In the wake of the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic

The world learned some big lessons. But not enough. Life eventually returned to normal, affluence and profligate activity increased - it was The Best of Times. But then the gap between the Haves and the Have-Nots grew. Finally, halfway through the 21st century urban riots, drone warfare and nuclear war, followed by the Ultimate Virus, wiped out the world's population - save a little colony on Australia's Bondi Beach, which sets about rebuilding a new world.

Written before the COVID-19 pandemic, in response to the conjecture of Australian Professor Huw Price, Head of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at Cambridge University, that a mega virus was one of the major existential threats facing our society, this is a story of a great love affair, political intrigue, danger and heroic - and mock-heroic - endeavour, as well as a warning of what could be in store for us all.