The Virus

2016 Colorado Humanities for the Book Finalist

2016 Book Pipeline Competition Semifinalist. "[Ms. Diller created] a taut, well-paced narrative that not only meets the expectations of the genre, but comes across as stylistically sound."

2015 Silver Medal EVVY award for Literary and Contemporary fiction from Colorado Independent Publishers Association

A smallpox epidemic begins in a whisper with a single death, and then the name of the victim surfaces: Abdulaziz al-Sherhi. In a nation rich in imagination, this name requires none at all. In the weeks that follow, the epidemic fears crescendo into a national roar. People panic about dying from this horrific terrorist incited disease and clamor for a vaccination. The federal government lurches along, hurriedly creating more vaccines to meet the demand. Maggie Rider, a weary road warrior for a high tech company, submits to the shot only to realize this is no ordinary immunization. Her husband, Eddy, posts his suspicions about this deeply sinister government requirement to his web site. Now he's a target. And Maggie is the bait.

The technology is real. Washington is corrupt. It's only a matter of time before this isn't just an intriguing idea for a political thriller.

Janelle Diller