When I first began to read this ARC from Net Galley what intrigued me was that it was a medical thriller. When I finished I was convinced I was in a parallel situation like our current pandemic. I kept saying to myself how did this writer know all these things and how much they related to today's troubles? It is almost predictive in its grasp of our ongoing situation.

Dr. Henry Parsons, (think Dr. Anthony Fauci which is what I immediately did) is an infectious disease specialist with the CDC and is assigned the task of finding out what it is and how to stop it. Is this biological terrorism or more a natural pandemic?

Although the book meanders in certain places I don't think the faint of heart would want to read this until prevailing news moves to something more cheerful. It is an interesting read, you will learn a lot about viruses. Maybe more than you want to know.

This book will be released later this month. How appropriate.

Well, that was terrifying.

Very well written and researched, and an all-around fascinating story. My only nit to pick is the extended timeline in which the story takes place. A date at the top of each chapter would help with the jumps ahead, which were sometimes days, weeks, or months.

Why would I be reading a piece of fiction about a killer pandemic gripping the world in the middle of a real life nightmare terrorizing the world? First, because it is written by Lawrence Wright, a journalist of exceptional skill who is best known for chronicling the rise of al-Qaeda and the glide path to 9/11. Second, because I thought it might give me some insight into what we are going through right now. Both reasons turned out to be justified. Wright's tale of how a virus known as Kongoli is launched by pilgrims at the Hajj in Saudi Arabia is a bit like reading an early script for the tragedy now encircling the globe.Eerily, such concepts as "attack rate" and social distancing -- now part of our everyday lexicon -- appear in this book. I suppose there is some perverse consolation in that Kongoli makes Covid-19 seem like hay fever by comparison. And Wright introduces a significant geopolitical factor into his story, summoning all the history of biowarfare and experimentation with pathogens. So what might seem like literary masochism actually turned out to be helpful, if not anything like soothing. Wright's prescience is remarkable, but one can't help thinking that it was never a matter of 'if' with our pandemic, only when.

When Henry Parson, a noted epidemiologist travels to Indonesia to investigate an outbreak of a devastating virus, he is exposed to a deadly virus that threatens the global population. This book has interesting information regarding past pandemics and illustrates many of the current experiences happening with the current COVID-19 pandemic.

From the publisher: In this riveting medical thriller–from the Pulitzer Prize winner and best-selling author–Dr. Henry Parsons, an unlikely but appealing hero, races to find the origins and cure of a mysterious new killer virus as it brings the world to its knees.

I’m stuck at home during a global pandemic and what do I choose to read? A thriller about a global pandemic. But it’s good one, so believable and so filled with facts and scenarios that have come/are coming true.

The first two thirds of the book is really great. I would say I couldn’t put it down but I did in fact have to put it down because while I wanted to keep reading it was also ramping up my anxiety in this time of Covid-19. The last third devolves into a Hollywood thriller, and I fully expect to watch the movie version of the book one day.

The main character, Henry Parsons, suffered rickets as a child and has health issues and a limp. Think of him as a young Dr. Fauci, a leading expert on emerging diseases. He has a worried wife and young children who want him to come home, but he is called to travel all over the world as the threat grows.

As I read The End of October I kept thinking of Donald Trump saying “Nobody knew there’d be a pandemic or an epidemic of this proportion.” People knew. LOTS of people knew. Lawrence Wright knew, and everyone he talked to researching this book knew.

The End of October does feel really well researched. I don’t know when it was written, but clearly well before the Covid-19 crisis arrived, and yet so much of what happens in the book has happened in real life – right down to the TP hoarding – or COULD happen in real life.

Fortunately, the crisis in the book is much worse than the one we are currently experiencing (and let’s hope it stays that way). It’s also a bird flu, which as a birder made me very unhappy. Both domesticated and wild birds are slaughtered in the book. There are some twisty plot twists that remind you this is a book and not real life, but nothing seemed too outlandish. The end is sad but satisfying.

It’s possible I was more engaged by this book now than I would have been at a different time. Still, if you love medical thrillers, I definitely recommend The End of October.

I read an advance reader copy of The End of October. It is scheduled to be published in April 2020, and the Galesburg Public Library will have it in regular print and large print and as an ebook. Thank you to Alfred A. Knopf, Penguin Random House, and Baker & Taylor for the advance reader's edition.

From the opening paragraph, I was gripped by timely piece. Delving deep into the pathology and biology of a virus, its timely relevance is captivating. as well as relatable. All one can do is hope that once the tale crosses over into "jumping the shark" status, that the conclusion is purely fiction.

The End of October is a thriller following the medical, human, and geopolitical fallout with the spread of a new virus strain. The timing of the publication of this novel is uncanny! (during 2020 Coronavirus outbreak)

I'm impressed by the level of scientific detail as well as the corresponding geopolitical dilemmas. I couldn't put it down! With thrillers, I don't often think about a particular novel much after reading it, but I keep thinking about what I would do if this situation actually happened and how my community would fare. Overall, a top-notch page-turner. Thank you Net Galley for providing me with an advanced reader.

This is a contagion thriller, written by Lawrence Wright.

What this means is that it is intelligent, well written, exciting, and presented in a way that is all too believable.
Henry Parsons is a microbiologist, and epidemiologist who is sent by the World Health Organization to evaluate an outbreak of acute hemorrhagic fever in an internment camp for gay men in Indonesia. Indonesia's prejudice against LGBT people has already let the situation go on for too long, He's still in discovery mode when the disease makes a huge jump via his driver in Jakarta, who leaves to go to Mecca on Hajj.

Imagine millions of people in one small area, praying together, performing rituals, When the Hajj is over, those infected people will spread out all over the globe when they return home. Henry teams with a Saudi prince who is a also an epidemiologist. They know the only thing they can do is try to keep everyone in Mecca until the disease burns itself off. You can imagine how this goes, and what happens afterward makes for tense, terrifying reading.

Making an epidemiologist the central character seems to make a narrative a little stiff. There will be a lot of medical explanation, and no matter how well it is presented, it is what it is. Henry is a pretty practical guy, not young, not handsome, with a limp, but he does a lot of heroic flying all over the place that would put anyone into a jetlag coma. You like him, but you can't really care about him. He is superhuman, despite his unassuming demeanor.

What the character of Henry does do is give us access to the upper working of medical and governmental agencies while they grapple with what has been unleashed. Not pretty, and perhaps the most frightening of all.

"The End of October" is a quality thriller, and all too possible. Wash your hands frequently--it's about all we can do.

Thanks to Knopf and Netgalley for this review copy.
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