SARS-like virus unleashed in new novel

Local author Steven Schlossstein takes on bioterrorism in his latest novel.

By: Jeff Milgram
   In 1997, Princeton author and business consultant Steven Schlossstein was working for the Sarnoff Corp. on ways to open up the Asian markets when a rare avian virus killed a dozen people in Hong Kong — the first time in medical history that the "chicken flu" migrated directly from birds to humans.
   To prevent the virus from spreading, officials killed 1.2 million chickens.
   "I asked myself, ‘What if the virus was man-made?’" Mr. Schlossstein said.
   The result of his rhetorical question was his third novel and sixth book, "The Jiangxi Virus" (Phenix & Phenix, 2002), the fictional story of a rogue Chinese colonel who unleashes a deadly genetically engineered virus that could kill a million Americans.
   The colonel’s plan involves using a planeload of infected passengers on a Shanghai-to-Newark flight, with a backup plan using a crop duster in California to spread the deadly disease.
   "If the rogue Colonel Fu could broadcast microparticles of this lethal virus just once by means of an aerosol, he’d have the most powerful, efficient and undetectable biological weapon of all: ordinary people doing ordinary things — breathing, talking, laughing, sneezing, coughing, kissing, embracing," Mr. Schlossstein wrote in his book.
   Months after "Jiangxi (pronounced JOHN ZEE) Virus" was published, SARS — Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome — made headlines when it mysteriously appeared in flights originating in the Far East.
   "On Sept. 11, more than 3,000 innocent civilians perished when the suicide bombers savagely attacked New York and Washington," Mr. Schlossstein said. "But in 1918, more than half a million Americans — more than all our citizens who lost their lives in the two world wars, Vietnam and Korea combined — died within months of each other from the Spanish flu. We know now that shameless cowards are willing to attack and kill innocent civilians to create an atmosphere of fear and terror, so the threat of war in the 21st century has been redefined. From our three key tactics of fighting terrorism — prevention, interdiction and early response — only early response can be effective against a bioterrorist attack. This is because germs are invisible and they won’t be discovered in random pat-downs or caught by X-ray scanners or stopped at the border."
   SARS killed hundreds of people in Asia and Toronto before the spread of the mysterious disease peaked.
   "Fortunately, it’s no longer front-page news," said Mr. Schlossstein, who sees nothing ominous or deliberate in the spread of SARS.
   "Viruses weaken as they spread as more and more human beings get infected with weakened viruses and the immune system becomes stronger," he said.
   Mr. Schlossstein holds a master’s degree in Japanese history from the University of Hawaii and advanced degrees from the Business School of Columbia University. He speaks and reads Japanese, French and German.
   He divides his time between writing and consulting for businesses on Asian trade. From 1969 to 1982 he was with J.P. Morgan & Co., with assignments in New York City, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Dusseldorf, Germany.
   From 1969 to 1982, he was vice president of Morgan’s East Asia merger and acquisition unit and negotiated the first acquisitions by Japanese firms in the American market.
   His first novel was "Kensei," a 1983 story of Japanese industrial espionage in Silicon Valley. He followed that in 1990 with "Yakuza," a tale of the Japanese underworld.
   In between, he’s written nonfiction books about international trade.
   For "Jiangxi Virus," Mr. Schlossstein spent months interviewing experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and members of the American Society of Microbiologists.
   He believes the American public-health system is better prepared to handle biological terrorism threats than it was two years ago.
   "The more we know the better off we are," he said.
   He thinks the next terrorist threat to the United States may not come from biological weapons.
   "I’ve felt for a long time that the bridges and tunnels in the New York area are very vulnerable to terrorism," Mr. Schlossstein said. Also at risk are symbolic American landmarks, he said.
   When he is writing, he makes himself work from 6 a.m. to noon. "I write because I have to," Mr. Schlossstein said. "It’s hard work. It’s isolating. It’s lonely." His next novel, "crime.com," a light-hearted crime caper centering on the Russian mob’s attempt to steal money from a New York bank, will come out in November. "It’s what hap- pens when the Sopranos meet the KGB," he said.
   After that, he will work on "Tiger on the Bosporus," a nonfiction book about the economic potential of Turkey.