I think that this story has been told before and been told better. I did not enjoy it.

The second book in Sharon Gilbert's Mytharc series reads like today's (and possibly even more frightening, tomorrow's) headlines. A flu pandemic as a catalyst for global government? A string of geneticists mysteriously dying like flies? If one didn't know Sharon had independently published this book in 2003 before it was optioned by Whitaker house this year, it would be easy to believe that a novel of such contemporary insights was written as a reflection of recent headlines. No wonder [...] once referred to Sharon as a prophetess.

One thing is certain. You'll never take a flu shot for granted again. Imagine germ warfare combining bird flu with Ebola that goes to work in minutes!

As The Armageddon Strain unfolds, Dr. Maggie Taylor's father, a genetic scientist, passes away under curious circumstances. While coping with his tragedy and drudging through the pains of her imminent divorce, two men, both with different agendas, enter her life. Simultaneously an avian flu sweeps the country, and the epidemic shows signs of jumping the species barrier. How will the government contain the situation? Special implantable microchips with biowarfare applications have been designed that will be injected into the masses under authority of Martial Law. Homeland Security begins the vaccinations, called Project BioShield, employing contractors BioStrain and Grayson Labs. Yet something strange is up with those little chips.

With this all-to-believable storyline in place, the author intersperses a fascinating high-level mix of education and entertainment, backing her assertions with copious research and thought-provoking questions told through a nail-biting action-adventure yarn that slowly questions the origins of the avian flu. Was it synthetically produced by a government cabal seeking to manipulate the modern world? A consortium of patriots believe this is true, and they arm themselves against the shadow government.

Yet what if something even more diabolical is occurring? Bodies start turning up that appear to be - for want of a better term - victims of Spontaneous Human Combustion. Has something unknown unleashed upon the world; an invisible influence seeking to conquer, to control, to ultimately change God's creation?

Behind the grotesque ballet of incomprehensible death, a police car's siren wails in sympathy as a pair of red eyes peer out from the netherworld, eagerly watching the raw pain of a crumbling world, and the spirit-creature behind the flaming eyes begins to laugh.

Thus begins The Armageddon Strain, a take-no-prisoners, edge-of-your-seat suspense thriller, filled with thought provoking dialogue about how science might be manipulated by evildoers of both the material and spirit world into concocting a prophetic invitation for end times totalitarianism.

Though a bit preachy in places and lulled with a few too many redundant cafe scenes, there's plenty here to keep the mind in high gear and the nerves on edge as the truly cyclonic novel unfolds.

Sharon Gilbert weaves a fast-paced story of conspiracy. I enjoyed her attention to detail and her writing style. I will be looking out for her next books. Way to go Sharon!