Book excerpt: James Abel--author of the electrifying Joe Rush novels Protocol Zero and White Plague--unleashes another heart-stopping thriller in which bioterror might bring the world to its knees... Ex-Marine doctor and bioterror expert Joe Rush receives a plea for help from a member of his old military unit who is currently working as a geologist in a chaotic region of Somalia. Joe arrives on the scene to find an entire group of people showing the horrific symptoms of an ancient sickness that was once thought to be sent as punishment from Heaven. But before Joe can get hard evidence identifying the illness, a local warlord takes matters into his own hands--and the proof is gone, just as the illness breaks out back in the United States. This outbreak is not a curse from God. It's a well-coordinated, meticulously planned attack with a specific goal that could overturn global stability and kill millions. And the only one who can stop the downfall of civilization is Joe Rush...