Beyond These Woods

In a research situation room in Boulder, CO, virus hunter Lotte Keene witnesses the death of a hunter on her BIOSAT-7 satellite feed display. For the second time in her career, Lotte sees the phenomenon of Nature fighting back against those who abuse it. Her radical theories and unconventional methods have undermined her reputation and alienated colleagues. Her every instinct races with conviction that she is about to discover a difficult truth. Against protocol, she goes to Longwood,...
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In a research situation room in Boulder, CO, virus hunter Lotte Keene witnesses the death of a hunter on her BIOSAT-7 satellite feed display. For the second time in her career, Lotte sees the phenomenon of Nature fighting back against those who abuse it. Her radical theories and unconventional methods have undermined her reputation and alienated colleagues. Her every instinct races with conviction that she is about to discover a difficult truth. Against protocol, she goes to Longwood, CA, where she finds clues identical to a still unsolved die-off three weeks earlier in Itimarati, Brazil. Keene determines that the lethal agent originates in the spores of the Astraeus hygrometricus mushroom, supporting her Genetic Doomsday theory. The speed of the mushroom's adaptation suggests either a corruption of Natural Law or criminal intervention. For her boss at the CDC, Lotte's breach is insubordination. For Longwood residents, it is encroachment. For environmental activists, it is validation of their zealotry. For the White House, it is a political disaster. For America's elite intelligence apparatus, it is terrorism. And for Longwood doctor Ben McCandle, Lotte challenges everything he thinks he knows about medical science. Before high altitude winds can spread the mushroom's lethal spores across the country and kill millions, Keene must solve the mystery of this corruption of Nature's laws. The 'Ahwahnee Stroke,' as locals call it, defies science, religion, and common sense. Defeating it will take passion, insight, stubbornness, and healthy disrespect for authority. The perfect challenge for Lotte Keene, who has the inconvenient habit of being right. Lotte Keene, Epidemiologist. She is about to rewrite the rules of biogenetic science and cross the thin red, white and blue line that defines the balance between American principal and power.