Stigma

Stigma by Philip Hawley, Jr. is a tense and dramatic thriller. Quite a novel for his writing debut.

Luke McKenna, a pediatric ER doctor in Los Angeles is trying to solve a mystery. A young Mayan boy from Guatemala just died under his care. His symptoms don't make sense. And before an autopsy can be performed the body disappears.

Could the disease that killed the young boy have been caused by the pharmaceutical company Zenavax that is conducting malaria research in the jungles of Guatemala? A doctor who used to work with Luke's father gave Zenavax the key research that lead them to the malaria vaccine they are testing.

Is it even possible to genetically alter mosquitoes to deliver a vaccine for malaria as opposed to them spreading the disease?

Hawley takes cutting edge science and twists it to make a fascinating novel that you will not be able to put down.

Hawley, Philip Jr. (2007). Stigma. New York: HarperCollins.