The Cardiology of Broken Things

According to African legend, the God of Creation fashioned a ladder to Heaven to escape humanity, destroying the steps behind him. This was no coincidence. . . . When cardiologist Ian Kentwood volunteered to monitor a vaccination program in the heart of western Africa, he never expected to stumble upon the riddle of a child massacre. Now the clock is ticking, its hands filling with blood as humanity dwindles in a world filled with humans. Insurgently delving into the mystery, Ian ignites the rage of conglomerate puppeteers who would go to desperate measures to preserve their deadly secrets. Their influence extends even to the Lebanese-American consultant who has become his greatest weakness: Lena Nasri, hiding her own parade of skeletons. But monsters cease to live in closets once we welcome them into our beds and rib cages. And once within, they don't like to let go.