Dr Steven Dunbar, ex Special Forces medic and chief investigator with the Sci-Med Inspectorate, comes across apparent interference with front-line medical research in the UK. Funding for Professor Dorothy Lindstrom, a leading neuroscientist who has recently returned home to the UK after a tragic fire took the lives of two of her young colleagues at Yale University, has been completely blocked. Professor Lindstrom, a feisty character who has made more than a few enemies over the years, and her research group, who have been making dramatic progress in the new field of epigenetics which deals with genetic influences on human behaviour are upset and angry but feel helpless. One of the group, Dr Owen Barrowman who has been looking for genetic and biochemical differences in convicted psychopathic killers held in secure establishments across the UK is particularly upset as he believes he is on the brink of a major discovery. He is determined to complete his research before the money runs out despite Steven’s warning about the dangers of being continually exposed to evil. His warnings go unheeded with tragic consequences.

Once upon a time, people believed that diseases such as Cholera and the Black Death were caused by the inhalation of noxious vapours, particularly those arising from decomposing organic matter — the miasma. We now know that bacteria and viruses are the true cause of disease and, when epidemics break out, the modern science of epidemiology enables us to trace their source and predict their likely spread. When an epidemic of the killer disease, Ebola, in the Democratic Republic of Congo does not appear to follow the rules... it’s a worry.