Plaguemaker

I just finished an AWESOME book and I MUST tell you all about it.

The book is called Plaguemaker by Tim Downs. I have read 3 other Tim Downs books - his "Bugman" books. They are great books, especially if you like forensic science at all. The main character is a forensic entomologist and it makes for very interesting reading. The third one, First the Dead, is about the aftermath of Katrina.

Plaguemaker is the first non-Bugman book I have read by Tim Downs. Here is the plot summary from the Tim Downs page:

New York FBI counterterrorism agent Nathan Donovan receives a phone call from an eighty-year-old man named Li who has a story to tell—a story too fantastic to believe but too terrible for Donovan to ignore. Li tells the story of Sato Matsushita, a brilliant bioweapons scientist, a man waging a personal war against the United States. His mission: to destroy America with bubonic plague—beginning with the city of New York. The old man has tracked Matsushita for six decades and across three continents because he, too, has a mission to fulfill: to stop Matsushita before he can strike—and to settle an old score of his own. Li’s lifelong search has brought him to the most powerful city in the world, a city of eight million souls, a city on the eve of its biggest celebration of the year: the Fourth of July fireworks display. Now Donovan and Li must work together to prevent a modern-day Black Death of global proportions. They must find the Plague Maker before it’s too late—for everyone.

This is the basic plot but it is the way Downs wrote the book that really makes the book stand out and makes it one of my top 5 favorite books ever. He tells the story both in real time and also in flashbacks. Not only that, but he also tells the story from several different points of view. You REALLY get into the character's heads and are able to understand each character's motivation, even if you do not agree with their actions. Furthermore, this book is written by a Christian author which makes it a delight to read in that there is no bad language or uncomfortable to read scenes. (as long as you don't mind bugs and violence) He does not use any of his books to preach or to convert. Instead, they seem more to show the lives of Christian people in "real life." (yes, I get the irony there) The ending of this book is fantastic and such a wonderful testimony to God's love.

I really really loved this book and if you like thrillers, political intrigue, CSI type stuff or Tom Clancy type books, I think you would love this book. I think this is also a great book to give to non-Christian friends. They would enjoy the book without feeling as if they were being preached to and they would be getting a great message about God's love and forgiveness.