The End of October by Lawrence Wright

I first heard about this book at the beginning of the pandemic; the author was interviewed by Pamela Paul on the NYTimes Book Review podcast.  I thought to myself, "I am not ready for that book yet." So I didn't even attempt to take it out.

As time went on and we became used to the current state of affairs, I kept recalling that interview...how uncanny it was that the author (so well-respected for his NON fiction and a Pulitzer Prize winner) wrote this book BEFORE this current pandemic.

Then, when talking about the book with my daughter, she told me how the book was written by the father of a friend of hers from Brown, who I had met years ago. The sheer coincidence prompted me to check out the book.

And I am not sorry! It was a gripping page-turner, but so informative and revealing about viruses, and I just could not stop reading.  Thank God, it goes way further than our pandemic has gone, so it was not quite to close to home.  But you realize, that what happens in the book COULD happen to us.

Here is a quote from the NYTimes Book Review:  

"...much of the book not only reads like nonfiction, it is nonfiction: Wright weaves into the book accounts of historical epidemics, descriptions of Russian cyber- and biowarfare capabilities, the story of the 1803 attempt to save the New World from smallpox, and other curious nonfiction set pieces. In writing the novel, he interviewed scientists, epidemiologists, government officials and military officers. His understanding of world affairs, Middle East gossip, politics and governmental ineptitude is exceptional."

Highly recommend this book!