Michael Boyle, Full Circle

An end of the world pandemic story, the hook is set in the prolog, sixty-five million years before the story begins. Twenty pages into the book the planet killer is loose again. As you read Michael Boyle, Full Circle, you know what it did before, and what it might do again. Of course you know that Dr. Kildare will rescue humanity from the abyss, right? Well, maybe he will. I'll stop here because I never liked spoilers.

Michael Boyle's Full Circle is an apocalyptic tale of a global plague

The story begins sixty-five million years ago as the dinosaurs are wiped out in a worldwide plague. In the year 2025, a Chinese dig recovers a fossil containing the virus that killed the dinosaurs. The scientists have no idea of the danger the fossil holds, and careless treatment results in the release of the organism. The virus is a rabies like virus that spreads on the wind, with a mortality rate above 99.99%,

As the virus begins to spread, politicians try to hide the truth while they search for a cure. They fail completely on both counts. The book focuses on a number of people around the globe, people who will ultimately be counted among the survivors. There are no real villains or heroes among the survivors, just people caught up in a global catastrophe they cannot change or avoid. For me, that was what made the story so frightening. Humans are just one of many species destroyed during the pandemic, no more or less important than any other, at least from the planet's point of view.

The final chapters of the book look at life in the post plague world, a world without science and technology. I'm not sure if things would fall apart the way the book describes, but it makes sense and it is certainly possible. The epilog was a perfect ending.

The characters were very good, and the science was both believable and (best of all) understandable. As a former airman, I did note a minor factual error concerning one of the characters, an Air Force Sergeant at Scott AFB. Overall, the hypothesis is chillingly plausible.

This is Mr. Boyle's first book, and I hope he continues writing sci-fi thrillers. This book is not to be missed. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me think. Most of all, it scared the heck out of me.

Reviewed by Lucas Day 5/27/04