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. "An unnerving glimpse into what our lives could look like as the planet heats up over the next twenty years."

-Sandra Miller, author of Where Light Comes and Goes