Medical Science Fiction

"Can you change the nature inside yourself?" Unlock the continuing mind-bending possibilities of ethical and moral dilemmas with "After Dinner Conversation - Season Four," the next installment of the must-read collection of the best short stories from the critically acclaimed After Dinner Conversation magazine series. Spanning all genres, from science-fiction to historical fiction and everything in between, each story is guaranteed to captivate you and leave you questioning your own beliefs. Perfect for philosophy students and fiction lovers alike, each story comes with five suggested ...

Nature abhors static and seeks change, for better or worse. The Pandemic strain is mutating in ways no one can predict, and time is running out. Military scientists sprint toward a vaccine, but without the Source they fight a losing battle. Navy SEALs race against foreign invaders to rescue one of the only scientists in the world capable of defeating the flu, but enemies - and traitors - plot their downfall at every turn.

Detectives link gruesome murders to the Eunuch Maker, a serial killer targeting men. The stakes soon escalate to global proportions.

A rogue virus that kills pregnant women has been let loose in the world, and nothing less than the survival of the human race is at stake. Some blame the scientists, others see the hand of God, and still others claim that humanity is reaping the punishment it deserves for years of arrogance and destructiveness. Jessie Lamb is an ordinary 16-year-old girl living in extraordinary times. As her world collapses, her idealism and courage drive her toward the ultimate act of heroism.

Led by his curiosity and fueled by intelligence, Dr. Marcus Leon embarks on what he believes is the greatest scientific experiment of all time. One that ignites a firestorm of controversy. Not only does Marcus intend to extract DNA from the blood trapped in the Shroud of Turin, but he will clone the image upon it. The experiment is a success, and the masses embrace the clone as the embodiment of Christ, failing to recognize that science can replicate the body but cannot touch the soul.

Sabrena Collins feels her life is finally coming together, now that her abusive ex-husband is a distant memory. She has a good job, two wonderful daughters, and a best friend who is more like a sister. And then there's the gentle and generous Steve, who is everything her ex wasn't. But what about the lonely nights when the phone doesn't ring?

CDC researcher Nadine Parker and her team are baffled. Lukas Behn’s daughter Kyndra has contracted a bizarre new virus that leaves her screaming in pain. But they can't identify any physical, biological source for that pain, not in Kyndra, nor in the dozens, then hundreds, and finally millions of children worldwide succumbing to the same virus. And no one seems to have made a connection between what's happening with the infected children and the events on a small coral reef in the South Pacific.

Sweeney is a druggist by trade; Danny, his son, is in a persistent coma, the victim of an accident. Hoping for a miracle, they have come to the Peck Clinic, a fortress-like haven in a post-industrial city overrun by gangs. Doctors there claim to have resurrected two patients who were similarly lost in the void.

Dr. Raymond Damadian was plagued with a mysterious and persistent stomach pain, yet physicians assured him that they could find nothing wrong. To find the answer to his ailment, Damadian would spend the ensuing twelve years building a machine that would change medicine. Nuclear magnetic resonance scanning, now called magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), was a revolution: A safe means to determine the makeup of every cell in the human body, distinguishing healthy cells from sick.

Following his successful experiment of extracting DNA to clone the image upon the Shroud of Turin, Dr. Marcus Leon faces a world torn asunder. The clone takes the name Devante and assumes a role of great power. His presence and deception bring about biblical-like destruction upon the Earth. While Devante seems unstoppable, only one person, his creator, Marcus Leon, holds the key to ending it all. But can Marcus survive not only the forces of nature, but the forces of Devante and build the army needed before it’s too late?

The discovery of concealed remains in a mass grave in Russia forces top scientists to question everything they believed about human origins. For molecular biologist Kaye Lang and "virus hunter" Christopher Dicken, it means pursuing a mysterious flu-like disease that has been dormant for millions of years—and is now coming back to life. With the world threatened by a deadly epidemic, they must solve an elusive puzzle and find a way to prevent the next terrifying step in evolution.

A wealthy businessman, known by most as Joe Kettleman, narrowly survives an attempt on his life. While recovering from surgery to remove a bullet, imaging reveals a lethal tumor. Unwilling to spend his final days under chemical bombardment, he returns to a remote cabin in New Mexico to die in peace. But when death takes its time and Joe outlives his supplies, he's forced to take a perilous journey through the deserts of the Bisti Badlands. Two days into what was supposed to be a five day trek, Joe comes across a town.

Certain Cure: Where Science Meets Religion, chronicles the life of 3 generations of the Cummings family; Claire, a woman in her 70s who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, Helene, her television journalist daughter, and Justin, the teenage grandson whose adoration of his “Grams” leads him to discover the dark secret behind the miracle technology that is not only curing Claire of her cancer, but tempting his mother with eternal youth, as traditional medical industries wage war against the mysterious doctor from China who threatens them all.

Valerie Ramirez, a special ed teacher still haunted by her toddler’s drowning accident, faces a fateful decision when she’s admitted into an exclusive program run by a mysterious biotech company. Kaden Baker, an elite hacker who dabbles in covert ops, finds her life turned upside down when she discovers her parents turn out to be imposters. Where does she come from? Who’s been financing her high-stakes secret missions? The answers lead back to the same sinister biotech firm. As Kaden and Valerie become allies, they make one startling discovery after another about the company’s dark intentions.

One paramedic, four horsemen, and the end of the world. Dean Flynn sees himself as just a normal paramedic, despite the fact he treats the hidden supernatural creatures inhabiting Elk City. Now, he’s about to make the most important decision of his adult life, but his missing father returns and turns things upside down all over again. Now, Dean has to deal with a city falling apart around him while trying to stop the end of the world. Will he defeat the four horsemen of the apocalypse and send the demons back to hell once and for all, or is he destined to start Armageddon on his own?

It's a miracle when Lysent Corp develops a cure for the zombie virus. A miracle that is years late and unbelievably expensive...and Audra's only chance to save her sister, Belinda, from the viral clutches of cannibalism and general decay. Unable to afford the treatment, Audra offers Belinda as collateral and signs up as a tagger, finding people's wandering zombie family members to be cured. If she delivers on the steep tagging quota, Lysent will cure Belinda.

Yolande Lawrence-Harrison was three things. Smart. A synesthete. And a fake florist. She had returned from aerospace engineering to assist her chronically ill grandmother and learn the science of beauty and flower art. But the reality is, Yolande was far from beautiful. She was a psychological mess grappling with anxiety, PTSD, trust issues, deep self-loathing, and hiding a dark secret that she tried to suffocate in the depths of her tragic memories. Yolande wanted to run. From everything. But she couldn’t.

Nature is unpredictable, as are viruses; when one so volatile surfaces with a vengeance, there is little time to comprehend the devastation and even less time to do anything about it. In the wake of the virus, there are three types of people: those immediately infected, those who are vulnerable, and those who are immune. The initial infection ripples across the globe infecting half of the world's population. A small fraction of the ill are fortunate and die quickly from the disease.

Baltimore’s streets are overrun with enhancers - people who inject themselves with illegally purchased genetic modifications to alter their bodies. While on patrol in a rough neighborhood, Officer Ana Dellaporta discovers the bullet-riddled corpse of an enhancer and suspects a case of typical gang violence. But when another enhancer is found terrorizing the locals, his body mutated by gene mods, Ana unearths an unsettling connection between him and the gunshot victim.

You either build your world or you burn in someone else's. With every fleeting moment, the whole world draws closer to being overcome by the deadliest virus known to man. Steele's family home lies in burnt ruins on the shore of Lake Michigan. His group hunts for his missing mother in the apocalyptic wilderness filled with the dead. Instead he finds a group of refugees badly in need of his skills learned in the shadow war on terror, for they are persecuted at every step by the Chosen, a group of fanatics hell-bent on creating God's Kingdom in the rubble of society.