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Sign up todayChild Zero
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Learn moreFrom molecular biologist turned Anthony Award-winning author of The Killing Kind comes a fact-based thriller in the vein of Michael Crichton about our species’ next great existential threat.
It began four years ago with a worldwide uptick of bacterial infections: meningitis in Frankfurt, cholera in Johannesburg, tuberculosis in New Delhi. Although the outbreaks spread aggressively and proved impervious to our drugs of last resort, public health officials initially dismissed them as unrelated.
They were wrong. Antibiotic resistance soon roiled across the globe. Diseases long thought beaten came surging back. The death toll skyrocketed. Then New York City was ravaged by the most heinous act of bioterror the world had ever seen, perpetrated by a new brand of extremist bent on pushing humanity to extinction.
Detective Jacob Gibson, who lost his wife in the 8/17 attack, is home caring for his sick daughter when his partner summons him to a sprawling shantytown in Central Park, the apparent site of a mass murder. Jake is startled to discover that, despite a life of abject squalor, the victims died in perfect health—and his only hope of finding answers is a twelve-year-old boy on the run from some very dangerous men.
Chris Holm is the author of the cross-genre Collector trilogy, the Michael Hendricks thrillers, and thirty-odd short stories in a variety of genres. His work has been selected for The Best American Mystery Stories, named a New York Times Editors' Choice, appeared on more than fifty year's best lists, and won a number of awards, including the 2016 Anthony Award for Best Novel. He lives in Portland, Maine.
Reviews
“CHILD ZERO gave me nightmares – in the best possible way. Chris Holm offers a terrifying and convincing glimpse into the future that may well await us, while at the same time telling a deeply compelling story full of heart and, despite all the odds, hope. I couldn’t put this one down.”—Lou Berney, New York Times-bestselling author of NOVEMBER ROAD "CHILD ZERO is a tour de force, beautifully written and hauntingly relevant. Chris Holm has given us a powerful and chilling near-future thriller with a breakneck pace in the best tradition of Michael Crichton's novels and Max Brooks' WORLD WAR Z."—Matthew Quirk, New York Times-bestselling author of THE 500 and THE NIGHT AGENT “CHILD ZERO moves like no other novel I’ve read lately, with Chris Holm’s gripping writing delivering a story whose thrills come as much from its plausibility as from its twists and surprises. A deeply moral cautionary tale, set in a credible future we should be afraid to let happen.”—Matt Bell, author of APPLESEED "A chilling vision of the future that would make Michael Crichton proud. Like the best speculative fiction, Holm doesn’t offer an easy out. An airtight, propulsive thriller, CHILD ZERO just keeps turning the screws past the breaking point. Exactly my kind of book!"—Matthew FitzSimmons, bestselling author of CONSTANCE and the Gibson Vaughn books "Terrific... a terrifying, all-too-plausible thriller in the Michael Crichton tradition... a white-knuckle tear through the streets of a New York laid waste by pandemics of the future. I lost a lot of sleep over this book, even after I finished reading it."—Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of JUDGMENT “CHILD ZERO is a thriller that truly thrills! With warp-speed pacing and frightening medical details, it offers a terrifying look at a world gone mad and the possible plagues to come.”—Tess Gerritsen, New York Times-bestselling author of LISTEN TO ME "Intense, propulsive, provocative - and shot through with the kind of been-there, done-that authenticity and expertise that makes it really scary.... Highly recommended."
—Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author of BETTER OFF DEAD Expand reviews