A master gene for race? Geneticists say such a thing doesn't exist. However, the Colonel, founder of the Missouri White Alliance, has devised a genetic weapon capable of devastating dark-skinned peoples globally. He is only weeks, maybe days away from implementing his viral version of racial cleansing's "final solution." There's only one threat to his plan -- a hotheaded member of the MWA has become the target of a nationwide police search for murder and the kidnapping of local celebrity Della Winston ... and the unwanted attention risks bringing federal scrutiny to the previously unknown white supremacy group.

Sarah Wade, MD, has enough stress as a senior Emergency Medicine resident. She never expected that her discovery of a murdered medical student would inadvertently jeopardize her career. Or that the next-day murder of a Nigerian diplomat would lead to the kidnapping of her best friend, Della Winston. The cascade of events pull her -- and Seamus O'Connor, the detective assigned to the high-profile medical center murder -- into a life-threatening conspiracy of murder, kidnapping, and rising racial tensions.

The Militant Genome is a medical thriller set is St. Louis. Woven into the story are themes about the evil of racism, the threats of biotechnology, and one's eternal destiny. The story begins as Sarah Wade, MD, a senior resident in Emergency Medicine, takes her Advanced Trauma Life Support credentialing course and discovers that her surrogate patient, a medical student, is a real stabbing victim. Sgt. Seamus O'Connor and his partner draw the case and begin their investigation. Within twenty-four hours, Sarah's life is turned inside out -- her career is threatened by false charges from the pompous, egotistical Chief of Trauma; a visiting Nigerian diplomat is murdered outside a popular restaurant on the riverfront; and the only witness to see the killer's face, Sarah's life-long best friend, Della Winston, is kidnapped outside a local club. Meanwhile, from across the country, the events in St. Louis are being followed with concern by the Colonel. He is part of a university medical research team presenting their work on Alzheimer's Disease to a major symposium. During the day, he has helped discover a major breakthrough in the cause and potential treatment of the disease. Outside the lab, he leads a previously unknown white supremacy group, the Missouri White Alliance, based in the Ozarks. With his like-minded technicians, they have found a way to re-engineer a promising treatment for the skin cancer melanoma into a viral weapon that attacks dark-skinned peoples. By combining that virus with a virulent strain of influenza, he hopes to cause worldwide racial genocide to honor his grandfather, a Klu Klux Klan Grand Wizard during his life, and to avenge the murders of his wife and daughter at the hands of black home invaders. However, he has received word that the man who killed the diplomat is not just one of his men but his nephew. The intense police and federal investigation into that killing threatens to unveil his group and derail his plans. The story explores the issue of racism not just via the major plot line about racial genocide, but also through the unexpected relationship that develops between Sarah and Seamus. She is African-American and he is as white and Irish as they come. They have their Catholic backgrounds as common ground, but nothing more. The potential threat of biotechnology in the wrong hands should be apparent. The definition of genome is "a full set of chromosomes; all the inheritable traits of an organism." The genome is God's blueprint for life. Leave it to man's "tinkering" to lead to trouble. The theme of eternal destiny becomes an important turning point in the story. Let's not spoil it by giving away anything more.

Braxton DeGarmo