The Coming Storm: A Thriller

The Coming Storm, by Mark Alpert The time is the near future (2023) In New York City, but a city one would barely recognize. The environment is ravaged, the Arctic has melted, and savage storms are clobbering the Big Apple. The rule of law has broken down and FSU officers (Federal Service Unit) are trying to restore order operating side by side with the NYPD. Trouble is, they hate each other, and the FSU is controlled by ex soldiers who have been genetically modified by a secret program called Palindrome through a process involving the injection of a lab produced virus called CRISPR (that’s a real program – Google it). The initial trials were used on soldiers, some of whom were now commanding the FSU, and, of course, they were suffering from unpredictable side effects. The commander of the FSU was extremely super patriotic right wing who hated illegals, ragheads, wetbacks, terrorists, - and Democrats. And he wasn’t hesitant to use deadly force to quell the riots that were plaguing NYC these days. One of the scientists who helped develop the Palindrome project, Jenna, was a Pakistani, and was therefore the target of Lieutenant Rick Frazier’s (head of the FSU) hatred, especially after she turned against him. The story revolves around these two, essentially. Mark Alpert starts the book off with intensity and simply doesn’t let up. He is good. If you like the thriller genre, you can’t do better than Mark Alpert. He rightly belongs among the crème de la crème of Thriller authors. I thought the ending was a little “out there,” but does not distract from the overall impact of the novel. As an aside, the author does take a couple of nasty pot shots at our current real President by describing the President in the novel in very evil terms, giving him a campaign slogan of “Make America Great,” exaggerating the size of audiences, and (on p. 207) referencing lies told. (The book was published in 2018). Aside from that, the story is suspenseful, well written, and generates excellent mental imagery I just ordered four more of his novels.