The review of how my fictional scenarios have paralleled 2019’s news stories continues this month with a few more eerie examples. Bad guys, sinister technology, and more… 

Enemy Of The State 
One of the biggest stories this past fall was the military raid that ended with ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi being blown up in a Syrian tunnel.

In my Enemy of the State scenario, it happened in Iraq and Mitch Rapp was the one who set off the explosion, but I’m going to take the win. I’ve put a lot of effort into tracking the demise of ISIS in the series and it’s worked out better than I’d hoped. Good riddance to those psychopaths. Hopefully they stay gone.

The Patriot Attack
I wrote about The Patriot Attack in my Stranger Than Fiction 2019 post last January but it’s back again due to the incredible advances in artificial intelligence.

My 2015 book revolved around a secret weapons development program being carried out by Japan. Their goal was to put themselves in a position to defend against a much larger and more populous China. One of the ways they planned to do this was with AI-controlled torpedoes that could take out an enemy’s navy. These real-world subs and underwater robots are just one more step in the direction of that becoming a reality.

Over the past year, I’ve seen an increasing number of articles about AI-driven military tech like this US tank. In some cases we’re talking about weapons that completely remove humans from the decision-making process. Let’s hope they don’t turn on us one day.

The Ares Decision
In 2011, The Ares Decision explored a parasitic infection weaponized by the Iranians. The novel starts in a small American town where many parents have refused to vaccinate their children. Not surprisingly, this results in a measles outbreak that’s serious enough to demand the attention of my protagonist, army infectious disease specialist Colonel Jon Smith.

In 2019, America suffered one of the most serious measles outbreaks since the disease was eradicated domestically in 2000. Anti-vaccination activists are a persistent bunch, unfortunately.

That wraps it up for 2019. Interestingly, the new year has kicked off with a bang. I’ve already flagged a number of stories that I’ll report on next January. 

Until then...

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