Bookshelf
UNNATURAL SELECTION
A Lotte Keene Novel
2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award
Quarterfinalist
Pitch:
Deep in the heart of the Thunder Peak Wilderness, a poacher takes aim at a bull elk. Before his finger squeezes the trigger home, he suffers a massive stroke. In the National Science Foundation’s Rocky Mountain situation room in Boulder, CO, virus hunter Lotte Keene witnesses the death on her BIOSAT-7 satellite feed display. For the second time in her career, Lotte sees the strange phenomenon. Against protocol, she goes to Longwood, WY. Her radical theories and unconventional methods have undermined her reputation and alienated colleagues. In Longwood, she soon finds clues identical to a still unsolved die-off ten years earlier in Porto De Moz, Brazil. Her every instinct races with conviction that she is about to discover a difficult truth.
Keene determines that the lethal agent originates in the spores of the Astaeus hygrometricus mushroom, supporting her ‘genetic doomsday’ theory, which suggests that Nature evolves defenses against unnatural threat to it. The speed of this adaptation suggests either a corruption of Natural Law or criminal intervention.
For her boss at the CDC, Lotte’s breach is insubordination. For Longwood residents, this is encroachment. For environmental activists, this is validation of their zealotry. For the White House, it is a political catastrophe. For America’s elite intelligence apparatus, it is terrorism. And for Longwood doctor Ben McCandle, this challenges everything he thinks he knows about medical science. Before high altitude winds can spread the mushroom’s lethal particles across the country and kill millions, Keene must solve the mystery of this corruption of Nature’s Laws.
The ‘Arapaho Stroke,’ as locals call it, defies science, religion, and common sense. Diagnosing it and saving its victims will take passion, insight, stubbornness and healthy disrespect for authority. Perfect for Lotte Keene, who has the inconvenient habit of being right.
Lotte Keene, Epidemiologist, is about to rewrite the rules of bio-genetic science.
UPDATE:
Lotte Keene is a fascinating character who always seems to be 2-3 steps ahead of me on the page. To ensure that she makes the strongest possible start in this series, I am including several new details in this thriller that Lotte recently pointed out. Watch this space for more news about forthcoming Lotte Keene novels.
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SAINT
Modern Science… Ancient Mystery
In a biogenetic laboratory in California, a scientist injects his own DNA into a test subject — and discovers that human knowledge and memories can be absorbed on a molecular level.
In the Vatican in Rome, the Pope makes a crucial secret decision in the name of science and God — to loan the human remains of Saint Peter for DNA research.
SAINT
For Dr. Andrew Shepard it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a chance to revive the genetic code of a long-dead saint in a living human subject.
For the world’s religious leaders, it is nothing short of a miracle, a chance to resurrect the memories of an apostle … and hear first-hand the teachings of Jesus.
The experiment is successful. A miracle is reborn. Yet soon the mystery deepens. The resurrected Peter has escaped on a desperate journey to Rome. And unknown powers have sent an assassin to silence him.
Click here to read sample chapters…
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Short Fiction by Mark Bailey…
Like many writers, I have boxes and drawers full of short stories, and almost as many rejection letters from editors and publishers.
As a test of concept here on the Blog, here are a few samples of my work. Based on responses, I will publish more.
Katey Hoagland
In the aftermath of tragedy on the rugged Maine coast, the widow Katey Hoagland and Boothbay’s chaplain discover a moment of what Herman Melville called the ‘ungraspable phantom’ of life.
Katey Hoagland is short dramatic fiction in the tradition of Jorge Luis Borges, Michael Ondaatje and Ron Hanson. Length: 1,200 words.
Voice of a Midsummer Night
Who really knows where passion leaves off and obsession begins? Anything can happen. In Voice of a Midsummer Night, Paris Finn hears a voice no one else can hear.
Voice of a Midsummer Night is dramatic fiction in the tradition of O. Henry, Fitzgerald, and Ondaatje. Length: 3,000 words.
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Who wrote it?
Mark Bailey is the author of the novel SAINT. He is an award-winning screenwriter and copywriter, and the writer of television specials including, Hollywood Gets MADD and Public Figures, Private Moments, among others. He is also the writer & director of coverage of America’s Cup 1987, which attracted the largest non-Olympics worldwide television audience in history.
This is his weblog.
Where can I read it?
Do you have a Kindle? An iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Droid, Blackberry?
Voice of a Midsummer Night is available for download on Kindle for .99 cents via Amazon.
How about a sample?
Absolutely. You can get a brief sample of Katey Hoagland right now.
How about e-Pub? Soon. This test of my stories on Kindle will help determine what other formats to offer. Let me know your preference.
The 2.99 cent price seems a fair download price for a work of short fiction to enjoy.
Thanks for your interest.