Anomaly

by Jason Fischer, Steven Savile

Book 2 in the Viral Novella series. Each book is stand-alone with a Viral theme.

Nook

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Jason Fischer is a writer who lives near Adelaide, South Australia.  He has received a starred review in Publishers Weekly, won an Aurealis Award and the Writers of the Future Contest, and received the Colin Thiele Literature Scholarship. Jason is also a workshop faciliator, enthusiastic mentor, and a lover of anything to do with the written or spoken word.

Jason is also the co-founder and CEO of Spectrum Writing, a creative service for autistic/neurodiverse people. He is powered by Earl Grey tea, Dungeons & Dragons, godawful puns, karaoke, and the Oxford Comma.

Reviews

[Frank Errington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felix Koehler is the administrator at the Ifo refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya. He used to be a senior official at the Robert Koch Institute, in charge of investigative epidemiology, but that was another life and two years ago.

Refugees and staff are dying of Cholera. It's an epidemic with a much higher death rate among the vaccinated, even among those with the booster shot.

Once Felix discovers the truth, his life is on the line. His only ally is Hank Strait, a U. S. Marshall. As they race to get away and make the information public, they can't trust anyone. Local authorities are on the take, the CIA seems to be involved and their only hope seems to lie in getting out of Kenya and to the German consulate in Somalia.

Anomaly is book 2 in the Viral series of Novellas and suffers from a similar issue I had with the first one, -30-. Although, the writing is good, there are just way to many loose ends. I also hoped that the 2nd Novella would tie in more with the first one, even though they've been promoted as stand-alone stories. It's almost, as if, a word count is reached and the authors are in a hurry to come to a conclusion.

[Mark Webb · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Viral novella series is a collection of four novella length stories, all based around the theme of viral warfare. The four stories are only loosely connected together, each acting as an almost stand alone treatment of the topic. The series is anchored by author Steven Savile, who is co-author of all four stories. Along with Savile, the stories are co-authored by:


- -30- (VIRAL #1) - Keith R. A. DeCandido (when journalist Joe Lombardo is fed information by an old source about the CIA using immunisation programs as a cover for searching for terrorists, he has to decide whether to publish the story and cause untold damage to the reputation of immunisation. Of course, the CIA hired team of assassins on his trail make it difficult to think clearly).
- Anomaly - Jason Fischer (a doctor overseeing a vaccination program in Africa discovers a CIA plot to use the vaccines to infect people to cause disruption to the African Union).
- Viral: Martyrs - Jordan Ellinger (a local Pakistani doctor does a deal that allows him to run a free inoculation program, while the CIA uses DNA taken from patients to track down a dangerous terrorist).
- The Call - Alex Black (Nikolas, a veteran CIA agent, hunts a Taliban commander potentially in possession of a weapon of mass destruction).

I read this series because I've liked the work of one of the authors (Jason Fischer - an Australian speculative fiction author).

Each of the stories in the series felt a little rushed, but I did think the four stories complemented each other well, making the series a good one to read together. The theme of immunisation programs used as a cover for more nefarious secret agent purposes, and the possible consequences, was pushed hard and a little repetitively in each story, although Anomaly used a sufficiently different take on the subject to be interesting.

The writing was consistent, especially considering the number of authors involved. I probably preferred Anomaly, but then I've liked Fischer's writing for a while. Anyone who can find a way to use the line "If it's good enough for David Hasslehoff, it's good enough for me" in a story has my vote. The tension in the each of the stories was sustained and the action was credible.

I think the series would have been stronger if the stories were interlinked more, forming a more cohesive overarching storyline. I suspect this would have been possible with a relatively small amount of additional work - the stories were grouped fairly closely in terms of subject matter. Regardless I enjoyed all four stories individually.

A credible series of modern thrillers, each of which could have legitimately longer pieces in their own right.

Note: the series was provided to me at no cost by Jason Fischer, one of the authors.

I also reviewed this book on my website.

[S.B. Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anomaly is the second book in the “Viral” novella series that features the writing talents of Steven Savile with different up-and-comers from around the world.

Anomaly features Australian speculative fiction writer Jason Fischer.

The series is loosely linked, with events mentioned in one book, having an effect on the others. Anomaly is the first in the series I have read.

Cool covers
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I must say that this is one series where the cover sold me. If it hadn’t been co-written by Jason I would have wanted to review it anyway, for some reason the cover just reached out to me.

So kudos to the cover artist.

The Lowdown
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This novella is set in Africa- Dadaab, Kenya initially. Felix Koehler is a disgraced epidemiologist on personal mission of penance. He is working in the largest refugee camp in the world, his predecessor murdered after having succumb to graft and corruption.

He fights the good fight, helping manage outbreaks of disease, monitoring and dispensing vaccinations. Only, they aren’t working as they should, statistical analysis reveals shocking mortality rates and Felix begins to suspect something untoward is happening.

As Felix begins to put the pieces of a horrific puzzle together, so do the conspirators and what is one man’s life when you would happily kill hundreds or thousands?

This could have been a novel
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and I think it would have received 4 stars or more from me. Jason(who normally writes Science Fiction/ Horror) and Steven have turned out a very nice thriller. The equal in skill and tone of any of the good thriller writers out there today Eisler, Childs, or Finder.

They give us a gritty, well realised Dadaab:

Felix Koehler looked out through the scratched perspex, watching the bleak landscape roll past. Empty plains baked beneath the sun, and a pick-up loaded with twitchy gunmen drove ahead of the UNHCR bus.

This close to Somalia, aid workers were snatched, ransomed if they were lucky. Dead the moment something went wrong.

…..

The volunteers came to Kenya, and then they went home, but Felix Koehler stayed. As the bus passed through the gates and into the Ifo Refugee Camp, he braced himself for the familiar sights. A city of tents, rag domes and slum shacks littering the dustbowl landscape in the thousands. Tin ablution blocks, and here and there camp infrastructure, health posts and camp reception. The line-up for water stretched into the thousands, and people waited for up to two days to reach the head of the line.

and believable characters in Felix and Dr Valdez. The pacing is a good thriller writing, "always raising the stakes and moving the action on" style.

I was enthralled, invested in the characters and then… it was time to wrap it up. The end felt rushed and all too easy. I don’t know what sort of restraints Steven and Jason had to work under, but I think the story suffered for it in this instance.

Perhaps the story works better as part of the whole?

Still a worthwhile and entertaining read, but I wanted more of the characters and more of the story.

Anytime Jason and Steven want to write a full blown thriller I am in.



Note: This book was provided to me by the author at no cost.