Virus: A Science Fiction Thriller - Paperback

by Norton S. Beckerman (Author)

Rachel Cummings, the young Chair of a university biology department is confronted with a problem that modern science says can't exist, but it does exist and may be deadly. Rachel is accused of being an alarmist, but she won't be pushed aside. Rachel knows that the situation could be disasterous if not resolved. She recruits Barry Protoc, a highly credentialed neuroscientist and microbiologist to help her find the truth. What they find puts them in the middle of a horrible nightmare that could possibly destroy civilization if left unchecked. The problem confronting Rachel and Barry actually started with the begining of life on earth. The first life on earth existed in the form of cells. But there was a group of cells that could absorb new information, make decisions, take a directed action and multiply. They came together as "The Council" and they dominated the other cells. "The Council" wanted to control the surface of the planet, but they knew that was impossible in their current form. They had to evolve on the surface as a dominant species. They set evolution in motion. One among them, a renegade cell called VIRUS didn't agree. VIRUS felt they were dominant enough and could control the surface as they were. "The Council" tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn't listen. VIRUS breaks away from "The Council" and threatens to destroy everything they create, regardless of how long it takes. "The Council" has monitored and defeated VIRUS at everyturn over the ages. They have become complacent, and VIRUS has taken advantage of that complaceny by taking a host and building a following. VIRUS' host is a small boy by the name of Barry Protoc. If "The Council" allows VIRUS and his followers to continue, all life as we know it will be destroyed along with the future. They must stop VIRUS. "The Council" sends Traveler, their best agent, to the present to confront and defeat VIRUS. But Traveler doesn't exist in the present. He can't accomplish anything on his own. To defeat VIRUS traveler must work through a surrogate. That surrogate is Professor Barry Protoc. VIRUS is a thrilling story that sets ancient vendettas clashing in the present and provides the reader with an exciting story and an unexpected ending.

Author Biography

Norton S. Beckerman is an accomplished science writer, teacher, speaker and author. The primary focus of his professional life is brain science. He's been an avid reader of fiction and non-fiction all his life, and that's what led to VIRUS. "Nort" is constantly occupied reading or writing about brain science. He wanted to write a story that would incorporate both his training in science and his love for fiction. He joined a writer's group in 2011. That was a major turning point in his writing career. It was their listening, reading and critiquing his writing that honed his skills as a writer of fiction. As a reader he knew his book had to have an unexpected and rewarding ending. All of that came together in his seventh manuscript titled VIRUS.