Author Ketan Desai is obviously very well-informed about the destructive capabilities of biological weapons, and uses his knowledge to construct a plausible, unique and fast-paced thriller that is at once absorbing and unsettling.

The premise of the book is that there are forces in the world able and eager to wreak havoc on humankind--and superior expertise and eternal vigilance are necessary to defeat them. The author uses the names of actual medical and political institutions to make his point. For example, some of the action takes place at the prestigious Mayo Clinic. There an American doctor with an inflated ego (not on the staff)is easy prey to flattery and consequent cooperation he later has serious cause to regret. The doctor's female assistant is a counterfoil whose quick thinking and equally fast action keep the international terrorists off balance. Desai makes evident the threat posed to humanity when superior scientific knowledge is coupled with mad fanaticism. In the end the reader is very glad "Germs of War" is fiction and not today's news release!