cover image American Fever: A Tale of Romance & Pestilence

American Fever: A Tale of Romance & Pestilence

Peter Christian Hall. Arterial Witness (www.arterialwitness.com), $25.95 paper (306p) ISBN 978-0-9846780-0-6

In Hall's confident debut, a New York City blogger, libertarian, and self-appointed "digital zombie" charts the deadly progression of a flu epidemic and becomes an enemy of the state. The online scribe known as Maskman%E2%80%94he is also called Count Blogula%E2%80%94splits his time between blogging about the deadly "Great H5N1 Avian Pandemic Flu" decimating America and selling protective gear to the masses over the Internet. But amid widespread airborne infections, riot squads, and disorder, Maskman's increasingly outspoken blog posts garner him unwanted attention from governmental agencies eager to contain public hysteria. It's evident that Hall has researched human physiology, influenza, and how society processes deadly pandemics, and this lends credibility to a story line that%E2%80%94with the exception of pages of overwrought expository asides%E2%80%94proves compelling. And while Hall's novel may not be particularly original, he executes the material well.