The outbreak of an epidemic or a plague that cannot be stopped has been a national concern since the mid-1970s.

Biotechnology is a new and growing field.

Plants and animals that have been genetically engineered make headlines in the early twenty-first century. The fear of terrorism has replaced the fear of a nuclear attack in the eyes of many Americans. Evil and greed seem to pervade the world. The United States, as a world power and one of the wealthiest countries ever to exist, becomes a target for terrorism from other countries and from within all too frequently. The government organizations responsible for stemming this terrorism seem at times to believe that any means, whether morally or legally correct, is justifiable if the end result is a safer America. These concerns are all at issue in And Then You Die . . . by Iris Johansen.

And Then...