The End of October, by Lawrence Wright

Known for his well-researched works of nonfiction, Lawrence Wright applies his talent for expert detail and storytelling to a novel about a pandemic. The result is a medical thriller that, while written before the emergence of covid-19, contains lots of similarities with the current public health crisis. The End of October begins with the outbreak abroad of a mysterious, deadly disease and centers on an American microbiologist who races to understand and combat the spreading virus. To say the book is timely just doesn’t do justice to how eerily prophetic it is.