The Neah Virus (Northwest Tales, #5)

The Neah Virus, previously unknown to science, has arisen in the dense rainforests surrounding Neah Bay, the Makah Tribe's home village. Its victims develop a zombie-like raving mania, then succumb to high fevers and convulsions. Incomprehensibly, the virus strikes only non-Makahs, leaving tribal members untouched while people of other races are stricken down.
McKean traces one possible origin to the recently-opened grave of a Spanish colonist of the 1700s. Exploring the tomb, he encounters an old Makah shaman, Gordon Steel. Steeped in native lore, Steel claims this is the legendary Lost Souls Disease, created by Raven to punish the Spaniards, now unleashed on the modern world to avenge the destruction of the tribe's traditional ways. McKean asks Steel to make his traditional medicines available, but the bitter old man refuses to cooperate. McKean is certain he knows more about the virus than he is telling.
As the death toll mounts, the virus spreads to Seattle, where both McKean and his young son begin showing signs of the disease. With time running out, Steel's daughter Tleena arrives to lead McKean on a desperate quest from Seattle to her father's traditional longhouse near Neah Bay. On the way, they travel through the chaos of a crumbling society and streets rife with raving victims and grisly death. But the old shaman is by no means certain to help.
This taut medical thriller is a page-turner start to finish.

Thomas Patrick Hopp routinely imagines the unimaginable. He writes science fiction and mystery thriller novels that draw on his background as a scientist and scholar of the natural world in all its glory and terror. His stories have won multiple literary awards and garnered him a worldwide following. He is a member of both the Mystery Writers of America and the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and served for several years as President of the Northwest Chapter of MWA. Tom is also an internationally recognized molecular biologist. He discovered powerful immune-system hormones and helped found the multi-billion-dollar Seattle biotechnology company Immunex Corporation. He advised the team that created Immunex's blockbuster arthritis drug Enbrel. He developed the first commercially successful nanotechnology device, a molecular handle for manipulating proteins at the atomic level, which is used by medical researchers around the world to study human cells and every major microbe known to science.
Tom's NORTHWEST TALES are thrillers set against backdrops of disaster, whether natural or man-made. Earthquakes, eruptions, and epidemics are grist for these gripping adventures. Tom's mystery stories follow Dr. Peyton McKean, a super-intelligent sleuth known as "The Greatest Mind Since Sherlock Holmes." Viruses, microbes, and evil geniuses form the core of his opposition. Tom's DINOSAUR WARS science fiction stories read like "Star Wars meets Jurassic Park." Featuring laser-blasting space invaders and huge beasts from the past, they follow Yellowstone Park naturalist Chase Armstrong and Montana rancher's daughter Kit Daniels, who struggle to survive in a world where dinosaurs live again. Most of Tom's tumultuous adventures are suitable for readers young and old.