The King of Plagues (50 page)

Authors: Jonathan Maberry

As Joe Ledger’s biographer (ahem) I rely heavily on the brilliance, insight, experience, and patience of a variety of experts. Thanks to Dr. John Cmar of the Infectious Disease Department of Johns Hopkins University Hospital; Dr. Steve A. Yetiv, professor of political science, Old Dominion University; Dr A. M. Dodson, FSA, Research and Teaching Fellow, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology of the University of Bristol; Dr. Pawel Liberski of the Department of Molecular Pathology and Neuropathology, Medical University of Lodz, Poland; Philadelphia police officer Bob Clark; the men of the 1/111th Infantry Battalion–Recon Platoon, with Thirty-sixth Brigade–Iraqi Army Recon; Marie O’Connell, Jackie Szambelak, and Dr. Barry Getzoff; Michael Sicilia of the California Homeland Security Exercise and Education Program; Walt Stenning, Ph.D., former head of psychology at Texas A&M University; Michael E. Witzgall; Ken Coluzzi, chief of Lower Makefield, Pennsylvania, police department; the International Thriller Writers; authors David Morrell, Gayle Lynds, Sandra Brown, John Gilstrap, Jason Pinter, and Eric Van Lustbader; George Schiro, M.S., consulting forensic scientist; Greg Dagnan, CSI/Police/Investigations Faculty–Criminal Justice Department, Missouri Southern State University; Peter Lukacs, M.D.; Ted Krimmel, SERT; and Suzanne Rosin, winner of the “Name Joe Ledger’s Dog” contest.

And special thanks to Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Michael De Luca, and Matthew Snyder; Fran and Randy Kirsch, Charlie and Gina Miller, Arthur Mensch, Sam West-Mensch, and Greg Schauer; Geoff Strauss; Nancy Keim-Comley, Janice Gable Bashman, and Tiffany Schmidt; and Rachel Stockley and Ian Graham.

And, of course, Michael Homler, Joe Goldschein, Matthew Shear, and Nadea Mina at St. Martin’s Griffin and my agents, Sara Crowe and Harvey Klinger.

And to the wonderful staff at the Starbucks in Southampton, where much of this book was written (yes, I do believe I’ll have a refill).

Also by Jonathan Maberry

Fiction

Rot & Ruin
The Dragon Factory
Patient Zero
Ghost Road Blues
Dead Man’s Song
Bad Moon Rising
The Wolfman

Nonfiction

Wanted Undead or Alive
Vampire Universe
The Cryptopedia
Zombie CSU
They Bite!

Praise for
The Dragon Factory

“While Joe has announced his retirement, eager readers can look forward to one more volume in this humorous, over-the-top cross-genre trilogy.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“This is like a video game on steroids mixed with
The Island of Dr. Moreau.
Maberry has done an excellent job of ratcheting up the action while downplaying the ick factor that sometimes runs through his earlier books. Expect this straight-ahead thriller to hook action-crazed readers and inspire them both to seek out the first Ledger book and eagerly anticipate the next installment.”

—
Booklist

Praise for
Patient Zero

“Plenty of man-to-zombie combat … a fast and furious read.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“An enjoyable read … hard to set down.”

—
Fangoria

“Heated, violent, and furious … as palatable as your favorite flavor of ice cream. A memorable book.”

—Peter Straub,
New York Times
bestselling author

“
Night of the Living Dead
meets Michael Crichton.”

—Joseph Finder,
New York Times
bestselling
author of
Power Play

“Joe Ledger and the DMS have my vote as the team to beat when combating terrorist threats on a grand scale!”

—David Morrell,
New York Times
bestselling author of
First Blood
and
Creepers

“Brilliant … it puts the terror back in terrorist.”

—James Rollins,
New York Times
bestselling
author of
The Judas Strain

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

www.stmartins.com

eISBN 9781429966894

First eBook Edition : March 2011

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Maberry, Jonathan.

The king of plagues : a Joe Ledger novel / Jonathan Maberry.—1st ed.

p. cm.

ISBN 978-0-312-38250-6

1. Secret societies—Fiction. 2 . Bioterrorism—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3613.A19K56 2011

813’.6—dc22

2010040418