Rainer Rey's Blog

Independent Labs

Recent revelations regarding the unregulated shipments of anthrax, and an article in USA Today which points out the lack of government oversight regarding biochemical labs across the United States, once more begs the question as to why this lack of oversight exists. My novel Replicator Run poses the question in other ways, by giving a fictionalized version of the disastrous effects non-regulation can have. The irony of that discussion is that I first published the book in its original rendition with Ballantine in 1997 - eighteen years ago - at a time when I thought I was bringing this topic to some level of public consciousness. What I read in USA Today made it clear that nothing has changed. In my interviews on TV discussing the book's topic at that time, I had reminded interviewers that the work being done in independent labs was virtually unknown and therefore potentially dangerous. It apparently still is, and therefore a subject of some interest in the press, and also in the pages of Replicator Run.

Replicator Run

Those of you who have been fascinated with disaster stories over the last couple of decades are probably familiar with the "virus" phenomenon, in which stories about outbreaks have become a genre unto themselves. Replicator Run, my first novel, published in 1997 was among the first in that genre, paralleling the non-fiction book The Hot Zone, the movie Outbreak and Stephen King's The Stand. The Ebola virus had made a few appearances in Africa at that time, as it has now with a very recent reappearance in Nigeria, but what few people realize is the short list of equally deadly viruses that occur and then disappear every few years. What Replicator Run again brings to the forum in its freshly reedited version is the enduring concept of a virus engineered to do a great deal more damage than its natural counterparts - an eventuality which is constantly a topic of conversation in the Department of Defense. You might want to try on a fresh new disaster in my newly invigorated thriller Replicator Run, even at the cost of having a few sleepless nights.

Error corrected

I am informed that as of this weekend the Kindle file of Cosmosis has been updated and is correct, for those of you who might have been waiting for the error to be rectified. Best, Rainer Rey

Kindle Mis-steps

I have been made aware by review and fans alike that the Kindle Version of Cosmosis sold by Amazon has some typographical errors, which is not the case with the paperback version. The publisher has been notified and presumably this Kindle version will be replaced with the correct edition asap. To those of you who were affected by this mistake, I apologize for the distraction. Sincerely, Rainer Rey