Selling points for science thriller "Ninth Day of Creation"

Click on image for
Ninth Day Intro

It's a well-paced, thoroughly
researched, and engaging
bioscience/medical
thriller unlike anything
else in the market

It's a big book:
290,000 words

As readers, we each have an idea of what we like in a work of fiction. Our individual preferences may differ widely, but one common theme unites us in the search for that next great book: we're all looking for a story sizzling with new ideas. We want to go where we've never been before.

Here are some of the themes explored in Ninth Day of Creation which promise to do just that---take you on a journey through the scientific landscape of the near future, and do it while delivering a great story in the traditional thriller format:

The realization of a scientifically feasible cure for AIDS, based on a novel triple-helix genetic medicine (see image on this page, third strand in yellow). In real life these drugs have been thwarted by basic problems in biochemistry which the hero, Richard Kirby, manages to solve.
An exploration of what it would mean to solve the "protein folding problem" in biology. The implications are presented not only for medicine---gene therapy, cancer research, etc---but also germ warfare research.
The implications for the postulated discovery of new types of human genes---in real life some of these have already been found---which would allow for the construction of radically new and controversial forms of biological weaponry. In the novel such a weapon is constructed before the reader's eyes, showing how this might be done---in this instance for an agent of mass destruction of a type which only recently has the CIA discussed publicly.
The resurrection for illicit commercial purposes of the microbe responsible for the influenza pandemic of 1918. In real life this virus, which killed perhaps 40 million people, is currently being reconstructed at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, D.C. The scientist in charge of this effort was the cellular pathologist who reviewed the book.
A major environmental crisis---a nation-destroying famine that takes place in China, brought on by global warming.
The Chinese invasion of Taiwan, and America's response to it.
A study of what it might mean for Mexico to turn its back on the U.S. and side with other allies. This plot line includes the U.S. government's consideration of an armed invasion of the country when a rebel government sets up shop in Mexico City.
The exploration of a U.S. Navy technology---a submarine-hunting capability---so new that in real life the vessel that will supply it will not be completed until the year 2000. The technology is so secret that the Navy will not even discuss the layout of the interior of the boat, let alone the equipment it will carry. The sub-hunting conflicts in "Ninth Day of Creation" are based on studies of the scientific literature and estimates of what in principle should be physically possible. This has allowed me to construct naval scenarios never before seen in fiction.

These plot elements of "Ninth Day of Creation" have been painstakingly researched and woven into the story. Needless to say, it is not a tale which easily lends itself to the 120,000-word format. It is a big story, specifically aimed at a big audience.

Note: a reader's report suggests the extent to which the above ideas were able to be implemented in the book.