The Last Ten Degrees
It’s July 2036. Inside his Super Prius, Dr. Jeremy Stone carries his newest lab creation, a nanomachine potentially capable of curing lung cancer. He’s taking it from San Diego to Denver for a phase III clinical trial. Driving through the desert Southwest, Stone encounters unreal temperature spikes, dust storms, climate-driven forest fires, and water bandits.
That same month, amid an epidemic of Valley Fever in Phoenix, Rachael Weiss, director of public health for the state, is mystified by a strange outbreak of unrelated deaths in local emergency rooms. When DNA sequencing of the patients reveals a dead end, Weiss is forced to call in an expert from the Boston area.
As additional facts come to light about Stone’s nanomachine, and people continue to die in the Valley of the Sun, Weiss frantically searches for an answer.
The Last Ten Degrees is a climate thriller that explores the intersection of ego-driven science, decades of drought, and a rapidly changing desert landscape. Fans of Michael Crichton will enjoy the hard science aspects of the book. Others will find a thoughtful description of possible future climate scenarios.
Bio
Jeff Larson is a physician/scientist who obtained both his MS degree in genetics and cell biology and his MD at the University of Minnesota. He originally trained as a scientist at Caltech, where he got his BS. He has published in Science. Jeff’s research interests are bioengineering, nanoscience, and genomics. He currently teaches at the University of Arizona Medical School and studies the effect climate change is having on water supplies in the Southwest. Originally from South Dakota, he now lives in Phoenix with his wife Barbara and several hummingbirds. The Last Ten Degrees is his first novel.