The Perfect Predator cover art

The Perfect Predator

A Scientist's Race to Save Her Husband from a Deadly Superbug: A Memoir

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The Perfect Predator

By: Steffanie Strathdee, Thomas Patterson, Teresa Barker
Narrated by: Christine Lakin, Dan Woren
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About this listen

 An electrifying memoir of one woman's extraordinary effort to save her husband's life-and the discovery of a forgotten cure that has the potential to save millions more.
"A memoir that reads like a thriller." -New York Times Book Review

"A fascinating and terrifying peek into the devastating outcomes of antibiotic misuse-and what happens when standard health care falls short." -Scientific American

Epidemiologist Steffanie Strathdee and her husband, psychologist Tom Patterson, were vacationing in Egypt when Tom came down with a stomach bug. What at first seemed like a case of food poisoning quickly turned critical, and by the time Tom had been transferred via emergency medevac to the world-class medical center at UC San Diego, where both he and Steffanie worked, blood work revealed why modern medicine was failing: Tom was fighting one of the most dangerous, antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the world.

Frantic, Steffanie combed through research old and new and came across phage therapy: the idea that the right virus, aka "the perfect predator," can kill even the most lethal bacteria. Phage treatment had fallen out of favor almost 100 years ago, after antibiotic use went mainstream. Now, with time running out, Steffanie appealed to phage researchers all over the world for help. She found allies at the FDA, researchers from Texas A&M, and a clandestine Navy biomedical center -- and together they resurrected a forgotten cure.

A nail-biting medical mystery, The Perfect Predator is a story of love and survival against all odds, and the (re)discovery of a powerful new weapon in the global superbug crisis.

 Biological Sciences Biology Professionals & Academics Science Science & Technology Memoir Marriage Medicine

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Critic reviews

Amazon, "Best Books of 2019 (Science)"
Goodreads Choice Awards, Semifinalist (Science & Technology)

STAT News, "Best Health and Science Books to Read This Summer"
Audie Awards, "Nonfiction" Finalist (2020)
"A fascinating and terrifying peek into the devastating outcomes of antibiotic misuse -- and what happens when standard health care falls short."—Scientific American
"[A] gripping and intriguing medical thriller...This page-turner of a couple's determination to survive also serves as a dire warning regarding the consequences of the overuse of antibiotics."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A thriller, a detective story, and at its core a profound romance, The Perfect Predator is [a] breathtaking story.... It's a warning of the havoc that awaits us as antibiotics lose their power, and a glimpse of the science that could hold that dark future at bay - if we can summon the funding and the political will to create it."—Maryn McKenna, Senior Fellow of the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University and author of Big Chicken and Superbug
"At once terrifying and inspiring, The Perfect Predator is a brilliant race-against-the-clock medical thriller that is also a celebration of love, commitment, and the power of scientific collaboration."—Steven Johnson, New York Times bestselling author of Where Good Ideas Come From and The Ghost Map
"A remarkable story of love, resilience, the science of discovery, and quite possibly the future of medicine."—Richard Horton, FRCP, FMedSci, Editor-in-Chief, The Lancet
"One of the single most compelling personal stories we've ever heard."—Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry, authors of The Essential Guide to Getting yourBook Published
"A real-life medical thriller...fast paced [and] the writing is always infused with humor, hope, and intelligence, and the couple's remarkable story is grounded in real-life details that bring readers directly into their world. Dark, surreal poetic."—Kirkus Reviews
"The Perfect Predator is a compelling and heart-wrenching medical drama that would be completely unbelievable - if it weren't 100% true! Strathdee and Patterson masterfully weave together the personal, medical, and scientific strands of their battle against one of the world's worst superbugs, bringing not just Patterson, but a century-old medical technology back from the brink of death. This first-hand account of the front lines of the battle against the scourge of antimicrobial resistance underscores the human cost underlying the bland statistics."—Rob Knight, PhD, Director, Center for Microbiome Innovation, University of California San Diego and author of Follow Your Gut and Dirt Is Good
All stars
Most relevant
Thoroughly enjoyed this book, it's a gripping story from start to finish. While it doesn't fully dive into the scientific details of phage (which as a microbiologist I would enjoy), it does explain the medical parts in a very accessible way.

Gripping

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Beautiful first person account from a public health scientist in San Diego who fortunately had all my of the right clinical contacts when her husband caught MDR Acinetobacter baumanii on the holiday of a lifetime (literally) in Egypt. Even so his rollercoaster clinical course took him right to the edge of death. Intensive care specialists didn't expect him to get through this one. No one had ever tried IV phage therapy in the USA. It was a complete jump in the dark. This innovative viral therapy - injecting viruses that infect the bacteria causing the disease - sounds like something from science fiction. The basis would probably come over best in a movie or visual format if you don't have a science background. Though Steffanie Strathdee does her best to give simple explanations her background is fighting HIV, so she's got understanding of virology as well as being a public health expert. As she says at the end this gives her both the insight and the confidence to fight back against overwhelming challenges.

This should be a movie

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So very interesting and well explained. It should be made into a film. Am now in awe of the micro world!

Must read

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I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book. I have spent my life working in hospital laboratories, partly virology and partly microbiology so much of the terminology was familiar to me despite having retired about 10 years ago.

excellent book with lovely ending.

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An absolute pleasure to listen to. A really riveting story that flowed with ease. Could not recommend enough.

Brilliant

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