The Pumpkin Seed by Tim Hobbs

“I am a drinker of human blood and an eater of human flesh, a monster dressed in the skin of a man.” So states Charles, the main character of the novel, after being infected with a virus transmitted by an insect vector.

The Pumpkin Seed opens in India near the Nepal border in the late 17th century. A commissioned officer of the East India Company is seeking a profitable new trade route into China. Indian bandits of the Thuggie clan attempt to stop this further invasion by the British and release a plague of insects, which carry a unique virus. This organism not only infects humans, it transforms the chemical and physical nature of the host’s body. Longevity, resilience and the need to feed on human blood and flesh make the host an efficient killing machine, especially in regard to the human race. The novel follows the characters through 17th and 18th century England and India, culminating in present day Austin, Texas.

Set in the orphanages of London and in the vile trade of body snatching, a list of characters, who are as despicable as their deeds, search for the truth and a cure for their malady. The Pumpkin Seed takes us through the vices of greed, hate, love and despair and creates a modern novel that puts colonialism in the spotlight and asks difficult questions about this generation's guilt for the crimes of its ancestors.