Genre: Science Fiction
The first book in the Protocol series, The Protocol Experiment, by author James Zollern. Additional books in the series are in progress.
For decades, a covert government alliance has operated in secrecy, quietly safeguarding both human and extraterrestrial life. Their mission remains hidden, until a hyper-intelligent computer virus of unknown, otherworldly origin breaches every major global system. Unlike anything humanity has faced before, the virus doesn’t stop at machines. It learns, adapts... and infects the human body itself.
On July 28, 2036, a sudden and mysterious illness sweeps across the planet. As millions fall gravely ill, Sean Caldwell, a software designer from Applewood, Tennessee, uncovers evidence that the outbreak is not natural, but cosmic in origin. What begins as a digital anomaly reveals a terrifying truth: Earth has become the opening move in a far larger interstellar conflict.
With the world spiraling toward collapse, Sean teams up with unlikely allies while confronting the ghosts of his own past. As governments deny the truth and chaos spreads, he must race to expose what’s really happening before humanity is dragged into a war it doesn’t even know it’s fighting.
The invaders are not here simply to conquer. Their true purpose is buried beneath layers of secrecy: an unspeakable truth that no one dares acknowledge. If it remains hidden, humanity won’t just lose the war.
It will cease to exist.