In Chicago, a pregnant cafeteria worker suffering nothing more malevolent than flu like symptoms begins haemorrhaging from every part of her body. In Boston, a brilliant musician, her face disfigured by an unknown disease, rapidly descends into lethal paranoia. In West Virginia, a miner suddenly goes berserk, causing a cave-in that kills two of his co-workers. Finding the link between these events could prove Fatal...Five years ago, internist and emergency specialist Matt Rutledge returned to his West Virginia home to marry his high-school sweetheart and open a practice. He also had a score to settle. His father died whilst working for the local mining company, and Matt swore to expose their health and safety violations. When his beloved wife succumbed to an unusual cancer, his campaign became even more bitterly personal. Now he has identified bizarre new incidents of illness - caused, he is certain, by the mine's careless disposal of toxic chemicals. All he needs is proof. "Fatal will, I hope, become the most controversial of my books. Five years ago, I began to think that I might want to write a thriller dealing with vaccinations. My interest in the field was the result of our efforts to diagnose and treat the developmental delay of our son, Luke. Luke received the standard vaccinations but at 8-months of age he began having ear-infections almost continuously...By the time Luke was 3 years old he was diagnosed as having a form of autism. In making the rounds of various treatment centres, I became acquainted with many, many parents and the similarities were often striking. More and more the issue of vaccinations came up - could our children's immunisations have somehow compromised their immune systems, making them prone to ear infections and the subsequent dangers of excess antibiotics?"