The Chinese Puzzle

The world faces a new enemy, one that has already scourged Africa and the tropics and is poised to strike at the heart of developed countries. A drug resistant strain of malaria that is no respecter of political or geographical boundaries establishes itself in Europe's flooded lowlands, resulting from rising water levels attributed to global warming. In Somalia and greater Africa unbridled civil war threatens, demanding intervention by the military might of the western world, but allied political leaders will not risk troops where, in the past, malaria has killed more humans than any armed conflict. Frantic attempts ensue to develop a revolutionary vaccine and secure access to an ancient therapy dubbed the 'Chinese Puzzle'. Vast profits are to be made by unscrupulous companies prepared to use their own mercenary forces to gain control. Kate Mackenzie and her fellow researcher and one time lover Rashta Green, each battling personal conflicts, try to ensure the vaccine is developed and used primarily for the vulnerable. They have little knowledge of the evil forces arrayed against them.