In 2026, after Hume Parkerton, a controversial former National Institutes of Health director, is infected with a lethal, manufactured virus from an unknown source, the hunt is on. What gene-splices have been added to the virus to make it so lethal? Why was Parkerton singled out? Who was the genius who made it? When a cryptic letter arrives at NIH, is it meant to be a warning, a threat, or a billion-dollar shakedown?
Within the the FBI, NIH, Department of Homeland Security, and the White House there are those who race to find answers to difficult questions, while others in those same agencies are most interested in keeping the virus a secret from the public. After Parkerton's former research partner, Victor Luskin, subverts Parkerton's attempt to develop a vaccine for what has nearly killed him, Parkerton joins up with Manny Perehia, a street-smart blogger, to start their own search to solve the mystery, a search which leads Parkerton back to his complicated past.

Will those trying to unravel the mystery be able to find out who developed the virus and how to combat it before the virus spreads, and Americans, five years after battling one pandemic, begin to cry, "Not again!"