Pathogen 30 — Kevin Barry

Nurse Nikki Wharton dropped to her knees, pressed her palms together and said a silent prayer for the soul of Gloria Appleby. Nikki had always been devout in her faith. She believed that Mrs Appleby had gone to a better place. Her belief was profound and unshakeable, so for her to do otherwise was simply unthinkable. Although she couldn't possibly imagine why God was letting the people of Oreck suffer so, she felt sure there must be a reason. He was calling his children home to Heaven. Lots of them. As a young nurse she'd expected that with time, her heart would harden to the pain and suffering and death she was sure to witness, but that hadn't happened. How could anyone not have her heart broken by the sight of a loving husband loosing his new wife? Or by a child, a little boy barely out of nappies, his eyes burned blind by the alkalinity of the mucus his own body was producing? Or by a young woman, writhing and shaking uncontrollably as her nervous system overheated and her brain swelled, agonisingly crushed by the constraints of her skull. No one could get used to that. As she continued to pray, the memories of the past few weeks swirled around in her mind and a dark cloud of despair engulfed her. She squeezed her eyes shut to quell the tears and pleaded for it all to stop. Please stop. But she knew it would not. These terrible memories would haunt her for the rest of her life. Despite her best efforts she succumbed to the sadness which had threatened to overwhelm her. Tears forced their way to the surface and she collapsed onto the cold, hard floor of the crematorium and wept until she felt sure her heart would break. Pathogen 30, the latest novel by Australian author Kevin Barry, tells the story of Australian Army pilot John Randal and his battle to discover the cause of the mysterious virus which is devastating the population of the tiny community of Oreck Island. What is the truth behind the strange and deadly disease? Can it be stopped before the whole world is brought to the very edge of extinction? Also available by Kevin Barry A Murderous Addiction Innocent Until Proven Deadly The Psychopath Of Least Resistance And the Children's adventure story Charlotte and The Army Of Wolves.