Book excerpt: Tim Mack is a financial analyst running from a past full of death and drink. But when he leaves the Wall Street rat race hoping to slow down his life in San Diego, he finds that a calm and peaceful existence is just not in the cards. While researching a local biotechnology firm that has just exploded into flames, Tim begins to untangle a lethal web of deceit. A frightening, secret triumvirate of mass murder intricately combines a high-finance broker, a Middle-Eastern terrorist organization, and a dying biotechnology firm willing to do anything to keep afloat. How far will this alliance go? Tim soon finds out that a bug that makes AIDS look like a hangnail might only be the beginning. He teams up with Betsy O'Brien, his spunky and beautiful coworker; Joe Mack, his wheelchair-bound brother who's a former DEA agent; and Detective Bob Moore, an aging but tenacious cop in charge of leading the formal, but furtive, investigation. Together, they devise a plan to stop the release of the mutated virusa plan that brings the lives of Tim, his loved ones, and the rest of the country down to the bare wire.