Interrupt
Authors: Jeff Carlson
Tags: #Hard Science Fiction, #General, #science fiction, #Technological, #Thrillers, #Fiction
Also By Jeff Carlson
The Frozen Sky
The Plague Year Trilogy
Plague Year
Plague War
Plague Zone
Short Story Collection
Long Eyes
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons either living or dead is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the author.
Copyright © 2013 Jeff Carlson
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Published by 47North
P.O. Box 400818
Las Vegas, NV 89140
ISBN-10: 1612183646
ISBN-13: 9781612183640
Diagram of the sun and Earth’s magnetosphere © 2013 Meghan Mahler. Reproduced with permission.
Schematics of Silver Lake Hospital and Bunker Seven Four © 2013 Jeff Sierzenga. Reproduced with permission.
For Diana
T
HE
S
OLAR
W
IND AND
E
ARTH’S
M
AGNETIC
F
IELD
“Let’s be honest: Carlson is dangerous.
Interrupt
is riveting, high concept, and so real I felt the fires and blood. Thumbs up.”
—Scott Sigler,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Pandemic
“
Interrupt
is an edgy, exciting thriller full of adventure and surprises. This book has it all—elite military units, classified weaponry, weird science, a dash of romance, and horrific global disasters. Carlson writes like a knife at your throat.”
—Bob Mayer,
New York Times
best-selling author of the
Green Berets
and
Area 51
series
“Terrific pacing. Dimensional characters. Jeff Carlson delivers everything and more in a killer thriller. You won’t put this one down.”
—John Lescroart,
New York Times
best-selling author of
The Hunter
“I’ve been a fan of Carlson’s work since he unleashed his nanotech on the world in
Plague Year.
This new book is
exciting. Interrupt
is a quantum leap in storytelling. I love the concept unreservedly. Love the writing to the point of jealousy. Carlson is so ridiculously talented, he makes me want to poke my eyeballs out.
Interrupt
is a phenomenal read.”
—Steven Savile, international best-selling author of
Silver
“An extremely exciting global thriller. Jeff Carlson’s
Interrupt
is based on strong science and a dangerous new scenario that reminds us of our sun’s instability, the consequences to our planet, and how powerfully influenced our species may have been when we first began in the Paleolithic. The ideas fly as fast as jets. This thriller has brains!”
—Kim Stanley Robinson, Hugo and Nebula
Award-winning author of
2312
This book is a work of fiction. All of the science and weapon technologies are real, although I’ve taken some liberty with our current level of comparative genetics.
What if
is an intriguing question, but there is no firm evidence yet to link the Neanderthal genome to modern human conditions, only compelling theories.
The notion that autists exhibit stronger traits of
Homo neanderthalensis
than “normal” people was not my invention. Fascinating discussions of this idea can be found in articles in
Science, Science News,
the
New York Times,
the
Los Angeles Times,
the databases of the National Center for Biotechnology Information, and on the websites and forums of
www.rdos.net
,
www.wrongplanet.net
, and
www.aspiesforfreedom.com
, to name just a few.
For their generous help and expertise, I’d like to thank many people, including James Han and Bridget Swift with the Joint Genome Institute; Ben Bowen, Ph.D., at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; James Noonan, Ph.D., Department of Genetics at Yale; Michael Stein, M.D., with Diablo Clinic Research; Seth Shostak, Ph.D., senior astronomer with the SETI Project and author of the spectacular memoir
Confessions of an Alien Hunter;
Captain Chris Earl, U.S. Navy; Commander Thomas Korsmo, U.S. Navy; Lieutenant, Colonel Brian Woolworth,
U.S. Army Special Forces; Lieutenant, Colonel Brian Lihani, U.S. Air Force (ret.); and, as always, my father, Gus Carlson, Ph.D., former division leader at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Other experts wish to remain anonymous due to the sensitive, sometimes classified aspects of this book. You know who you are. Thank you.
I’d also like to express my appreciation to John Koziol for sharing his skills in the ways of computers and software; Robin Burcell for her experience with DOJ programs, databases, and facial recognition software; Jack Welch, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Astronomy at Cal Berkeley; Charles H. Hanson, M.D.; and Penny Hill, super genius.
My editor David Pomerico is like Thai food—fiery, evocative, nutritious, and good. Working with him is a pleasure. Katy Ball, Justin Golenbock, Patrick Magee, and Jill Taplin are also integral to the team at 47North. They brought years of experience and great insights to
Interrupt,
which means this novel is partly theirs.
Also a tip of the hat to my agents on all sides of the continent, Donald Maass, Cameron McClure, and Jim Ehrich. These guys are like Batman—a team of Bat People—well-equipped and poised to strike. Having them on my side is awesome.
Most of all, I’d like to thank my wife and sons. They’re remarkably patient with me and supportive of my writing.
Enjoy!
