‘The End of October’: Lawrence Wright’s novel is a prescient look at a global pandemic

In the new novel “The End of October,” a deadly, never-before-seen virus pops up in Asia and spreads quickly around the world. There’s a rush to develop some kind of treatment and vaccine. Shelter-in-place orders are enforced. There are supply shortages and conspiracy theories. In the U.S., the vice president is named the point person to handle the outbreak. Globally, hundreds of millions of people are infected. Economies crumble.

This book was written long before COVID-19 happened, and it’s based on lots of research and interviews with doctors and officials from the Centers for Disease Control. It’s authored by Pulitzer Prize winner Lawrence Wright, who also wrote the “The Looming Tower: Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11” and “Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, & the Prison of Belief.”

“It’s not surprising to me that what I wrote about in a novel is like what’s happening to us, because all these experts told me this is exactly what would happen,” says Wright. “People knew about our shortcomings and they weren’t shy about telling me about it. So I wasn’t surprised. I just have to say I’m terribly dismayed.”

Read an excerpt:

Chapter 1: Geneva

In a large auditorium in Geneva, a parliament of health officials gathered for the final afternoon session on emergency infectious diseases. The audience was restless, worn out by the day-long meetings and worried about catching their flights. The terrorist attack in Rome had everyone on edge.

Excerpted from THE END OF OCTOBER by Lawrence Wright. Copyright © 2020 by Lawrence Wright. Excerpted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.