The Fires of Midnight

Jon Land's 16th high tech thriller, released in December 1995.

"Infectious disease expert Dr. Susan Lyle has seen many bodies in her time. But nothing prepares her for the sight of seventeen hundred dead shoppers and employees at a suburban Massachusetts mall, all slain by some unknown but lethal and terrifying efficient bacterium. There are no survivors.

Who infected nearly two thousand innocent people, and, more important, how ? What can Dr.Lyle do to stop them from striking again ?

She teams up with Blaine McCracken, ex-CIA operative, in the search for answers. Hideously deformed cadavers and a missing teenage genius are their ownly leads. The chase takes them all the way down the eastern seaboard and across the country, and they soon realize they are not the only ones looking for the missing boy. A boy whose experiments have led to the creation of the first man-made plague. A whole new generation of biological weapons looms on the horizon and the scramble to gain control over it is furious. Should the wrong people put together the missing pieces of the puzzle, no one will be able to prevent the horrifying effect of The Fires of Midnight ."

And what do critics have to say ?

Kirkus Reviews - "...a zippy hardcover debut from the prolific Land.".

Publishers Weekly - "...Land makes his over-the-top hardcover debut...Land mixes his ingredients with a vigorous hand and cooks them at high heat, winding up with a zesty, if decidely non-nutritious, mind-snack."

Library Journal - "The action is riveting, the writing is sharp, and readers will not be disappointed with the dramatic climax in this novel..."

The Star Banner - "Hold on to your socks because Jon Land is about to knock them off.... It's chilling...Land takes a very serious subject and infuses it with enough excitement that no one will be able to put this one down. Start reading early in the day and make no plans because this is a page turner that has only one problem. It ends."

Rocky Mountain News - "Land's (novel) is an adroitly told and fast-paced thriller."

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