In Boccaletti’s thriller, an American scientist races to fight the spread of a deadly pathogen, unleashed as part of a Chinese conspiracy to establish global hegemony.

In 2006, a team of explorers on an expedition in Mongolia stumble upon a “mysterious, ancient virus” living inside the corpse of a mammoth, preserved within the icy ecosystem of a glacier. Once released, the virus kills every member of the group within a few days, but instead of seeing it as a tragedy, the Chinese government sees it as an opportunity—a “scalable and usable weapon against modern societies.” Wealthy businessman and chemist Dr. Li supervises an official project with the aim of weaponizing the virus, known as K-666; the ultimate purpose is to bring the Western world—and in particular, the United States—to heel, leaving China as the planet’s sole superpower. In terms that are evocative of a comic-book villain, Li explains his aspirations: “The Chinese Dragon, in the end, will have its own paws on the world, and whoever tries to change things will be squashed by the paws’ own weight.” Research is secretly conducted in the hinterlands of the South Gobi Desert, but when 10 shepherds die of the virus, three Russian scientists are called in to investigate, and they soon disappear without a trace. However, one was able to send the investigative data to Dr. Dario Casa, an American virologist working on cutting-edge research for the United States Army. Over the course of this thriller, Boccaletti offers a topical story that includes scenes in Wuhan, China, and displays an impressive level of scientific sophistication in its descriptions. However, the author’s prose style lacks flair; instead, much of the work reads like a white paper, replete with technical charts and maps. Furthermore, it’s a very short work—one that’s well under 150 pages in length—which leaves the author little time to develop authentic characters—most of them instead feel underdeveloped—or a plausible plot. In the end, the book reads less like a novella than notes toward a longer work to be composed in the future.

A dramatically flat and sketchy tale of dueling scientists.

A short debut guide presents the common causes, complications, and cultural norms surrounding weight issues.

Without preaching, Boccaletti supplies facts and statistical studies dealing with the causes of obesity and severe weight problems. He aims to reach a general audience with clear, accessible information. From the beginning, the book highlights the importance of instilling healthy habits early, as the author notes that when children consume extra calories, they develop additional fat cells that can never be lost. Adults only shrink and grow the fat cells already existing in the body, making it important to manage weight from an early age. The book covers strategies to keep the body hydrated and the metabolism functioning healthily, such as drinking water and eating nonprocessed foods like cucumbers, spices, and other whole vegetables and fruits. This volume is appropriate for anyone interested in a broad overview of the issues surrounding obesity, including disorders that stem from severe weight gain, like diabetes, hypertension, and asthma. The author provides historical and geographical data, such as the countries of the world with the highest body mass indexes per capita, noting shocking statistics, such as the fact that the United States is 68 percent overweight or obese, compared to 38 percent worldwide. The book doesn’t just deliver facts, but also suggestions that are practical and simple, such as getting outside for a few hours a day to garden or walk, sticking to natural foods, and reducing salt and sugar. But the author reinforces that the most important tool a person possesses for maintaining health is frequent movement. The author, with extensive corporate experience, also highlights the tactics companies use to advertise and lure consumers toward eating large amounts of processed foods. At times, parts of the book are a bit simplistic, such as explanations of how businesses profit from marking up products and remain driven by profit, not human benefit. But the vast majority of the guide supplies well-researched data that a reader can use to understand the impacts and causes of corpulence in the United States and beyond.

A concise, informative look at the problem of obesity and the factors that make it a rapidly growing epidemic.

Australian scientists develop of a vaccine to eradicate obesity, which ignites a swift and ultimately lethal response from an international pharmaceutical organization in Boccaletti’s (Big, Fat American Lion Book, 2016) thriller.

Biologist and medical researcher Dr. Alex Bauman is researching obesity at a university in Brisbane, Australia, along with Drs. Steve Mallony and Nigel McTaggart. Alex, at nearly 300 pounds, is himself obese, and he does technical diving training as exercise. During one dive, he collects a finger coral that apparently regulates fat in its cells as a defense against pollution and seasonally hot water temperatures. The scientists extract enzymes from the coral back at the lab and soon create a potential obesity vaccine. Alex subsequently agrees to be a guinea pig, and Steve and Nigel monitor him for 10 days following an injection. He not only loses 125 pounds, but also has a newfound “strong desire” to eat metabolism-boosting foods. After the group’s presentation to the university’s supervisory board, one board member calls Nero Poline, the CEO of the Stiffton Drug Corporation in the United States. Stiffton thrives by profiting from drugs for weight-related illnesses. Poline has powerful friends, including corrupt U.S. senator and presidential hopeful Marc Thwane, and belongs to global pharma organization ZEUS. Getting hold of the vaccine’s formula is one thing, but ZEUS’ board also deems it best to commission a retired SEAL team to kill Alex and the others. Boccaletti’s straightforward prose is intelligent and informative; he takes the topic of obesity seriously and organically moves the story on to other issues, such as climate change and alternative energy. However, the comprehensive details sometimes stall the narrative. A lengthy presentation, for example, breaks down obesity percentages by country and lists additional ailments that obesity can cause; Qatar bank owner Sharif Al-Khalifa appears as a potential ally for assassin-dodging Alex, but the specifics of his proposal for an environmentally friendly “smart city” do little to advance the plot. However, Alex’s global trek gives the story flavor with its ever-changing locales, including Russia and Dubai, while the assassins’ various murder attempts (using poisons from exotic animals, among other means) are morbidly entertaining.

An appealing tale of conspiracy and murder, occasionally interrupted by excessive particulars.

In this debut novel, an emperor establishes a clandestine order to protect and disseminate spiritual secrets that predate the birth of Jesus.

Aram is a nomadic trader traveling through ancient Syria. Isha, his caravan’s leader, encourages him to seek out the spiritual counsel of Murduk, a “silent observer of the universe,” who paradoxically turns out to be uncommonly garrulous and eager to impart his wisdom. Murduk shares with Aram a combination of cosmological and moral teachings, the former vaguely reminiscent of Christian eschatology. Apparently, the “ancient engineers of our species” have left instructions for their return, “when time and space interact in such a way as to open the stargate again.” In addition, there will a decisive battle between the forces of good and evil, which will “drive the planet into an obscure tunnel of death and devastation.” Aram is shown how to interpret the signs—the novel is filled with diagrams that illustrate the messages—and is given an amulet that contains a hexagram within a circle apparently encrypted with spiritual knowledge. The bulk of this tale is devoted to the aftermath of Aram’s spiritual enlightenment—he becomes a great prophet, and his legacy is continued by powerful men like Roman Emperor Traianus. Emperor Constantine eventually founds the Constantine Order devoted to the perpetuation of Aram’s work, and its illustrious membership includes Attila the Hun and Leonardo da Vinci. Consta makes this order the prime mover of world history—the Crusades, the Egyptian pyramids, and King Solomon’s Temple can all be linked to the group.

The tantalizingly inventive aspect of the author’s tale is the possibility of an “inner core” of “prophetic symbols received by the prophet Aram” thousands of years before the births of Jesus and Allah. But the ambitious expanse of history covered here has a price—Consta doesn’t create authentic characters. This isn’t really a novel in the usual sense of the term but an intricate history—it reads much more like an attempt to compose scripture than a literary production. This gives the entire work a ponderous feel, and the prose only reinforces that effect. The author’s writing is often densely packed and bewilderingly vague. The passages meant to elucidate the nature of the prophetic teachings are the most turgid: “Supreme Master, created from the same blood of Aram and the eternal perseverance and persistence of the crossed axis of the celestial globe and the sacred, unified will and wisdom of God, which humbly point us to the sacred points of the lights designated from our creators, ascend to the top of this temple and point us with the sacred sword to the right Blazing Star.” While Consta’s work is reminiscent of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, it fails to fully develop the intriguing novelistic elements of the story.

An innovative but uneven spiritual tale.