Rebel Fever

by David Healey Book 1 in the Civil War series.

First published 2003

Amazon

4.5(592)

During the winter of 1862, the American Civil War has lasted longer than either side expected. Confederate extremists develop a plan to spread a deadly epidemic in Washington, believing disease can achieve what battlefield victories have failed to accomplish.

Confederate leaders fear that an indiscriminate biological attack will destroy European sympathy for their cause and send an agent to stop the plot. The mission forces him to infiltrate fellow Southerners while Union authorities remain unaware of the threat. Preventing mass death may require betraying men who regard themselves as patriots.

The plot draws on nineteenth-century fears of epidemic disease as a weapon against densely populated cities and armies. Even a rumour of deliberate infection could cause panic, while poor medical understanding makes detection and attribution difficult. The agent’s task therefore requires preventing both the attack and the political consequences that would follow if either side believed the enemy had abandoned all limits on warfare.