MayaVerse

Borrelia is the second novel featuring Maya Maguire, medical detective, in her journey as an Asian American veterinarian solving microbial mysteries. A pregnant New Mexico woman is dying from relapsing fever and reaction to her treatment for infection with Borrelia, a squiggly spirochete bacteria. After searching for blood-sucking ticks at the patient's cabin, veterinarian Maya Maguire of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a car accident which upends the confidence gained during her first year of CDC training. Her childhood panic disorder and struggles with its treatment block Maya's dreams of achieving balance between demands of public health and her almost-fiancé, a physician incapacitated by Arizona anthrax. Summer heatwaves spike lice-associated Borrelia in Europe. Maya consults on a surge of deaths in Borrelia-infected refugees relocated to Norway. When extending her mission to Portugal and Morocco, impacts from her fieldwork pile up. At home, she juggles support for a harassed friend and a colleague rejected by his biological family, while mentoring a trainee stepping over the line. Protecting those she loves backfires when she hides her own legal jeopardy. Maya successfully battles Borrelia until swept up in an Atlanta protest march. Juggling difficult choices of disclosure versus service threaten to overwhelm, until recovery of a loved one and decisions about the future allow her to take important steps forward.

Deadly … Exotic … Frightening"Ebola: A Microbial Mystery" weaves together an intricate tapestry of global public‐health crises, wildlife conservation, and a deeply personal journey of grief and redemption. Set against the backdrop of disease outbreaks across West Africa and beyond, the story follows veterinarians, physicians, and conservationists who must navigate treacherous field expeditions, steep cultural divides, and ethical dilemmas. As each character strives to uncover the origin of the deadly virus while reconciling past losses and strained relationships, they confront the limits of modern science and the unpredictable power of nature.At its core, the novel explores the intersection between human vulnerability and the environment's relentless power. It examines how global public‐health crises force us to confront our own mortality, ethical responsibilities, and the limits of scientific control. Characters are set against the grandeur and brutality of the natural world, including lush, dangerous jungles and teaming cityscapes, highlighting a constant tension between progress and ethical compromise.The novel overall fits best as a medical thriller with strong elements of adventure fiction and contemporary literary drama. It combines high-stakes global public-health investigations with intense personal, cultural, and wildlife conflicts. This blend anchors its pulse-pounding suspense alongside in-depth character exploration, setting it apart as both an edge-of-your-seat thriller and a thoughtful meditation on human and natural vulnerability.Point-of-View CharactersMaya Maguire, a young American veterinary epidemiologist adopted as an infant from China, craves clarity and understanding about why global health crises (especially Ebola) occur. As a trainee with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, she's driven not only by the need to protect human lives but also by a deeper desire to uncover connections between human activity, a changing climate, and disease outbreaks. Maya's research and fieldwork is her primary passion, but she's torn by her need for love and companionship.Stefan Duda is a Polish physician working for the World Health Organization (WHO). Prioritizing his public health mission creates conflict with his partner, Kondrat, who bears the lion's share of responsibility for raising their adopted daughter in Norway. Stefan repeatedly drags Maya into dangerous disease investigations.Faye Simpson, retired as New York City's public health veterinarian, finds herself at loose ends for a meaningful mission. Then Ebola pulls her back into disease detective mode.Taylor Lewis, of Ghanaian ancestry, is the Chief of Staff for a hospital on Staten Island. As a trans female, Taylor uses code-switching to negotiate medical and leadership responsibilities. Taylor's uncle in Ghana begs for help in battling Ebola, posing professional challenges and personal threats.Biko Okeke is a new community health physician who leads colleagues to a gorilla sanctuary near his home in Nigeria before the explosion of a multinational Ebola outbreak. At the end of the novel, he relinquishes guiding responsibility to his younger sister as he questions his future role with WHO.Mark Zielinski is a powerful attorney and philanthropist in the American Southwest. He bonds with Maya during their shared recovery in New Mexico from serious health and family challenges, then tips their relationship from close friends to lovers.Join these intriguing and diverse characters as their lives are stitched together by the shepherd's crook of the Ebola virus which kills primates like gorillas and more than half of infected people. MILLICENT EIDSON is the author of the alphabetical Maya Maguire microbial mystery series. The MayaVerse at https://drmayamaguire.com includes prequels, "El Chinche" in Danse Macabre and "What's Within" in Fiction on the Web, and a side story, "Pérdida" in El Portal Literary Journal. Author awards include