Title: Olduvai Countdown: A Jack Cann Medical Thriller
Author: Michael Woods, MD
Publisher: ‎‎ IngramSpark
ISBN: 978-0-578-36835-1
Pages: 331
Genre: Adult Thriller
Reviewed by: Michaela Gordoni

Read Author Interview

PBR: Can you share a snippet that isn’t in the blurb or excerpt?
“She continued backing up slowly. The edge of the doorway came into her peripheral vision. Just another foot and I’m free to run. As she raised her left heel and continued to move backward, she noticed the cobra’s head cock ever so slightly back and up. She lost all interest in slow movement, jamming the glasses over her eyes as she felt a spray of warm venom bathe her face and arms. Her back slammed into the side of the doorway and a nail head sticking an inch out of the wood punctured her flank, the pain shooting deep, radiating up to her shoulder. She turned and ran, the nail ripping her flesh, creating a jagged opening from her flank to her ribs as she exploded into the sunlight. The venom running down the eyepieces obscured her vision. As she ran in the direction of the road, she ripped the glasses off her face, the sudden brightness clawing at her retinas, making it impossible to see anything but the gross outline of the Toyota. She tripped and fell over a short shrub, screaming as she imagined the snake descending on her. She scrambled up and continued to the Toyota. Climbing in, she slammed the door.”

PBR: Does one of the main characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?
Jack is an unusual guy. Originally from Kansas (think Ted Lasso), he made it big with phenomenal success early in his Ivy League career, but the limelight wasn’t for him. He wants to contribute to humanity meaningfully but not be in the spotlight. His hero-like nature is simply being who he is — from simple roots, unparalleled work ethic, liberal politically, a world-class mind — and a kind person — who approaches things from a very practical point of view. He has traits we all identify with and, perhaps on some level, desire.

PBR: What was the inspiration for the story?
It started with the question, “What if there was a built-in gene that could lead to the eradication of mankind?”

PBR: What is the key theme and/or message in the book?
The human species will only survive and thrive through collaboration, cooperation, and respect that matches our intelligence and ingenuity. Think about global warming and how this would benefit the planet and everyone riding along! We need more folks who feel “we’re all in this together.”

PBR: What do you hope your readers take away from this book?
In addition to the above, I hope readers get a thrill!

PBR: What is the significance of the title?
Louis and Mary Leakey discovered the first early remains of humans in Olduvai Gorge in the late 1950s. Since then, it has been dubbed the “Cradle of Mankind.” As the genetic defect has been in us “since the dawn of evolution,” it made sense that its activation would occur where man first walked on the planet.

PBR: Tell us about the process for coming up with the cover.
The cover of the updated version was developed to convey a sense of isolation and desolation, with a survivor looking to the horizon. You can’t really tell if he’s walking into the sunrise or sunset, creating visual ambiguity. Is it a better future? Or the end?

PBR: What is the future for the characters? Will there be a sequel?
The goal is to write a trilogy (at least), and there is a list of topics from which I will choose. The concept for the follow-on book to Olduvai is Latitudes.

Summary:
Petroleum personnel returning from Brazil develop an insidious form of dementia that results in an irreversible catatonic-like state. A few isolated cases evolve into a national health and security crisis, as multitudes of healthy Americans, initially in the western U.S., are immobilized by an unknown disease. Despite reports of near-ubiquitous, self-resolving, severe headaches in Brazilian citizens, officials deny anything unusual, and President Carlos de Santos’ government is bizarrely uncooperative with the U.S. The outward appearance of an infectious source results in Jack Cann, the world-renown Midwestern virologist, and his wife, anthropologist Marla Qui, leading teams on two continents in a terrifying—and dangerous—hunt for the cause. Marla uncovers horrors in the Amazon only to find herself methodically pursued by unknown killers. At the same time, Jack narrowly escapes a brazen assassination attempt in the U.S. heartland after identifying the cause of the illness: an inexplicable cross-phyla mutation between a plant and primate virus—and a previously unknown, highly lethal, genetically-modified strain of influenza. The team discovers the virus is rapidly moving northward from South America through plant root systems, contaminating the food chain. Mass panic spreads as people are confronted by choosing between starvation and complete CNS shutdown—not dead, not alive. The seemingly unrelated findings of Jack, Marla, and their teams coalesce into a complex, chillingly opportunistic plot to take over the United States—the confirmation of which relies on a teaspoon of dirt from a mass grave

PBR: Do you write listening to music? If so, what music inspired or accompanied this current book?
Nope!

PBR: What were the key challenges you faced when writing this book?
Finding the time to write consistently while working full time — followed by having ideas come so quickly they can be hard to capture.
It’s difficult to resist the temptation of saying, “It’s done,” and submitting it — only to have another idea that I knew had to be included in the book.

PBR: What was the highlight of writing this book?
How proud my kids were when they held their copies in their hands!
Also, it’s one thing getting kudos from friends and family — but getting great reviews from strangers was surprising and gratifying!