October Mourning: A Novel of the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic

by James Rada Jr.

In the midst of a World War, the true enemy was unseen. It came with a handshake or a breath and it left behind 40 million dead. In October 1918, World War I was winding down, but the world had yet to face the deadliest killer known. Spanish Flu would devastate the world. In Cumberland, Maryland, Dr. Alan Keener, a young doctor fresh from medical school, suspects the flu has reached Allegany County. He wants to take steps to prevent its spread, but he is met with resistance from old-school doctors who believe that the flu’s deadliness is overblown and easily treated. They soon learn differently as the flu begins to spread throughout the county. No one is safe from its effects. A street preacher named Kolas aids the flu’s spread. During the delirium caused with his own bout with the flu, he believes he was anointed as the wrath of God and must spread to the flu to bring God’s retribution on the world. As Alan races along with other doctors trying to find some vaccine that works, he must deal with overwhelming sickness in the county. Nearly half of the residents have the flu and many are dying. Nurses and doctors are already in short supply because many are serv-ing in the war. It becomes a critical shortage now as many fall sick with the flu themselves and those left have a workload that would be overwhelming even if there had been no shortage. The fight becomes personal for Alan as his daughter and then his wife fall victim to the flu. Can he find a treatment to keep them alive or will they become one of the millions who are dying?

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

197 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 12, 2005

About the author

I am a multi-award-winning journalist and copywriter. I have also written a number of books, both fiction and nonfiction and plan to write even more. I work as a freelance writer in Gettysburg, PA, where I live with my wife and sons.

Reviews

[Staci Cahis · Rating 2 out of 5]

So the topic was interesting. The writing left something to be desired, chiefly an editor. It is highly distracting to me to find literary mistakes and this book is full of them! It was hard to get attached to any of the characters because there were so many and they had a tendency to disappear from the book fairly quickly. If you're looking for a good pandemic film to watch I recommend Contagion and if you're looking for a good pandemic book to read I recommend World War Z. The information in the last chapter that was based on facts was about the only part of this book I really enjoyed.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid Historical Fiction

I grew up in Cumberland, MD, so this book immediately grabbed my attention.

There are many lessons that we can learn from the 1918 pandemic.

This novel was written in 2006, but much of it is reminiscent of the world in 2020/2021.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting. A real example of how one virus killed a huge amount of people and not all that long ago - just 100 years this year. How some people died quickly, others hung on & eventually succumbed and still others who somehow survived......what makes the difference? Is it natural immunity, good care, early intervention? So many factors - like a medical mystery & medical detective story all in a short number of pages. Worth reading & remember to wash your hands......

[Brown Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Utterly depressing, but an interesting insight on what the Spanish flu period was like for the people. Have been looking into books written pre-covid, so that they aren't tainted with the current situation. There are surprisingly few of them, as it seems WW1 was the only thing worth documenting at the time.

[Dianne McMahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This fictional book about the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic, is one of the best that I have read about this subject, in a long while.
The characters were very believable & the book was at times,very fast paced,but also very sad.
The Great War was going on as well & most papers,filled the front pages with news of it,until the Flu reached Pandemic proportions.
The young Doctor Keeener, had just started working at the Hospital in Cumberland,had tried everything to get people to listen to what he thought would happen & when his young daughter passed away,some finally took notice.

His wife,also got the flu,was hospitalized twice,but finally her survival was assured & a new member of the Keener family arrived.
The street preacher will.surely catch your interest,he sure did mine & Cow,the good-hearted policeman is a winner.

Your fingers will fly through the pages,I read this in.one sitting."James Rada Jr" is a sensational author,this being just one of his many.

[Courtney Rainwater · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not For Me

I was disappointed in this book. It started out interesting, but once the character Kolas was introduced, it was a struggle to finish reading. This element of the book took away from the "historical non-fiction" that I was expecting. The plot and assorted characters were also hard to navigate. Unfortunately, it was not for me.

[Mary Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many of the practices are being used during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. Also interesting was the hysteria and conspiracy theories going around. History does indeed repeat itself. Could this virus get worse this fall?

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story about the influenza outbreak, but I did a lot of skimming through the extra stuff.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

In late 1918, World War I is winding down, but America’s major cities, like Boston and Philadelphia, are being decimated by Spanish Flu.

The disease hasn’t yet reached Columbia, Maryland, where Dr. Alan Keener, fresh out of medical school, treats a young mother named Sarah. She is feeling sick and feverish, classic flu symptoms, for which she is told to go home and rest. Sarah is found dead the next day, her lungs full of fluid.

The local authorities are reluctant to declare a health emergency over one death. They become convinced after the local death toll starts climbing, fast. All indoor gatherings are banned. Church services are moved outside. The local bars and taverns are forcibly closed. People start acting justifiably paranoid, afraid to leave their houses unless absolutely necessary. It becomes personal for Alan when his 5-year-old becomes one of the fatalities, and his wife almost joins her.

A traveling snake-oil salesman gets the flu, and during his flu-induced delirium, he believes that he is visited by an Angel of God. Mankind is being tested; he has been given the name of Kolas, and told to spread the disease as much as possible. Those who don’t die are the new Chosen of God. After nearly infecting Alan, Kolas is captured by the police, where he is "encouraged" to give up several samples of blood to be made into a vaccine. It helps to return things back to something approaching normal.

This is a very good, and very easy to read, novel about a famous, yet unknown, bit of 20th Century American history. While reading this book, in your mind, replace all mentions of "Spanish Flu" with "bird flu." Hmmm. . .

[Belinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the fictionalized story of the Spanish Flu in a small town in Maryland. It is told from the perspective of a young doctor who loses a child in the epidemic. It was good, as far as it went, however, the author could have done so much more with this story. He failed to follow some obvious story lines that would have made this a much stronger book.