by Hank Parker
To my supportive and helpful colleagues at the Georgetown University Medical Center’s Department of Microbiology and Immunology, especially Richard Calderone and Len Rosenthal, and to the exceedingly bright and endlessly curious graduate students in my Agroterrorism course. I learn far more from them than they learn from me.
To the dedicated scientists and other professionals at the United States Department of Agriculture who work unstintingly in support of the nation’s food and agriculture and who so willingly share their knowledge with others. I am especially grateful to Floyd Horn, former administrator of USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. Floyd brought me into the agency and stimulated my interest in helping to protect the U.S. agriculture sector from deliberate attacks.
To many writing friends and associates who took the time to read the manuscript and offer valuable feedback and suggestions. I am profoundly grateful to Laura Oliver, a terrific writer, writing instructor, editor, and friend. Laura was a champion from the beginning and generously offered immensely valuable advice and perspective. I am also grateful to Susan Moger, another accomplished writer, writing instructor, and friend, and to Catherine Adams of Inkslinger Editing for their early reviews of the manuscript and excellent suggestions. While living in Annapolis, Maryland, I had the great fortune to join a writing group whose talented members not only were very helpful in offering substantive critiques of an initial draft of the novel, but who also became good friends. These include Charles Ota Heller, Karen Cain, and Marilyn Recknor. I also greatly appreciate the careful reading, constructive feedback, and strong encouragement from Mark Willen and Steve Berberich, members of the Novel Exchange Group of the Maryland Writers’ Association.
To friends and immediate and extended family members who graciously and (I think) willingly read earlier drafts of the novel, offered very helpful, often surprising insights and suggestions, and/or comprised an enthusiastic support group. These include Charley and Pat Appleton; Cindy and Chris Delano; Vicki Duncan; Tally and John Garfield; Bill Mathers; Shane Merz; Tecla Murphy; Tom and Deborah Neal; Vern and Dorothy Penner; and Jim and Sharon Seymour; as well as my wife, Sue Parker; my mother, Ruth Parker; my siblings, Tony Parker, Steve Parker, and Ann Lonbay and her husband Jules; my sons and daughters-in-law, James and Tanya Parker and John and Lindsay Parker; and my cousin, Marion Myers.
And above all to my wife, Sue, who, at one time or another, has read or listened to virtually every word of every draft of the novel. She has done so with enthusiasm, a keen ear, incisive comments and suggestions, and, most important, with constant support and love. I owe her more than she can ever know.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Courtesy of the author
Hank Parker is an adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Medical Center. He has been a U.S. Naval officer and deep-sea salvage diver; a seaweed farmer in the southern Philippines; a co-leader of an expedition that discovered and recovered remains of a Spanish Manila galleon; a research manager at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where he helped lead programs to protect United States food and agriculture; a consultant on homeland security; and a professor of marine science. Containment is his first novel.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 by Henry S. Parker
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First Touchstone hardcover edition January 2017
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Name: Parker, Hank, author. Title: Containment : a thriller / Hank Parker. Description: New York : Touchstone, 2017. | Includes glossary. Identifiers: LCCN 2016013229 (print) | LCCN 2016026485 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501136443 (hardback) |ISBN 9781501136450 (paperback) | ISBN 9781501136474 (Ebook). Subjects: LCSH: Epidemiologists—Fiction. | United States. Central Intelligence Agency—Officials and employees—Fiction. | Government investigators—Fiction. | Bioterrorism—Fiction. | Conspiracies—Fiction. | Epidemics—Fiction. | BISAC: FICTION / Suspense. | FICTION / Technological. | GSAFD: Suspense fiction. Classification: LCC PS3616.A7448 C66 2017 (print) | LCC PS3616.A7448 (ebook)| DDC 813/.6—dc23. LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016013229.
ISBN 978-1-5011-3644-3
ISBN 978-1-5011-3647-4 (ebook)
