Decimation: The Girl Who Survived by Richard T Burke

The Blurb

How far would you go to save the human race? In 2017 a virus sweeps across the world and infects every living person. It lies dormant until a woman gives birth. Then she dies. Fifteen years later, nobody has survived childbirth since the outbreak began. Teenage wheelchair athlete, Antimone Lessing, thought she would be competing at the Delhi 2032 Paralympics. Instead, she is nine months pregnant and commencing labour. When she unexpectedly survives, she becomes a vital clue in the race to develop a cure before the global population declines beyond the point of no return. But survival comes at a price. As her doctors try to understand why she is still alive, she must choose between preserving humanity's future and protecting the life of her newborn child.

My Review

This was another FB recommendation as I don't read scientific-fi. Set in the not too distant future it was not too far out of my comfort zone and not set in another galaxy. A young girl is pregnant and survives childbirth when every other woman dies at the end of her pregnancy due to an incurable virus that has swept the world. Her survival has left her prey to an unscrupulous government-financed research facility where she is held against her will to undergo 'tests' with an aim to find a money-spinning cure. A real page turner that had me hooked from start to finish. I will be looking out for more of Richard T Burke's work in the not too distant future.