Kalla, Daniel 1967-

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Kalla, Daniel 1967-

PERSONAL:

Born 1967, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada; married; wife's name Cheryl (a pediatrician); children: Chelsea, Ashley. Education: University of British Columbia, B.Sc., M.D. Hobbies and other interests: Playing hockey and tennis, skiing.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Agent—Henry Morrison Inc., P.O. Box 235, Bedford Hills, NY 10507.

CAREER:

Physician, writer. St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, physician operations leader for emergency medicine. Also worked at Mount St. Joseph Hospital, Vancouver.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Pandemic, Forge (New York, NY), 2005.

Resistance, Tor (New York, NY), 2006.

Rage Therapy, Forge (New York, NY), 2006.

Blood Lies, Forge (New York, NY), 2007.

ADAPTATIONS:

Novels adapted for audio include Pandemic and Resistance.

SIDELIGHTS:

Daniel Kalla is a writer and emergency room physician who in 2003 saw a confirmed case of SARS while working in a Vancouver hospital. His first thriller, Pandemic, involves a new virus developed by terrorists, similar to the Spanish flu of 1919, that is killing one in four people who contract it. The illness is first reported in China, and Noah Haldane of the World Health Organization, who has been predicting that a new epidemic was due to surface, investigates and discovers that this disease is even more deadly than SARS.

With Resistance, Kalla tackles the very real problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Catalina Lopez, a doctor with the Centers for Disease Control, is fighting a resistant form of strep that is killing everyone who is infected. Others characters include a doctor in Vancouver who joins her, and a policeman in Portland who is investigating deaths possibly caused by the superbug.

Rage Therapy finds psychiatrist Joel Ashman, a consultant to the Seattle homicide squad, dealing with the brutal murder of his mentor and former partner, Stanley Kolberg, whose specialty was anger management. Joel, who continues to mourn the death of his pregnant wife three years earlier, becomes caught up with other deaths, including that of a patient and then another psychiatrist. A subplot involves sadomasochism in doctor-patient relationships, and it becomes evident that Joel knows more about his partner's history than is first presumed. Kalla maintains that four percent of therapists report having had sexual relationships with their patients during the course of therapy. "Rage Therapy is a compelling story," wrote Linda L. Richards for the January Magazine Web site. It's layered and nuanced and occasionally even surprising. Flashes of dry wit are an unexpected and welcome bonus."