Reaper

The revenge murder Jim Reaper starts to plan becomes complicated when thousands begin to die in a natural disaster that almost kills the world Lonely and embittered ex-cop Jim Reaper has nothing much to live foruntil he learns that the man who raped his 14-year-old daughter is out of prison after serving only three years. Obsessed with vengeance, Reaper is largely indifferent to reports of what the media have labeled SuperSARS , a virulent pandemic sweeping westwards from China. It is the apocalypse that everyone predicted, but no one believed would ever happen. It wipes out 98 per cent of the world's population as well as every vestige of government, law enforcement, and civilized society. Still traumatized by the loss of their loved ones, many now simply struggle to survive while hoping rebuild a decent life for themselves in a world full of fear and uncertainty; where every town and city is a hell of shadows, smoke, and distant screams; where feral gangs simply take what they want and savagery is rife. All Jim Reaper had ever wanted to do was take his revenge and then die. But the fates that have taken the lives of so many others have different plans for Reaper: his destiny is to become an instrument of both salvation and retribution in a torn and desperate land.

Jon Grahame is the pseudonym of journalist and writer Denis Kilcommons who won the John Creasey Award for his first book The Dark Apostle.