The C title I chose for the Bookbag is my most recent read, in that I’m not technically finished reading it. My Kindle says I’m 87% finished and OH GOD HOW DOES IT END?? HOW??

Sorry. I’ll pull myself together.

The next book in the Bookbag is Crow Vector by Lou Cadle.

Crow Vector is a pandemic story, a genre I happen to be a sucker for. This one is different from others I’ve read in that instead of going through the story with a victim or survivor, we experience it with a brilliant CDC epidemiologist named Glenn Stevens. He’s the first to discover a deadly pathogen that has a higher mortality rate than any he’s seen, one that eventually leads to mass graves and deserted streets in the good ol’ US of A.

I’ll admit that the “professional” side of the pandemic story took some getting used to, but as a science nerd, I quickly warmed up to the premise. We see how Glenn’s personality and relationships are affected by the disease and his efforts to combat it, and when he partners with an FBI agent working in terrorism investigations, we get a back-stage perspective of how possible bio-terrorism is handled. And while all the technical details and thought processes are there, we don’t miss out on Glenn’s internal conflicts that arise from the massive external one.

As he checked his room one last time for anything he might have missed packing, Glenn hoped that he had this right, that the cell vaccine facility was the target. If he had guessed wrong, if he had missed the real attack of Phase II, something else would happen somewhere else, and it might cost millions more lives.

He wasn’t sure how he’d be able to bear the burden of that.

As a side note, Cadle takes advantage of Glenn’s meetings with political leaders to throw some clever shade. It was an oddly uplifting tangent that made me want to fist-bump the author.

Other books in my Bookbag: Catching Fire, The City of Ember, Contact Us

What C titles are in your Bookbag?