The Anthrax Protocol: A Dystopian Viral Pandemic Thriller

by James M. Thompson

It Kills Slowly…In an excavation site in Mexico, a team of archeologists uncovers the lost tomb of Montezuma--and a deadly strain of anthrax as ancient as the Biblical plagues. One by one, the team falls violently ill, bleeding from their eyes and ears before succumbing to a slow, painful death. Whatever was buried with the Aztec chief is still active, infectious--and now airborne…It Spreads Quickly…In Austin, a young archeologist listens to the dying words of her mentor in Mexico--a warning to quarantine the site before all hell breaks loose. In Atlanta, the CDC's Dr. Mason Williams leads an emergency squad on a life-or-death mission--into the hot zone. At Fort Detrick, an army officer sends a trained team to secure the anthrax--as a biological weapon. But time is running out. The disease is spreading rapidly across the border, into the airports, and across the globe, killing thousands. With no cure, no vaccine, and no way to contain it, there will be no hope for humanity--to survive…

Genres: Thriller, Horror, Mystery, Fiction

388 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 23, 2016

About the author

James M. Thompson was born and raised in Houston, Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Austin and Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Thompson practiced family medicine and surgery in Corpus Christi, Texas for 25 years, then retired in 1999 to write full-time. Now he splits his time between Rockport, Texas and North Waterford, Maine with wife, Terri, and their dogs, Captain MacTavish and Shuggie, and loves to hear from his readers.

Reviews

[Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

MY BLOG: Melissa Martin's Reading List

There are a group of archaeologists who are down in Tlateloco who have found Montezuma's tomb, unfortunately for them, they have also found the curse of Montezuma (or so they say) in a rare or old form of Anthrax.



The Mexican government calls in the CDC so they can try to figure out what is going on after all of the Americans and some of the Mexican workers die a horrible death!

The CDC shows up with Mason Williams heading up the team and they also bring Dr. Lauren Sullivan to identify the students and her old mentor. She does not want to be there and she is in bad shape seeing all of these people that she knew.

At some point we find out some jerks in the government want to get samples of this new/old disease and use it against other countries etc. There is always some jerks doing stuff they don't need to do!

The CDC crew find a boy that has been hanging around their area and he's not effected by the disease. He's just walking around like nothing! It ends up him and his whole tribe who has remained hidden from the world have knowledge about what is going on. He's a cool kid and I like him.

Oh, and another idiot gets hold of something from the site, leaves the country and spreads it all over creation and back! I mean, what part of "SHITE FROM THIS SITE WILL KILL YOU DON'T PEOPLE UNDERSTAND!" Okay, so it never said this idiot knew about the deadly disease before they got hold of the treasure so I will let that one slide. :-)

And there is a spy in the area, that's all I can say about that and it gets taken care of.

Also, Lauren and Mason start having feelings for each other when they get to spend time with each other in the hazmat box <--- that's what I call their little set up where they study stuff and sleep without getting germs, etc.

When they are traveling somewhere to get some knowledge on a cure, they have a little down time to get their love on. It's not as bad as it sounds, I mean your thinking, who has time for that when people are dying left and right. Let's just say it all worked out at bath time!

Eventually, they get the cure and it all works out, there is even a happy ending for Mason and Lauren. I liked their characters too, they were really nice people.

*I would like to thank Kensington Books for a free print copy of this book in exchange for my honest review through The Reading Room.*

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

My wife and I read the book parallel and we discussed several aspects.

The first part was an excellent mix of information and entertainment.
I rate the first part of the book with five stars.

The second part of the book was a big disappointment. A superfluous love story and solutions like miracles dropped the reading pleasure a lot. It seemed the author used a kind of construction kit consisting if known parts from similar books/films.
I rate the second part with two stars.

As it is not possible to rate the book with 3.5 stars and the tendency is more to three than to four stars, the final rating is three stars.

[Ruthie Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ancient strain of Anthrax unleashed on the world is scary enough, but crazy characters wanting to exploit it for their own so-called patriotism and greed take it to an even more terrifying level.

The Anthrax Protocol's overall plot is chilling, with a large cast of characters (good guys, bad guys, and a whole lot of innocent bystanders), but the writing is sometimes choppy. Fortunately, just before the halfway mark, all hell breaks loose. The pace picks up speed, and the antagonism spreads as fast as the Anthrax. The budding romance between Mason and Lauren is a bit kooky and fits more with a Harlequin Romance than a pandemic thriller.

The story has a lot of medical and scientific jargon, but it's only a mild distraction and easy to navigate. The ending is wrapped up in tidy segments, so some surprises and maybe some additional information on the pandemic's global effects and aftermath would be nice.

The Anthrax Protocol is a fast-paced thriller with a definite and frightening ring of possibility in today's world.

Note: I read an advanced electronic "uncorrected proof," so I'm guessing the final edition will get another round of editing before publication.

[Bookish_predator · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars.

Huge thanks to James Thompson, Kensington Books and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

A deadly plague, a team of people from the CDC, an evil General, a band of mercenaries and a trek through the jungle, just what you need on a cold day to help you decide not to go to the jungle just in case you get anthrax!

I enjoyed the action and science of the book, solving the mystery and trying to find a cure, well rounded characters and a good story.

A couple of members of the team were hardly mentioned which I thought was a shame, they could've been padded out more and I wasn't a fan of the romance, it felt shoehorned in, like the author was saying 'I'm not sure what to do here so I'll throw in some romance and an ill advised sex scene in a river, there, that's better'.

Other than that I really enjoyed it.

[Stephanie White · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://bookreviewsandknittycreations...

[Aiyana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book a good deal more than I did. I love medical thrillers, and I loved the idea of archaeologists uncovering an ancient plague.

Honestly, it would be much better as a film. Someone in Hollywood ought to look at turning it into a screenplay. It's got a lot of good visuals.

Unfortunately, I didn't find the writing compelling, and beyond the medical and archaeological stuff, a lot of the details and characters didn't come across as believable. A plague of the proportions mentioned here would throw the world into the sort of hysterical chaos that wouldn't be solved by anything so simple as merely finding a cure, and it's unlikely that the people in the midst of it would be busy having romantic affairs. There's also a bit too much of locals who only speak/understand English when the plot requires it.

It's probably a fun thriller to read if you turn your brain off a bit, but I wasn't able to turn mine off enough.

[Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this book. Got it as a free book from Kobo and this is any indication will not buy a book from this author. It was campy, with sex and romance thrown in for good measure. Although the name of all the medical and biological tests as well as the instrumentation were correct, it did not explain or "teach" anything or enlightened any one. Unfortunately it was a miss for me.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Reading about an airborne pathogen and the repercussions as it travelled the world during a global pandemic was interesting and relevant. The story itself was good but the dialogue was so stilted. The characters said each others’ names too often and just the general tone when they spoke or thought was unbelievable.

[j]

I love a good medical thriller but cringe when mistakes are made with basic biology. No editor? Bacteria have no nucleus and only one chromosome. I could go on as there were more mistakes. I assigned the chapter to my students to “find the mistakes”! But I enjoyed the story overall!!

[Tikri /Letitia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this medical thriller of archaeologists uncovering an ancient strain of Anthrax. The idea of it being unleashed on the world is scary enough, but government officers wanting to use it for patriotism and greed is chillingly believable post covid.

[Kat (Ginger Bibliophile on YouTube) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too technical at times and the romance felt completely contrived and pointless, but otherwise I enjoyed it and will be looking for more by this author. I’ll do a proper review on my YouTube channel soon.

[Edward Ingram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating

This book kept me spellbound. I loved the unique plot twist. It's very well written. I do not hesitate to recommend it.

[Joel Wong · Rating 2 out of 5]

It has many disappointing moments where the writing simply collapses and the story is patchy

[Tamie Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could not finish the book. It didn’t capture/keep my attention.

[Nancy Hetzke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just the thing to read during a COVID pandemic.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was weird to think about, the plot was good though. Liked the pacing of the book

[Lorrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway.

I'm always up for a good mystery/thriller, but this one had me scratching my head (more because of the writing rather than the content).

My biggest complaint is all the vast tracts of information dumped on us in huge portions. It comes across like the author is telling the reader 'hey, look at all this scientific mumbo-jumbo, ain't I smart?' Most of the time almost all this information is completely superfluous to the story, and could be cut and not be missed. Along the same lines is the fact that 90% of this scientific mumbo-jumbo needed to be put into layman's terms, ESPECIALLY when the scientists weren't talking to each other. You don't get extra brownie points for making some stuff practically impossible for even readers of above average intelligence to understand.

I have one word on second person PoV... EEW. Here's four more on the subject: Just. Don't. Do. It.

And what's the deal with the random Indian (Aztecan? Native? I really don't know what the correct thing to call him would be) kid that is immune to the anthrax? Every scene he's in makes me want to shake me head (or throw the book at the wall in frustration) when the author tries (and in most cases fails miserably) to try to get across this is someone with little to no contact with the outside world. Sometimes he knows too much for stuff to be believable. Sometimes he knows too little for stuff to be believable. But I can say one thing for certain - there is no way he would have taken the monkey collar is he believed in the old ways as it is made out that he does. One, he'd be terrified of some sort of curse. Two, someone from such a remote village wouldn't be so prone to avarice (unless there's a very very good reason) because chances are the currency is next to useless in his village. Give me a reason why is important to him to make this money and I'll believe it. But until then, it's just a really crappy (and lazy) plot point to get a carrier of the anthrax into the general population.

There is nothing I hate more than an author ignoring specific facts that they had deliberately set out at one point in the book (in one of the famous info-dumps that I detest), and then completely ignore 100 pages later. In this instance, is regarding the Racal suits. It's made very clear when they're putting them on for the first time and taking them off for the first time that it's a two person job because all the zips are stuff are on the back or in places that are hard to reach, coupled with everything needing to be duct-taped once sealed. Note fast forward to the morning of day 2 on the site, and Mason mysteriously is able to suit up and get working in the lab without waiting for someone else or waking them up. You can't have it both ways. Either it's a two person job or it's not. I realize this is a small nitpick, but it was something I picked up on right away, and it made me put the book down.

Now, I've never seen what a mobile level 4 biosafety unit would look like inside (would be cool to walk through one someday though), but I've got little nitpicks here too. I'm imagining the thing as a large shipping container that's been modified. Taking these dimensions into account, I'm having real issues with the whole sleeping on cots thing. Wouldn't bunks be a WAY more efficient way of utilizing space?

One thing that bothered me a lot about this book is that whenever we jumped into the head of a non-doctor, they STILL described things in the same way that a doctor would. The average person isn't going to say (or think) that there was mucosa in the sink. They're going to call it crud or snot or something less, well, clinical than mucosa. It's imperative as a writer to know how the person whose head you're in at the moment would think or talk, and not how the narrator or the author themselves would talk.

The romance portions of the book are completely out of place, and seem add if they were thrown in at the last minute with no clear thought to how they affected or fit in with the main plot. Honestly, the story is no better for their presence, so IMHO should never have made it into the final edits at all.

Overall, I kind of feel let down by this book. How the disease was spread could have been handled much better than it was. Trying to make the book appeal to women by adding an unnecessary romantic aspect was a mistake, because it made the plot weaker instead of stronger. Killing the two main evil guys at the end seemed way took much of a cop out, even though the reason behind it sort of makes sense -- but it's really hard to reconcile a global epidemic of this size happening and the people who could have potentially answered for it get the East way out leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Received via NetGalley and Kensington Books in exchange for an completely unbiased review.
Also posted on Silk & Serif

Lauren is woken in the middle of the night to a phone call from her mentor and friend who is dying of mysterious causes. While opening a tomb in Mexico the team contracted a horrific illness with a one hundred percent mortality rate. He urges her to contact the authorities and to never come to Mexico where she will meet certain death. However, Lauren is no wilting flower and joins the CDC Wildfire team, lead by sexy Dr Mason Williams, to identify the dead crew and help understand the plague that is quickly becoming a world wide pandemic. Mason and Lauren must search for a cure for an ancient and very deadly plague that could destroy civilization without any back up while up against a power crazed military official, mercenaries and time itself. 

When I saw The Anthrax Protocol I had to immediately request it. A novel about killer diseases, elite CDC plague hunters and Mathew Reilly level action? Count me in! I was overwhelmed to see the email appear in my inbox, alerting me that I was about the delve into a wonderful world of medical jargon, mystery and over the top action. Hallelujah!

However, my excitement was short lived. I began reading The Anthrax Protocol and I couldn't immerse myself completely in the narrative. The characters fell flat. The over explanation of remedial terms like CDC (Center of Disease Control for neophytes) and hot zones was a bit annoying. I mean, it WAS the first few chapters and maybe I'm just such a huge immunology nerd that these terms aren't as "common place" as I assumed..I don't know. Anyway, I plodded through the info dumps, character background information and poorly executed dialogue to be left feeling unsure about this title. 

Unfortunately, things fell apart for me where the characters were concerned with too similar personalities or the use of "cookie cutter" typologies instead of complex individuals. I was annoyed by the fact that everyone found Lauren and Mason super sexy and irresistible. Having an entire Naval ship wanting to jump Lauren's bones? It was a bit much. The macho hero getting the "hot" anthropologist made me want throw my e-reader in the garbage. It just didn't work for me. 

The Anthrax Protocol had it's strengths as well and I definitely want to give credit where it is due. The plot itself was stellar with plenty of action, interesting side lines and devious bad guys. The whole novel felt like like a Jack West Jr novel with medical intrigue thrown into the mix. I think the rush to find a cure for mysterious illness was the best part of the entire novel and solely resulted in the two star rating. The author has a flair or wonderful storytelling and strong action scenes, but he needs beta reading to strengthen his character building and develop more realistic character interactions.

This book will appeal to readers who enjoy medical dramas, action novels, over the top action scenes and plenty of unique story building. The Anthrax Protocol will not disappoint readers looking for adrenaline fuelled novels with hot main characters and movie-esque scenes. 

[Zippergirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

When it was good, it was very, very good.

It's something of a three for one here, Hot Zone meets Sgt. Rock meets any rom-com starring Meg Ryan. Oh, I left out the archaeological setting, deep in the jungles of Mexico where the long lost tomb of Montezuma has been opened, to catastrophic effect. There's also a conspiracy that reaches up to the highest levels of government and the military complex. If all this sounds like a romp, go for it.

I'm thinking this would make a popular movie, not because it's new, but because it has a little bit for everyone. Which might be where its weakness lies. You have world class doctors, both MDs and PhDs who are wise-cracking and acting out of character, (um, daydreaming about the hunky CDC team leader while being pursued by ruthless killers) while the human race is on the brink of extinction via an unknown (see book title) biological agent. And military leaders who are dumber than a bag of hammers. And good guys who are really bad guys, and vice versa.

Watch for some strange similes; "as dangerous as a cobra in heat," factual errors like "Grant's . . . march across Georgia." (Sherman's march to the sea, perhaps?) and repetitive quips, like "kick some ass, and take some names."

Good fun and easy on the eyes, this book will entertain you with its mile-a-minute action, and likeable characters (even the thugs are kind of lovable.) Grab some popcorn and settle in, it's a Stallone movie in a book.

As a fan of Hot Zone storylines, (not zombie plagues, thank you very much) I was happy to receive The Athrax Protocol from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Won this book through a GoodReads give away by the author and KensingtonBooks.com. So far have found this a very detailed and interesting story.

Have mixed feelings about this book. As someone else pointed out this book has two halves. When I started reading it Andromeda Strain came to mind; moving quickly, fast paced sequence of events, unexpected turns and detailed reactions to contain/stop. Have to admit I really enjoyed it. The second half, while necessary to wrap up the story and provide background, lost some of the fun and adventure. One reviewed cited the sexual aspects as a detriment to the second half story. I half way agree however believe it is more the writing was clumsy when it came to the personal interaction - it felt unreal and forced. That aside, even though the story flow wasn't as natural still felt the story was good and the characters that needed to get their due in one way or another got what they deserved. The one thing that left me unsatisfied is towards the end really felt I was reading something written with a movie in mind, that isn't an indictment as I enjoyed the book even though I felt parts were handled unrealistically and did not always add to the story.

[cdf4206gmail.com · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway.

I won't go into the summary of the book, as it has been sufficiently described in many other reviews. Considering what has gone on with the Ebola scare and now the Zika Virus, this was a great read to understand what can actually happen under such horrific circumstances.

There's a lot of scientific jargon, which I had to gloss over, but the plot is really very exciting and how the plague spreads so quickly is downright scary. That part of the book was very fast paced and exciting.

I enjoyed the three main characters, the archaeologist, the scientist, and the native boy. I thought on the whole, they were nicely developed. The romance part of the book, in my opinion, actually diminished the doctor's characters and their dedication to finding a cure for the plague. Totally too fluffy for this kind of a thriller. And it is a thriller. What started out as a really fast paced thriller, sort of whimpered to a conclusion as the author tied up the loose ends.

Another reviewer mentioned this would make a good movie and I totally agree

This is a fast paced, enjoyable read.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Please note: I received this book as part of the Goodreads giveaway program. Thompson takes the reader into the interesting world of an archaeological dig in Mexico that has inadvertently unleashed an unknown form of anthrax that has wiped out all the people at the dig. The CDC "Wildfire Team" led by Dr. Mason Williams must work together with Dr. Lauren Sullivan, a colleague of the archeologist who led the dig, to find out what has caused the deaths and to stop the anthrax from becoming the next Black Plague. Unknown to them both, there is a spy in their midst who is working to get this killer bug into the hands of those who would like to use it as a weapon of destruction in their fight against the enemy. Superstition, history, information on the work of the CDC, and political machinations all work together to keep the reader interested. The weakest part of this story for me was the love story angle, which seemed unlikely, and added nothing to an otherwise interesting tale.

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goodreads Advance Uncorrected Proof Win

During an excavation site in Mexico, archaeologists finds the lost tomb of Montezuma which sets out a deadly anthrax which kills off the team slowly and painfully. Now whatever was buried with the king is airbourne and seeking revenge.

A young archaeologist finds herself at the site to identify her mentor’s body and his warning to quarantine the site before things get worse as she is also accompanied by a CDC doctor to investigate the situation. Not known to the m that they have government company who wants the anthrax as a biological weapon and kill them as well.

It is a race of time as these two must find a possible clue to help save the world in a case of an outbreak. Will they survive the jungle and the bad men after their information? A quick pace adventure for readers.

[Brittany · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from Goodreads/ the author for an honest review.* Unfortunately, I could not get into this book. The writing is very good and very detailed. It was just a lot to take in. I feel like so much was going on especially with all the characters that there were. I know that sounds weird because the book is basically about chaos. But I just couldn't get into it. From the beginning I could tell I wasn't going to. But me being an avid reader I did give it a fair shot for quite a few pages before I put it away. I won't be picking it up in the future. The book honestly just wasn't for me, but I encourage anyone to try it and see what they think. 'Cause the book topic is interesting and I know others would enjoy it regardless of my own feelings.

[Conny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book through NetGalley in exchange for a review, which I am happy to provide. I have always been fascinated with the medical thrillers genre and so I was super happy when I got this book and it had my undivided attention right from the beginning. It had plenty of suspense, drama and action, likable and complex characters, awesome bad guys, and a race against time to find a cure. There even was a little time for a budding and believable romance, while being chased through the jungle. I would love to see more books with those characters, and this will be one of those books that I am happy read more than once.

[Cora · Rating 5 out of 5]

The world of epidemiology fascinates me, and I love reading about viral and bacterial outbreaks. The Anthrax Protocol was not an exception! When a team of archaeologists die after unsealing Montezuma's tomb (the doomed Aztec emperor), they swiftly succumb to a plague unlike anything seen in modern times. It is up to a team of scientists from the CDC to isolate the cause of the outbreak and develop a cure before the pathogen breaks through the quarantine. This novel was fast paced and steady. Thompson kept me engaged as I followed the scientists in their race against time. I whole-heartedly recommend this book!

Note: received this book through netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

[Nettie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book from NeyGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book started out brilliantly and for thr most part, continued that way. The story was gripping and the characters were well written. But at times the unnecessary repetition was so irritating. Yes it was already mentioned several times that two characters are attracted to each other, no need to mention it everytime they talk to each other. Also,a character hasnt been mentioned in two or three pages so lets rehash their whole history. I know those are minor things but they really got to me.

[Amy Madill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this as a giveaway on Goodreads from Kensington Books and I did end up enjoying it. After a slow start (and many, MANY character introductions and descriptions), the plot picked up and started to intrigue me. You definitely need a bit of microbiology and pathology understanding to appreciate this read as it is largely based on an unknown pathogen, its release, and its eventual spread. I found a few parts to be far-fetched or corny. The Anthrax Protocol would not top my recommendation list - it was good, but not great.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as a goodreads giveaway winner

Overall I really enjoyed the book. It was exciting, interesting characters, and you were invested in the outcome by the end. At times I did find the writing slightly choppy and some of the details repetitive (backgrounds being explained more times than necessary, full names being used everytime a character was gone for a bit, etc), but still a very enjoyable read that I would definitely recommend to others.

[Andy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a copy of The Anthrax Protocol via Goodreads giveaway.

Archaeologists open an ancient Aztec tomb, a virulent as anything strain of anthrax is released, lots of people die, a military officer wants samples of the disease agent to use as a weapon.

Lots of exposition, some interesting characters. It's not bad, but you won't remember reading it a year from now.

Gaming utility: Some. The scenario is useful idea fodder.