K-666: BRUTUS — The Mongolian Virus: War through biological weapons

In K-666: BRUTUS—The Mongolian Virus: War through biological weapons (CODEX), one group acts to end lives and control them through the use of biotechnology, while another group acts to stop them and save lives. To change the world’s balance of power in favor of China, BRUTUS—a corrupt Chinese Corporation—releases the genetically modified version of an ancient Mongolian virus, which evolves into a fast-spreading global pandemic. Enters Dr. Dario Casa, an Italian American virologist from Miami who searches for a cure with the help of the United States and the Russian governments. Will Casa and his team be fast enough to stop the Chinese and BRUTUS from doing more damage and claiming more innocent lives?

Alessandro Boccaletti’s book is built around the problems that arise when humanity’s greed for money and power meets advances in technology. I see K-666 as a sort of warning because I believe the events are possible if current and future technologies fall into the wrong hands. I definitely do not wish to have action-blocking nanobots implants in my brain. As we all know, there are claims that coronavirus was produced in a laboratory; the book further explores the hypothesis of a human-caused pandemic with its similar “Mongolian coronavirus” in a mentally stimulating plot.

There’s a lot to like in K-666: the clear descriptions, the profound thoughts, the impressive details about science and technology, and the elaborateness of the plot. Alessandro Boccaletti describes the scenes down to the “wine glasses filled with Prosecco”; they were quite easy to imagine. I especially liked the discussion about how farmers in an Asian village were forced to accept low-paying jobs when the large companies came and depleted their natural resources as it made me ruminate about the costs of capitalism. Also, the scientific details are educative; I learned some new concepts, like the importance of hemoglobin. Lastly, the impressively large world of the story includes plans for the United States and scenes in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

I disliked that the characters seemed distant as their personalities and their activities and relationships away from work are not fully revealed. For example, I wished to know more about Casa’s relationship with his girlfriend, who was mentioned only once. Secondly, the many details about the plans, world, and technology seemed to overshadow its emotional elements and compromise its appeal.

K-666 could only have been created by an intelligent mind as it contains an interesting and thought-provoking collection of themes: power, greed, espionage, manipulation, bribery and corruption, biotechnology, art, and more. The book would certainly enrich readers intellectually. However, I thought the characters could be better developed. Nevertheless, I’m glad I read the book and got to experience the picturesque descriptions.