The Burning Water — Neil Plakcy

How does a virus escape into the general population? The Burning Water offers one possibility.An unscrupulous North Korean doctor runs a secret research operation near the Chinese border. He is developing viruses based on genetic information, and experiments on  orphan children.One winter day at this isolated facility, a boy squirms while getting an injection. The needle holding an experimental virus is knocked out before it's empty and some of the virus is exposed to the air.An American journalist joins forces with a Chinese doctor, and a doctor and nurse from this blandly named Children's Research Institute. Surrounded by the dead and dying, they rush to understand what has happened—and what the consequences will be for a world that has never seen a global pandemic like this before.The Burning Water is the story of how the virus spreads, the heroic efforts of those who try and stop it—and the deadly secret the virus holds. It explores how a deadly virus like SARS or COVID-19 can escape a laboratory, infect local people-- and then spread world-wide.Award-winning author Neil Plakcy creates believable characters and situations, ones that tug at heart strings as they urge both compassion and action.From a reader review:Neil Plakcy's The Burning Water is ripped from todays headlines - even though he began writing it five years ago. As with everything Plakcy writes, included with the mystery, suspense and death, there is a welcome dose of history. The historical details are is so cleverly inserted that, until you finish reading his books, you don't realize what an expert history lesson you've just received.