Character Tour: Dark Biology by Bonnie Doran

I can’t believe it’s Friday already…again! Time is flying by. I have some exciting news to share with you all on Monday, so you can ponder all weekend what that might be about. Today, though, is another edition of The Character Tour. Be sure to check out the end of the post to see who the winners of last week’s giveaways are.

This is a character from Bonnie Doran’s debut novel, Dark Biology, contracted with Pelican Book Group:

I’m Francine. I used to be a POV character in Bonnie’s novel but she practically wrote me out of the book. When I get my hands on that microbe . . .

Actually, the real microbe is Chet, Hildi’s brother. Oh, I haven’t told you about the characters yet. Hildi is my best friend since college (and she’s the main character). We work for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, and I just got promoted to Biosafety Level 4 where Hildi works. That’s the highest level at the CDC. They keep the nastiest bugs there, like Ebola.

Well, Hildi gets the opportunity of a lifetime. She’s going to be an astronaut! And she’ll be experimenting with viruses on the International Space Station. Pretty cool, huh? She’s hoping it’ll win her the Nobel Prize.

But there are a few problems. For one, she’s going into space with her ex-fiancé, Frank, who cheated on her. She forgave him, but she still struggles with it sometimes. He wants to get back together with her. Then there’s Dan, her current boyfriend. I don’t know why she doesn’t cut her losses and break up with him. It’s really an on-again, off-again, going-nowhere relationship.

Dan wants the mission to the moon so bad that he practically neglects Hildi. Dan’s the CAPCOM—capsule communicator—for Frank and Hildi’s mission. He’ll be relaying commands from Mission Control.  Kind of weird to go into space with your ex-fiancé and hear your boyfriend’s voice through the headset.

Frank and Dan used to be best buddies, but now Frank’s jealous that Dan’s dating Hildi.

Hildi’s brother Chet is the villain of the story and a real microbe. I worked with him on Level 4 once. I asked Director Hunt never to do that to me again. He’s brilliant, irresponsible, caustic, and about the angriest person I know.

Chet’s angry at his parents. His father committed adultery and was drummed out of the pastorate. He and Chet’s mom reconciled, but Chet never forgave them. Now they do Christian marriage seminars all over the country. They’re really sweet.

Chet’s so angry that he unleashes a virus at one of their seminars. People start getting sick. And dying. Meanwhile, Chet goes off on a transatlantic cruise.

One of the characters I don’t meet in the novel is Carol. She’s struggling with a stale marriage and convinces her husband to attend the seminar with her. She gets really sick.

Meanwhile, back in space, Frank crashes the capsule into the International Space Station and causes a real mess, including an oxygen leak. Now he’s put everyone’s lives at risk. His guilt almost destroys him. Things keep going from bad to worse.

All of the characters are struggling with forgiveness in one form or another. It’s cool to see how God works in their lives.

I’m not going to give the whole plot away, although I’m tempted because Bonnie cut my part to a supporting role. But if you like science thrillers, get yourself a copy of Dark Biology.

Author Bio:

Bonnie Doran’s heart is in science fiction, but she sold sixty-seven devotional writings before turning to novels. She lives in Denver and has been married for 29 years. Their two Siamese cats help her with her writing.

And now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

Winner’s Circle:

In the Shadows of Sanai: Dana McNeely!

Dana, please email me at raleneburke (at) yahoo (dot) so we can get you a copy.