Toxicon-14
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Alex dropped the phone to the floor and just stood there, his face turning an ashen hue, almost totally devoid of color. Jake picked it up, gave it back to his friend, then helped him over to the bed. He pushed him into a sitting position while Alex continued to act as if he were in a trance. "Jesus, what happened, Alex? Is it Tommy?" Alex looked at him with tears filling his eyes. "He's dead, Jake. My son is dead." Jake took the phone. "Doctor, this is Jake Dunnock, a friend of Mr. Alexander's. Can you please tell me what happened?" "As I told Mr. Alexander, his son was apparently exposed to a lethal dose of smoke from a very serious tire fire. His previous asthmatic condition seems to have weakened his respiratory system to the point where he couldn't deal with the resulting trauma" "I see," Jake said, already beginning to hurt for his friend. "And the former Mrs. Alexander, how is she doing?" "As you might expect, Mrs. Alexander was extremely upset. We wanted to give her a sedative, but she refused. My nurse is looking for her now, but she seems to have left the hospital." "All right, we're presently located just south of Albany. Just tell me how to get there and we'll come right down." Jake got the directions from Dr. Rogers, helped the still shaken Alex out to the car and took off. For most of the ride, Alex just stared straight ahead, looking at nothing and saying nothing. Finally, when they finally came off the Taconic State Parkway and then headed south on county Route 22, he suddenly said, quickly, though still staring straight ahead at nothing in particular, "It doesn't add up, Jake. Makes no sense." "What, Alex?" "This whole thing. If that plant was a mile away from the house, Tommy shouldn't be dead, no matter how thick the smoke was." Jake reached over and gave his friend a reassuring pat on the leg. "You know as well as I do that freaky things can sometimes happen, especially with a mix of smoke, rubber tires, and chemicals. The doctor also said that Tommy's asthma had weakened his respiratory system." "Asthma, bullsh--," Alex said, quickly, the animation returning to his voice. "Tommy's asthma has been inactive for more than two years. I was told personally that he suffered no permanent damage. Uh, uh. It wasn't the asthma that caused this. It was something else." "Okay, okay," Jake said. "We'll get to the bottom of it. But first things first. Let's see what they have to say and make sure Melissa is all right."
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
It all begins innocently enough when a stubborn fire at a tire recycling plant in a small, upstate New York town results in the death of a seven-year-old boy living a mile away. This seemingly innocuous little story takes a sudden twist when the boy's grief-stricken father arrives. Damon Alexander is part of the agency for Select Environmental Tactical Analysis. SETA is a government group with the job of monitoring environmental problems – both natural and man made – all over the world. Calling upon his SETA training and well honed instincts, "Alex" quickly concludes that there is no logical reason that inhaling the smoke from the fire should have killed his son. Though told by his colleagues to take an extended vacation, he begins his own investigation into the source of the fire, an investigation that will ultimately lead him into an ever-widening circle of conspiracy, treachery, deception, and danger, as well as a race against time to stop the execution of a plan that could put the entire population of the greater New York area in mortal danger. Aided by his longtime SETA partner, Jake Dunnock, Alex uses every resource he can muster to seek a potentially devastating chemical weapon thought long destroyed after its experimental use in the Vietnam War. Along the way, he calls in a debt owed him by a powerful mob boss, uncovers new evidence about death of a prominent politician decades earlier, discovers a web of corruption in a well-respected major American corporation, and learns that operatives of a deposed foreign government, thought to be out of existence, are active once again. This is a story that could easily happen in today's world, where the elements of politics, greed, and the lust for power are all put into an explosive caldron that is already sizzling with the deadly ToxiCon-14.
About the Author
Bill Gutman has written more than 200 books for children and adults in a writing career stretching over thirty years. He has written biographies of many well-known sports stars, the most recent being of former Giants, Patriots, and Jets coach Bill Parcells. In addition, he has also published six juvenile novels and is working on a book about people who participate in high-risk, extreme sports. Wayne Tanner has had a life filled with study, travel, teaching, and much practical business experience. He has spent years traveling extensively in Europe and Asia, is a voracious reader, and is currently working to earn a doctorate in business administration and finance. In addition to ToxiCon-14, he has also collaborated with Bill Gutman on several nonfiction projects.