Book Report

 

I read a lot in normal times, so it should come as no surprise that I have read a ton of books during these days of Covid 19.  I've not only read a lot of new books, I've gone back and re-read dozens of books we had on the shelf or stored away in boxes.

One of the things that I've found interesting is how many of the books I read years ago have remarkably accurate descriptions of the events of this year.  The more obvious examples are Richard Preston's the Hot Zone and his Cobra Event, or the Plague Tales by Ann Benson - with titles like that, you should expect some similarities.  

The one at impressed me the most, though, has been Oath of Office, a Jack Ryan novel written by Marc Cameron.  In the middle of a novel about spies and international intrigue, Cameron talks about the effects of an epidemic (instead of the China Virus, he calls it the American Flu) and proves to be even more prescient than his mentor, the late Tom Clancy.  Not only is the flu at the top of each news cycle, President Ryan's political opposition and their friends in the media are trying to blame the pandemic (yes, that word is used) on him!