This book cover combination shows, from left, "The End of October," by Lawrence Wright, "The Red Lotus," by Chris Bohjalian and "Afterland" by Lauren Beukes. Novels coming out now, written well before the coronavirus pandemic, use plagues to explore everything from gender roles to our own failure to anticipate the worst.
(Knopf, from left, Doubleday, Mulholland Books via AP)