Pestilence - By Brian L Porter

***** Five Stars.
Pestilence
By Brian L Porter

The story is set in a sleepy village in the heart of the Kent countryside during the year 1958. The Second World War is over and now nothing extraordinary ever happens in Olney St. Mary. The people are peaceful and law abiding, as they go about their day-to-day lives. Therefore how could anyone expect the horror that was about to unfold and disrupt this small community forever.

Brian L Porter describes the grim reality of a situation that could very easily have happened. The characters are totally believable, as they desperately try to understand what is going on around them, when one by one their friends and neighbours are stricken with an illness no one recognises. Doctors and nurses are flown to the scene to help the sick, while men from the Ministry arrive to contain the disease. But then as the plot unfolds, we learn that everyone and everything is not as it seems. What really caused the illness? Who is the traitor in their midst? Who can be trusted? It is only in the final chapters that the truth and the full horror of what really happened are revealed.

Pestilence is an edge of the seat thriller. I found that once I started reading, I couldn’t put the book down. The author cleverly leads the reader through several possible explanations before finally declaring both the culprit and the reason for their deception. A thoroughly good read and a ‘must have’ for all those who enjoy thrillers.

Eileen Thornton – Author of The Trojan Project