President Harry Williams needs a permanent solution to the cocaine problem and it is proposed by scientist and Prime Minister of Australia, Dr Janice Holloway.
Three years later the horrific death of US Senator Thompson is broadcast live while delivering a speech at the White House celebrating the eradication of cocaine. Fearful the Senator’s death may be caused by a biological weapon, the President quarantines the White House.
A newspaper journalist covering the press conference videos the Senator’s dying confession which mentions a mysterious “diet cola scenario”. Stunned by a secret FBI report, Williams warns the world of an emerging pandemic and publicly names Ramon Fuentes, the head of a powerful Mexican drug cartel, as the terrorist responsible.
Facing financial ruin Fuentes instructs his organization to prepare for a terrifying assault on the United States. Warned about the plan the President orders a pre-emptive military attack on the cartel. Fuentes survives but on learning of the death of his wife activates his plan, creating global financial and political chaos.
I suspect everyone who completes a PhD believes they have a novel in them. Anyway, that's what I thought all those years ago after the experiencing the rapture of physically submitting those numerous bound copies. Plots came and went over the years but this one lingered on. This is a biotech thriller novel that took me almost 10 years to actually finish and it's now published. I had so much fun writing it, and it served as excellent therapy while being an executive and co-founder of biotech companies - better than Prozac! Anyone who has started up any business, especially a high-tech one will relate to that. Fortunately I’m a very positive person and after my last biotech company succumbed to the GFC when investment capital suddenly dried up, completing this novel became my mission. I started the novel when my family and I returned to Newcastle in New South Wales, where our children were born, to catch up with old friends during the Christmas holidays (our summer). As it happens it was the first time in about 20 years that I had four consecutive weeks of real holiday. After a week or so of meeting, talking and drinking with friends, I had an increasing amount of free time, and as I had a new notebook computer with me that was begging to be used, I drafted the plot and completed more than half the book in 2-3 weeks. I found that during my numerous business trips in America and Europe, returning to the novel while trapped in airport lounges provided a balance for me while travelling. However as sometimes I did not touch the book for months at a time, I usually had to completely re-read the manuscript before I could add new chapters. After 2-3 years of this process I was forced to acknowledge that starting a novel is the easy part. Finishing the darn thing was proving difficult! The Diet Cola Scenario has strong themes in biotech and the war fought by the US and Australia against a powerful Mexican cocaine cartel using state-of-the-art technology and its unintended consequences. Coincidentally I created the character Dr Janice Holloway as the first female Australian Prime Minister when I first structured the plot a decade ago - it's purely coincidental that in 2010 Australia now has its first female PM. For those that enjoy a fast moving and believable science-based thriller with political and sexual intrigue, murder, plot and counter-plot, my friends who have read the book highly recommend it. I have posted extracts from the first 4 chapters, which will give you a flavour of the novel. Kind regards, Ross Cossins
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