Cook, Robin
After a young
seemingly healthy woman collapses suddenly on the NYC subway and dies by the time she reaches the hospital
her case is initially chalked up to a virulent strain of influenza. That is
until she ends up on Dr. Jack Stapleton's autopsy table
where Jack discovers something eerily fishy: First
that the young woman has had a heart transplant
and second
that her DNA matches that of the transplanted heart. Strangely
two more incidences of young people with this same sudden and rapid illness follow
and Jack fears that this could be the start of an unprecedented pandemic. But the facts aren't adding up. Something is off about these cases
something creepy
and only Jack can figure it out before it's too late. Thus begins a race against time
during which Jack unveils the dark underbelly of the organ-transplant market. His name is Bui Zhao
a businessman and hospital board member who has been cheating the system by using organs and cells from chimeric pigs
via the gene-editing biotechnology CRISPER/CAS9
which allows pig genes to be inserted into living human cells. In a climactic mortal showdown
Jack must face Zhao
the megalomaniac willing to risk the fate of the world to purse his commercial interests
if he wants to save the future of medicine.