Condition Black

Two men will face a deadly challenge, but which one will survive? A deadly pathogen has been released in a way that will set off a chain of events changing the course of history and taking lives of people specifically targeted for death. Evan Weyland and Billy Vick from two different agencies play right into the hands of a group out to destroy millions and will stop at nothing until they succeed.
As a news correspondent Marie Weyland often took chances when wanting to break a story that would not only help the public but inform them in this case of a deadly event that was about to happen and did happen. Observing what was happening in front of her she could not believe that the US would help Russian kill an entire village of innocent people in Syria. Entering where this was about to occur little did she realize that before leaving the site she would be covered from head to toe in a deadly chemical that might kill her.

Billy Vick is placed in a difficult position when he learns exactly why Marie is in quarantine. Marie was in a place where she found something that would change her life not realizing that the command center she was in was filled with sticky fire and a churning black smoke that would forever change her life. Taking chances was her way of investigating something but this time realizing the terrorists behind this found a way to disable the security of the command center. Was the U.S. helping the Russians and want to rid the world of what the Russian’s possessed. Remembering that a military transport plane shot down in northeastern Syria weeks before. No survivors and the plane, suggested to be Russian did illegally cross over into  Syrian airspace? Added in there was a declaration of martial law making moving around difficult and constant stopping by the police.

Then Billy Vick is informed that Marie is in lockdown and his unit must investigate the cause and why she got sick.

There are two companies battling it out for the cure for all cancers and this dreaded disease as Evan realized his compelling not allow him to use the technology he developed to save Marie’s life forcing his hand and turning to the competition sending him on a journey that you will not forget as the authors explain the process and the procedures he will endure hoping to get inside the body and mind of his wife to save her life before it is too late.

 At the CDC center Evan paced up and down and realized that his wife was on life support but why? Added in they could not find anything to fight the infection and now he meets Billy Vick whose unit was tasked to find out about Marie and investigate the case. Marie was placed in CDC isolation and Evan needed to find a way to look at optimal dosing any adverse immune mediated response renal clearance for sure using the clinical trials that he created for his company. The bots needed to be placed in the bloodstream right away, but he had to ask Lai who was part of the team and the response was not what he expected. Vick goes to his superior Major Barclay and the response is unexpected. Claiming he is aware of the situation he does not think that it needs to be addressed any further even though she is a sick correspondent and intel is limited but Vick explains the village was not a clean target and the army ordered in an airstrike anyway.

The information he stated indicated the high possibility of hundreds and even thousands of Syrian refuses in the town at the time of the airstrike. The Major sates: Collateral damage is an unfortunate part of the business and him warns him to back off. But Billy instructs his unit to investigate and keep it silent and only report to him no one else. Threats come in all directions as a man named Ryder and a group enter the Major’s office and using any kind of threats and force explain what will happen if he does not contain the situation and end the investigation letting him know that lives will be taken and everyone is expendable, including him.

Project Omega is what this is all about and the job of the Major is to make sure it is shut down.

Sharmila Vashi would be Evan’s only hope thinking she might allow him to use her programs, technology even though she is the competition to save his wife. NeuroDelve is her company and what happens when Evan takes on the journey to find the answers to his wife’s illness you will not believe. Using the technology and the knowledge of author Gareth Worthington the reader will experience just how advanced the technology is as Evan is geared up, learns how to use the instruments, hopefully finding a way into the mind and body of Marie.

Billy Vick is not out of the woods and his superiors demand that he be handed over to Homeland. Rhinehart is the one in charge and the bond they form she hopes will help him out of the situation, out of the eyes of Ryder and his group but in the end the only solution is to try and stop Evan and Billy takes on the same tasks but for the other side.

John Hopkins is where Evan worked and Billy will now with the help of Lai learn the answers to just what needs to be done, head gear that could be put on or off and removed by anyone. Commands and how they would be piloted and two men who fight it out to the very last minute and the hopes of both Vick and his family plus Evan and his quest to save Marie will end in a way that will leave you stunned. But first Billy is taken into custody, injured and must hopefully not be taken to prison and then when all else fails he hopes that volunteering to go after Evan will stop the onslaught of the Omega Project.

The Army Biological Warfare Division end solution is this project that Marie Weyland came upon and the US army orchestrated firebombing of a civilian settlement in Syria and Marie  arrived in the USA sick and what looks like Omega.

The unthinkable happens and Evan has gone Condition Black which means he needs to be out of it or he will not survive. He is unaware and unprepared of the situation if attacked in Condition Black it is a life threatening situation and death sentence.

The final battles are graphically depicted and the science behind what Evan and Vick are trying to accomplish is quite extensively explained as you experience what they are undergoing, hope that someone survives but in the end each one takes aim at the other, aiming a contingent of infantry as even wants to head for the infection while his remaining and sizable army could fend off the unwelcome, Vick or government agent. But, will he?

The final chapters are heart stopping as the reader will endure the same experiences of both Vick and Weyland but which one will be the victor? What about Rose and her children will Vick be able to speak with her and will he return home? What about Evan will he save Marie or will the entire project fail because there are outside forces that will cause another solution.

Some endings are not what you expect and using his experience as a veteran of law enforcement author Stuart Jones takes us through the protocols of the government agencies, the army, the police and leads us to an ending that will surprise and shock readers when you read the epilogue.

Characters that are strong, determined, flawed and yet you identify with them and root for both Vick and Evan to come out ahead in some way the ending lets you know that there is an air of uncertainty because no one ever survives Condition Black.