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The Roundtable

A dystopian land ravaged by a deadly disease is explored in "The Way"

By Joe Donahue
Published December 10, 2024 at 11:15 AM EST

The alarm is growing worldwide about the dangers of bird flu or also known as avian influenza. Cary Groner is a science writer and a self-described “worst case scenario person.”

The deadly pandemic in his new novel “The Way” is caused by H5N1 avian flu. He says, “all it takes is for one person to be infected with a normal type A or B flu, then catch H5N1 too and the avian flu can acquire the mutations necessary to spread quickly between humans if that happens it can happen any day.”

This situation plays out in his novel “The Way” where a previous H5N1 pandemic has left the world a wasteland populated by the occasional settlement, access to water, and arable land.

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The Roundtable DystopiannovelCary Groner
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Joe Donahue
Joe talks to people on the radio for a living. In addition to countless impressive human "gets" - he has talked to a lot of Muppets. Joe grew up in Philadelphia, has been on the area airwaves for more than 25 years and currently lives in Washington County, NY with his wife, Kelly, and their dog, Brady. And yes, he reads every single book.
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