Brooke L. French

Arriving on the heels of the COVID-19 pandemic, THE CAROLINA VARIANT gave me a serious case of the chills that were difficult to shake off. Atlanta is under siege by a horrific and deadly virus, and the key to survival is locked within the memory of Tess Oliver, a struggling young attorney whose fledgling law practice is on the verge of bankruptcy. The story is a hair-raising blend of bioterrorism, political intrigue, and good old-fashioned amateur detective work, plus a spark of romance to counterbalance the gravity of the plot. A tense and eerily realistic page-turner.… (más)

I received a copy of The Carolina Variant by Brooke L. French in a LibraryThing Early Reviewers giveaway. This is a very good book along the lines of the scientific thrillers by Robin Cook and Michael Crichton. If you are into scientific thrillers, I recommend you try this book.

The story is set in Atlanta, GA and a Marburg outbreak. The introduction is a description of the initial underground testing of the Marburg virus. You are then introduced to a lawyer who is trying to collect money owed to an elderly couple and comes across a large document in a safe deposit box during seizure of assets related to a real estate fraud scheme the scientist is involved in. The scientist is then killed in a small plane crash where one of the vials of the Marburg virus is broken. This is the start of the outbreak. The CDC and military get involved with understanding the outbreak of the virus and the control of the spread. The story is fairly fast paced and has plenty of conflicts/relationships between the various parties to the outbreak and subsequent control. I don’t want to tell more, because I would be spoiling several of the twists and turns in the plot.… (más)

Tess's ability to relive memories is intriguing. It definitely does come in handy for solving cases. I did form a connection with Tess. The plot of this story is scary; especially after the pandemic. Because it is not that far off to imagine what was happening in this story could be "real".

When it came to Tess and Luke as a couple, I was not personally feeling it. I felt like the story did not really need a romantic angle. In addition, that I did not connection with Luke like I did Tess. The pacing of this story was another thing as I found the intensity went in waves. I can't always remember what I read. Overall, though, I did like this book and would give this author another try.… (más)