Michael Lewis is the author of The Premonition, in which he continues his tradition of writing about outsiders who challenge accepted norms. Lewis is a gifted storyteller who prioritizes the stories of people like Charity Dean rather than trying to convince readers of his arguments through data alone.

Bob Glass is a scientist who works for Sandia National Laboratories, and Laura Dean is his daughter. Laura studies the spread of viruses as part of a science fair project. She and Bob grow obsessed with pandemics. With his help, her idea about containment through isolation becomes a model that will eventually serve as a blueprint for social distancing.

A California health care official, Charity Dean is obsessed with infectious diseases and prior to COVID focused on tuberculosis. Dean is committed to her job, which compounds her exasperation and bewilderment when she finds herself at odds with the CDC. She’s unafraid of taking the lead to do what's right, as when she performs a biopsy on a TB patient in front of a frightened coroner who thinks she doesn’t have the stomach for it. Dean becomes