The Fever Hut

By: Edward McSweegan

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

In the summer of 1898, Duncan Cleary, a young army surgeon, is dodging bullets in the Cuban jungle. He’s in a chaotic little war made worse by elderly Civil War generals and deadly tropical diseases. At the war’s end, he boards a hospital ship to Havana where he finds new dangers: a bombmaker in need of a doctor, photographs of an exploding ship, and foreign officials who want the bomber and his photographs, even at the cost of kidnapping and murder.

Even more disturbing is the outbreak of yellow fever. Finding its cure will end the terror of epidemic death in the Americas and bring glory to the man who does it. Walter Reed arrives in Cuba with orders to investigate the disease. Cleary works with Reed and his colleagues as they race against antiquated ideas, foreign competitors, and each other to find a cure and claim a place in history.

“The author keeps readers riveted from the first page, as he takes them on a dark, twisted and dangerous journey to Cuba in the late 19th century, where deadly disease, North/South, and black/white American prejudice thrive in the steamy jungles. I really enjoyed this amazing book by a truly masterful writer!” —Harriette Rinaldi, author of Four Faces of Truth

With exquisite detail, McSweegan draws you in and illustrates both the futility and chaos of war against man and the battle against disease. He artfully inserts enough friendship, love, mystery, and even comic relief to break the tension of this novel that introduces the reader to this little known part of history, which had a significant influence on the future of world politics and the practice of medicine.” –Jane Ver Mulm, author of Finding Paradise

“The Fever Hut is a unique look at the American invasion of Cuba in 1898 (Remember the Maine!) through the eyes of doctors searching frantically for the source of Yellow Fever. Doctor Duncan Cleary does pioneering lab analyses and self-inoculates with the disease to record its effects. He also deals with military bureaucracy and instituted racism, threats from German officials, and manages to fall in love in this very readable, deeply researched, historical novel.” –Rod Barfield, author Tempest on the Outer Banks

“The Fever Hut skillfully relates the story of the first appearance of the United States Army on the world stage, successfully launching a sea-borne invasion, rapidly defeating an entrenched army, and occupying Spain’s colony of Cuba. Surprisingly, Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders, made famous by this event, received a mere mention from the author, who focused on honoring doctors and scientists of the Army Medical Corp. for discovering the source of Yellow Fever, which had stumped the world’s finest minds. This novel is a page-turner whose relatable fictional characters inject humor, romance, and camaraderie, breathing life into the people history has recognized as contributing to solving this mystery of science and nature. Overcoming race prejudice and surviving attempted murder to preserve evidence of Germany’s possible involvement in the sinking of the USS MAINE, foiling the Kaiser’s design of domineering Cuba mere miles from the American Homeland.” –Edward Cuddy, author of 1777: The Year of Destiny