Book Review: A Jerk, a Jihad, and a Virus,

BQB Publishing

That was a fun story! It incorporated science, mystery, spies, suspense, and comedy! It was good fun. I don't often like mysteries written by men, some are too gruesome, vulgar with locker-room toilet humour. This was a good run of real-world issues and world travel, while examining the risks of SARS, BCV, and the politics around it, as well as jihad. I read the news, and have seen too much of that. I needed a jolly novel.

Jones used @bqbpublishing, which means he and they were co-publishers. This really is the way to go, as you end up with a well-edited book, fit for an ISBN number! (This is how I published mine!)

The author has credibility, and he writes, using his Ph.D in microbiology, to make the story believable. I like books that use excellent science to educate me, without lecturing. This was well-crafted. I really cared about the outcome and the characters, and read to the end!

From the publisher

Learn more about
Jones on his website.

In A Jerk, a Jihad, and a Virus, Jason and Ann Hartman -- veterinarians, lovers, and graduate students -- conduct a study of BCV in calves, a common virus that causes diarrhea in cattle. A recently-arrived Chinese student accidentally exposes the calves to the SARS virus, a close relative of BCV, and both the calves and the Chinese student develop a severe and puzzling pneumonia. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) isolates a hybrid BCV-SARS strain responsible for the illnesses and notifies the FBI of the new and dangerous virus. Ahmed, a fellow grad student and accomplished con man, discovers Jason's samples containing the virus and steals them, fleeing to Yemen where he pretends to be a devout Muslim to get funding from a jihadist group. The jihadists believe the virus will be valuable not only as a biological weapon, but also as bait to lure the United States into military action that will kill innocent civilians and increase the region’s hatred of America. Jason and an unconventional CIA agent redefine “thinking outside the box” as they con Ahmed, dodge bullets, and thwart the jihadists.