FLEE (A NomaD Thriller Book 2)

When the world breaks out in another pandemic, this one called RF-51, people start panicking. On top of this deadly disease spreading, the Federal government has declared a bounty on those who are infected, also known as “redheads.” Carriers start off with red hands, with the redness spreading to other parts of their body. It is unknown where the disease came from. Although the bounty is the government’s way of trying to round up the infected and control the spread of the disease, it also creates chaos as people are trying to find redheads and kidnap them to claim the bounty—$50,000 alive, $25,000 dead.

When Claire Ferreti, CEO of The General Williams Foundation, a company backed by billions dedicated to clearing land mines throughout the world, and ex-Army sniper, becomes infected, her partner Damon, aka Nomad, knows he must get her out of town and hide her as well as find out if there is a cure for the disease and weed out any fake news about what is known about RF-51.

The chapters in FLEE (A Nomad Thriller Book 2)alternate from the points of view of Damon and a journalist from Alaska named Jonny Munch. Both men are led to follow Dr. Ronald Roff, whose most recent work was “simulating social behavior with the goal of predicting the spread of difficult-to-treat diseases.” Damon and Jonny show up at WHO’s Emergency-51 conference, where Dr. Roff is the keynote speaker, his presentation being about managing large populations with Predictive AI.

Author Joe Klingler does a fantastic job of creating intricate characters who move all over the globe in this exciting techno-thriller. His integration of true world events brings an element of reality to his story and will make readers think, “What if?” As characters are introduced into the lives of Damon and Jonny along the way, readers will question whether or not these characters can be trusted. The motives of the secondary characters are unknown at first, which creates an interesting element of surprise as true colors are revealed. The action scenes are few in this book but are exciting, with international spies, monstrously powerful motorcycles, Berettas and sniper rifles, and Damon’s supercomputers Maxx and Minn who help to navigate Claire.

After experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic, readers will truly appreciate and relate to the severity of a global virus as they read FLEE. Klingler’s writing is descriptive and informative and will paint a picture in his readers’ minds of the messy behind-the-scenes events that occur when the world is in a state of panic. Thrilling, suspenseful, and interesting from cover to cover, fans of techno-thrillers will devour this one.