Ann and Peter Brooks have two daughters: twelve-year-old Kate and seven-year-old Maddie who live in the comfortable suburb of Columbus, Ohio. Their baby, William, had died causing unspeakable grief for Ann and Peter. One night while driving home from a family get together, Peter announces that they should separate for awhile and tells Anne that he "still loves her", but "he's not IN love with her..." anymore. As expected, Kate and Maddie don't take the news of their parents split very well. Peter collects some clothing and moves into a very tiny one-bedroom apartment, leaving the house for Ann and the girls.
Peter is a Professor at the School of Veterinary Medicine but is now doing research. After a years separation, Ann is feeling confident that she can deal with any problems or hardships. But, just before Thanksgiving, a serious and dangerous crisis hits and topples everybody's world upside down. Out at one of the lakes close to their home, Peter and some duck hunters discover hundreds of blue-winged teal birds, mottled brown and cream, bobbing upside down in the lake. They soon learn that the avain influenza virus H5N1 is loose in their community. Everyone is trapped inside their homes making life and death decisions in an environment where even opening your front door could mean the end of you and your family.
Ann now has to make choices that will affect the lives of Kate and Maddie and others around her. Quarantined in her own home, Ann is soon forced to make her first of many life or death decisions!
An excellent debut novel geared for everyone!
February 13, 2011
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