The Influenza Bomb

TSI: Time Scene Investigators #2

by Paul McCusker

Masses of people are dying from a mysterious flu. While the TSI team searches for a cure, a notorious eco-terrorist group,Return to Earth, uses an influenza bomb to poison the water. It’s a race against time—with the outcome impacting the entire world.

By the time the team discovers that the terrorists are using the water supply to infect people, the sickness is spreading worldwide and no one has a cure. When Return to Earth makes off with a mysterious device called the influenza bomb with the intent to destroy all of mankind, Dr. Hutchinson must stop the contamination from being spread before it’s too late.

Genres: Fiction, Christian Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary

448 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2010

About the author

Paul McCusker is a writer of many different kinds of things. You may know him from Adventures In Odyssey and Focus On The Family Radio Theatre. Or the Father Gilbert Mysteries. Or the Augustine Institute audio dramas Brother Francis: The Barefoot Saint of Assisi and The Trials of Saint Patrick. Or plays like The First Church of Pete's Garage and Catacombs. Or C.S. Lewis projects like The Chronicles of Narnia audio dramas or The Annotated Screwtape Letters. Or the film Beyond The Mask. Or lots of other dramas, novels, scripts and lyrics. He simply can't make up his mind what he likes to write.

Reviews

[Vera VB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Verschillende verhaallijnen in verschillende tijdsettings. Eerste wereldoorlog, tweede, tussenin, koude oorlog, nu. Je moet goed opletten waar je precies zit. Bovendien speelt het verhaal zich ook op verschillende plaatsen af, waarbij vooral Duitsland en Siberië het belangrijkst zijn.
Ergens in Siberië worden massaal mensen ziek. Niet alleen ziek, maar ze sterven ook snel en het percentage dat overleeft is klein. De WHO stuurt er iemand op af, maar het samenwerken met de russen verloopt stroef, om niet te zeggen dat er tegenwerking is.
Het virus is in het drinkwater gebracht, maar dat mag niet bekend worden want zal massale paniek veroorzaken. Maar er is al paniek, zeker wanneer het virus in andere grote steden uitbreekt.
Er moet een antivirus gevonden worden en snel. Bovendien moeten de dader tegengehouden worden voordat er van de mensheid helemaal niets meer overschiet.

Vermakelijk boek dat helemaal niet zo ver gezocht is. Wat ik gelezen heb kan allemaal zomaar gebeuren. Er zijn nog zoveel virussen waarvoor geen remedie is, door het kappen van het regenwoud weten we niet wat er nog allemaal vrij kan komen. De mensheid is soms toch meer mensdom.

[Anne Pak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read. Hits a little too close to home after the Covid pandemic! It was written a little dry for me (a lot of telling, not a lot of showing). There are a lot of characters and I couldn't always keep them straight, but the pacing was good, the interweaving of the story through the years was good, and it kept my interest. Fast read.

[Jolieg G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Met plezier gelezen... een "pageturner" vond ik het niet .. kon het ook gemakkelijk wegleggen ... maar het verhaal zit goed in elkaar.
Ben geen echter "thriller fan" dus waarschijnlijk zal iemand anders dit boek dan ook meer sterren geven.

[Alyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good sequel to the Gabon Virus. I really enjoyed the use of the Spanish Flu in the novel. It reminded me of the YouTube channel, Extra History, and their excellent series on the Spanish Flu.

[Angie Thompson · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at about 15%. Shaping up to be a very intriguing story, but I wasn't a fan of some crude comments/incidents in the historical part. Not for me.

[Terri Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read and very timely. It would make a great movie!

[Victor Gentile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul McCusker & Walt Larimore, MD in their new book, “The Influenza Bomb” Book Two in the Time Scene Investigators series published by Howard Books give us a thrill ride of epic proportions spanning the decades from 1918 to the present.

In 1918 and lasting for two years that was an outbreak of a particularly virulent strain of influenza that struck suddenly and spread swiftly. The authors suggest that it was terrorism by the German war machine that failed for reasons that they explain in the book. In World War II Hitler tries to reunite the scientists involved in that experiment to attempt it a second time. Now in our present time an ecoterrorist group known as “Return to Earth” is attempting to wipe out a large portion of humanity by reintroducing this virus which looks like H1N1

This book is a thriller as all the characters are in deadly danger in each of the time periods that are dealt with. This is not a science fiction story; no one is traveling through time-it is just a modern era team of scientists that have to learn from what has happened previously in order to deal effectively with the present era threat.

As I have already stated this book is a thrill ride. Information is coming to you in each time period and needs to be stored for future reference just like the scientists must. The team members are wonderfully fleshed out and we feel that we are with them as they go to the various countries trying to bring an end to this ecoterrorist threat. Once you get started you will not want to put it down and you won’t want to start it late because it will deprive you of your sleep. The Influenza Bomb is an informative story and you will be hard pressed to determine where fact and fiction separate. It is well worth your time to read this book; you will be glad you did

To listen to 24 Christian music please visit our internet radio station www.kingdomairwaves.org

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Howard Books. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[Nora St Laurent · Rating 5 out of 5]

We first met Mark Carlson and the TSI team (Time Scene Investigators) in the Gabon Virus. If you haven’t read this prequel to the Influenza Bomb, stop, step away from the Bomb book and click on the link below to order it. It is a fast paced thriller. That however is an entirely different review.

Assuming now that you are up to speed and have invested a sleepless night blistering through the pages of the Gabon Virus, let me tell you about the next treat in store for you from the word processors of Paul McCusker and Walt Larimore M.D.

The TSI Team and the WHO (World Health Organization) still haven’t fully recovered from their wrenching battle with the diabolical Return to Earth terrorist organization, whose goal is to eliminate all human life on the planet, expect maybe them. You know.
Susan Hutchinson, with WHO is call to Siberia when another illness begins killing thousands, suddenly, by what is soon identified as another terrorist attack with global, pandemic repercussions.

Personally I loved this book as much as the first in the series, and couldn’t put it down for long. It is hard charging and suspense filled with characters that have depth that you care about. Obviously there is a Time Scene involved with the story, and in this case we get to travel back to WWI on through WWII, where the Nazi leaders were experimenting with and launching germ warfare attacks against the Allied Armies. The historic recreations are realistic. You find yourself running to the computer to look up aspects. It is a fascinating work of fiction that involves Nazi hideouts, dastardly villains and new technology taken to frightening levels of abuse. I loved it!

Review by Fred St Laurent

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

Nora St. Laurent
The Book Club Network www.bookfun.org
The Book Club Network www.psalm516.blogspot.com
Book Fun Magazine www.bookfunmagazine.com

[Margaret Chind · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can you say whirlwind? This is the fastest that I have read a book in a long time, especially with AppleBlossom running around (yes that's right, my barely ten month old daughter is running...). I could not turn the pages fast enough. I could not find enough time to sit and read as long and as much as I craved to. Every time line, every plot was bam bam bam, give me more!!

Last August, I was able to experience the first book in the TSI (Time Scene Investigators) series The Gabon Virus: A Novel. I knew then that I wanted more and I was not disappointed with this second novel in The Influenza Bomb: A Novel. I was on the edge of my seat turning the page. I was terrified and excited. The characters are real and the enemies true evil, but perfectly appropriate to the mentalities of the world today in both our history and future.

Through out the story I was able to delve down deeply into conspiracies and myth surround the first and second Great World Wars as well as Hitler and his Nazi regime. The facts were fascinating and it was incredible how this team of authors worked the mystery into the medical drama. Without giving anything away, I'm sputtering for speech.

All and all, the best word for it, Love. I love this book, I love this series and I want more!

*Thanks to Rebeca Seitz of Glass Road PR and Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster for providing a copy for review.*

[Janie · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Influenza Bomb . . . and a bomb it was. But not in the sense the book was aiming.

In my quest to read-and-move-on the books from my shelves, I pulled this one off to add to my last beach trip. I had read another one by the same authors (The Gabon Virus) and fully expected to have difficulty getting into it like I did the other book. And yes, I did have trouble which may have come from me, the book, or both. But after one hundred pages, I put it in the abandoned category no matter whose "fault" it was.

As I read the pages I did, I was never pulled into the story, never curious, never intrigued. I had a little difficulty keeping things straight, but I'm sure that was the distraction of my surroundings at the time. One thing I did notice was the rather boring sentences. Whether that was due to structure, lack of good metaphor, or too simple of vocabulary, I decided I had wasted enough time trying to read this one. So, off it goes. I really think a young person might find this much more enjoyable than I did.

I was drawn to this book and The Gabon Virus for two reasons. One was the medical-mystery subject matter, and the other was the writers. Primary author McCusker wrote many of the Adventure in Odyssey audio scripts that we listened to with our children who adored them. I had read secondary author Larimore's Bryson City books years ago as a beach read. They were so-so and definitely simple reads. Combined, I think McCusker might be better suited to audio scripts than print ones. Maybe an audio of these books would have been more interesting but no audio has been made.

[Christy Trever · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Influenza Bomb by Paul McCusker & Walt Larimore is the second book in the TSI (Time Scene Investigators) series. When an outbreak of influenza hits Siberia, with an incredibly high transmission and fatality rate, Dr. Susan Hutchinson from WHO (World Health Organization) is called in to investigate. Once on the scene she realizes that the symptoms are the same as in the 1918 Spanish Flu crisis, and she calls in TSI to help find a cure. The team soon discovers that the eco-terrorist group Return to Earth plans to use the illness to wipe humanity off the face of the earth, so groups are sent to Siberia, London, and Germany in hopes of tracking down information from the 1918 epidemic, WWII when it popped up again as a weapon of the Nazis and put the pieces together in order to save the world. There are a lot of characters and different storylines in this novel, but the authors juggle them handily, keeping the tension high. There are also a couple of romances brewing between different team members. The authors do a great job of creating drama not only with the illness and romance, but also with the posturing and territorialism of all the different agencies working on the case. The details of the illness are terrifyingly plausible, and I will never look at bubble wrap the same way. It's a thrilling ride that keeps the pages flying as the action escalates.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This character rich book is so well-written and the plot is so thickly entwined within the pages of this novel that I am hard-pressed to give you a synopsis without spoiling it! The gist of the story is that there is a flu outbreak in modern day Russia. Scientists from the World Health Organization are called in to not only identify the virus, but also find a cure. Throw in some former Nazi's, international travel, the fate of the world as we know it, some terrorists, and a bit of romance and you get the gist of Influenza Bomb.
I cannot say enough about this book. WOW! I received it on Tuesday and I finished it Wednesday. I could not put it down! This book tag teams between the original scientists who suspected that Hitler was working on germ warfare and the modern-day scientists who are dealing with the possible fallout from the prior experimentation. Even so, the book was not at all disjointed and the storyline was fulid. I appreciate the authors’ attention to detail. The Influenza Bomb was jam-packed with fight scenes, scuffles and inter-agency tension. Imagine the tension that radiates from asking agencies such as the U.S. Army, Interpol and the World Health Organization to coordinate and you can understand why this book is a page turner. I give this book 5 stars and recommend it to any fiction lover!

[Jeff Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good one from McCusker and Larimore. This is the second in a series about the TSI (time scene investigators) team in their quest to solve modern medical emergencies by using clues from the past. Fast paced and hooks you from the first chapter. If you like medical mysteries, thrillers and/or suspense, you will like this book. It is also Christian fiction, and delivers a good message about forgiveness. From the back cover: Masses of people are dying from a mysterious flu. While the TSI team searches for a cure, a notorious eco-terrorist group, Return to Earth, uses an influenza bomb to poison the water. It's a race against time--with the outcome impacting the entire world.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

History holds many secrets that could make present day very dangerous, and the future questionable. This is a fast paced, twisty plot moving between the time of the Nazis to present day Eco-terrorists. It just makes you wonder...who would think up something like "death by influenza bomb?" Creative extermination of the human race, indeed.

[Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wat een fantastische triller! Knap bedacht, adembenemend om te lezen, ik ging er met een sneltreinvaart doorheen. Verrassing van de maand januari 2017 denk ik (al is die nog maar net begonnen). Erg goed, ik wil meer boeken van deze serie maar helaas vind ik nergens of er nog een deel geschreven gaat worden. Het eind van het boek is zo dat dat wel zou kunnen.....

[Ginny Purvis · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay. Never really developed like I was hoping it would. I doubt I will go back and read the predecessor to this book.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My husband and I were reading this book at the same time. A thriller about espionage, the Spanish flu, relationships... . At times it was hard to put the book down.

[Valorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story-line. But lots of names to keep up with.

[Cherie Parks · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sequel as exciting as the first

A thriller going back and forth between modern day and mid twentieth century. And now, I eagerly await the third.