Spore

"The spore is a planetary T-lymphocyte. It attacks any infection that upsets the balance of nature. And the current infection right now is: humanity." An epidemic of unknown origin breaks out in America: under the influence of a spore, patients begin to be covered in golden and black spots, tattoo-like "dragon scales", and then suddenly, after a long time, they catch fire. There is no antidote to spontaneous self-inflammation, whoever has the spots will burn. The protagonist of the novel is Harper, a hospital nurse who has seen hundreds of patients die, so she and her husband agree that if she gets sick, she will commit suicide. But when it turns out that she is also infected, she is already pregnant, and she definitely wants to carry the fetus to term before it burns, since she knows that in many cases other infected women have also given birth to intact, healthy children. Amidst the general collapse and chaos, Harper's husband loses his mind, leaving his wife alone, who is not alone in her fight for survival: a mysterious man, the Fireman, who is also infected but can prevent spontaneous combustion and roams the countryside as a mad enforcer, may be able to give Harper his life-saving secret in time... The fever-dream-like, apocalyptic novel from the author of Horns and Nos4A2 is a worldwide bestseller. Like Cormac McCarthy's "The Road" and the TV series "The Walking Dead," "Spore" reminds us that the greatest danger lurking in the shadows is always other people. - Los Angeles Times