing at ground zero, Fort Walton Beach..... Tighten your seatbelt, Earl Merkel is about to take you on the roller coaster ride of your life with his marvelous debut novel, Final Epidemic. This is a thriller that has it all... a fast paced plot filled with vivid and riveting scenes, engaging writing that pulls you into the story and never lets go, and a diverse and interesting cast of well drawn characters. But it's Mr Merkel's indepth, detailed research and knowledge in the areas of biological warfare, epidemics, and pandemics that make this novel stand out and dazzle, and once you begin reading, be prepared to finish this book in one sitting. And as he weaves his intriguing story lines toward their stunning climax, you'll be on the edge of your seat, waiting to see if the world as we now know it will continue to exist. Final Epidemic has the one thing all great thrillers need to be a great success... plausibility. Make sure you put this novel at the top of your "must read" list. You won't be disappointed.

The premise of "Final Epidemic," by Earl Merkel is one in which a terrorist organization launches a treacherous biological attack on mankind. Mr. Merkel's characters are believable, the dialogue thrilling, and the plot exciting. A very appealing combination.John SavoySavoy InternationalMotion Pictures Inc.

In June a Japanese man, hand picked for this mission, carries the germs of a deadly disease, ingenuously designed to annihilate mankind, on a flight to Mexico, final destination, Miami. One month later, patients near death begin to fill a Miami hospital. Within hours attending physician Dr. Carol Mayer begins to suspect this is going to be a flu epidemic of unprecedented proportions, but tests can't pin down which flu strain it is and the U.S. government struggles to contain the secret. On the same day, Dr. Beck Casey, a former CIA agent whose title is now an academic one, reports to the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta on an unwanted secret mission-to join with the Russian government in tracking down a Japanese cult believed to have been developing a deadly virus unknown to man for several centuries. In Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Beck's daughter, who lives with her mother, makes plans to sneak away for a weekend in Miami with two of her girlfriends. Thus begins a riveting and utterly frightening tale of how the end of the world could happen, and it's all too plausible. FINAL EPIDEMIC takes you on an unrestrained roller coaster ride between Russia and the U.S. as Beck struggles to find the virus before it's unleashed. But as we soon learn, it has already been unleashed and is spreading rapidly, first in Florida and next in New York through a series of incidents only a master storyteller of Merkel's caliber could depict. There are quite a few sub-plots, all equally fascinating but too involved to go into here, except to tell you it's easy to see why this book is making such an impact even though it's been out less than a month. It's impossible to predict what will happen next FINAL EPIDEMIC's tension rapidly builds as you turn the pages. I can't recall being this uptight while reading a book since I read Debt of Honor. Merkel just doesn't let go. His writing is sharp and crisp, the action doesn't stop, ever. As for character development, Merkel wowed me there, too. The internal relationships and struggles Beck has to wade through while he fights this terrifying battle of time are astonishingly thorough and bittersweet. I can't recommend this book highly enough. Signet has a real winner this time. The only complaint I have is that there was no mention anywhere in the book about the author except his name, which I think is a shame, but I'm sure the next book will rectify that. Earl Merkel is heading rapidly toward the top, no doubt about it in this reviewer's mind. Beth Anderson, Rendezvous Review Magazine and AllAboutMurder.com