Pandora's Succession by: Russell Brooks

Title: Pandora's Succession
Author: Russell Brooks
Format: Kindle
Source: Sent by author

Where would you hide if you learned the CDC and a major pharmaceutical company unleashed a hyperdeadly microbe on the human race?

CIA operative, Ridley Fox, never stopped hunting his fiancée’s killers — a weapons consortium called The Arms of Ares. When an informant leads him to an old bunker outside of Groznyy, Chechnya, Fox is captured and left for dead. When the informant rescues him, Fox learns that his capture was no coincidence: someone had set him up—possibly another government agent. Fox barely escapes after learning that Ares has acquired a hyperdeadly microbe—called Pandora—that is believed to have wiped out ancient civilizations. The trail leads Fox to Tokyo where he discovers that other forces —including agents within Japanese Intelligence—want Pandora for themselves. The only ally Fox turns to is a woman from his past who he nearly got killed.

My thoughts:

When the author first got in touch with me about checking out his work, the first sentence I read was: "Where would you hide if you learned the CDC and a major pharmaceutical company unleashed a hyperdeadly microbe on the human race?" My first thought was, "I have no idea! OMG OMG OMG." Of course, that was enough reason to want to read it.

We watch and like movies like 28 Days Later in which something goes wrong and a deadly virus starts turning people into zombies, etc. and creating some sort of a massacre somehow. Whenever I'm done watching (and enjoying; I'm not gonna lie) movies like this, I think, "What if this turned out to be real? What the f*** would we do?" This is what Pandora's Succession made me feel.

In the book, it's CDC and a pharmaceutical company that unleash the virus. Ridley Fox, who works at the CIA, is captured while he's going after those who murdered his fiance. He finds out about the virus situation; it's a virus that melts human flesh very quickly. Afterward, it's action after action, taking place in many a place from Russia to Japan, as Fox tries to stop the virus from being spread.

The action starts from the very first page and continues throughout the book, and it's very, very due to Brooks' masterful storytelling. Brooks has studied biology at Indiana University, and, even though I'm clueless when it comes to it, you can tell he knows what he's talking about. If you're looking for something that's going to make you think and is filled with action, then this is the book for you.