The Regression Strain is not a zombie novel (and other clarifications)
Not that there's anything wrong with zombies
A reader recently said they were unsure whether the focus of The Regression Strain would lean toward zombies, an illness outbreak, or relationship drama.
That was enlightening because I've wondered if some readers expect zombies. My first hint was that Amazon started showing zombie novels in the “Customers also bought or read” section of the book’s listing. So at least some readers of my novel have bought zombie novels.
So are they expecting the undead?
I don’t know. I hope not.
To be fair, my Amazon listing doesn’t help. It describes the threat as a “vile affliction,” which is technically accurate but leaves room for interpretation. The vagueness is intentional.
So here’s a list of what the novel is and isn’t.
What it is (spoiler-ish)
The Regression Strain is a medical thriller set aboard a cruise ship sailing from Copenhagen to New York. The central threat is a bioengineered virus that attacks the frontal lobes of its victims, stripping away the inhibitions that keep them behaving like civilized people. Passengers and crew don’t turn into monsters, but arguably something more sinister — they become the worst versions of themselves.
The story follows Dr. Peter Palma, an overwhelmed Houston physician who boards the ship expecting to treat seasickness and minor ailments. Instead, he finds himself managing a spiraling outbreak with no cavalry on the horizon and no easy way off the vessel.
This is a psychological thriller as much as a medical one. The virus is the engine, but the story explores the question of what separates civilization from savagery — and how easy it is to step over that line.
“The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either—but right through every human heart—and through all human hearts.” —Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago
What it isn’t
No zombies. The infected are conscious, verbal, and in many cases fully aware of what they’re doing.
Not set in a hospital. Yes, the ship has a medical clinic, but there’s no ICU and no specialist to call. Yes, the ship is huge, but it starts to feel awfully small to the passengers desperate to escape.
Not a procedural. Peter undertakes an investigation to uncover the origin and nature of the threat, but the story doesn’t show a team of scientists in a lab racing to synthesize a cure.
If it sounds like your kind of story, the first chapter is free to download when you subscribe to my newsletter.
—Kevin