Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9780099184027
ISBN number: 0099184028
Label: Arrow Books Ltd
Manufacturer: Arrow Books Ltd
Page Count: 432
Printing Date: August 05, 1999
Publishing house: Arrow Books Ltd
Sale Popularity Level: 1214925
Studio: Arrow Books Ltd
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Product Description:
In the 'Book of Revelations', the Four Horsemen herald the arrival of the Apocalypse. When the First Horseman thunders forth, pestilence will spread throughout the land. For the First Horseman is Plague...The Spanish Flu killed thirty million people worldwide in 1918. Now, with history threatening to repeat itself, a scientific expedition speeds toward a remote island on the Arctic Sea to recover strains of the lethal virus preserved under layers of ice. For 'Washington Post' reporter Frank Daly, it is the story of a lifetime. But, his plan to join the expedition is ruined by a ferocious storm that delays him. And, when he meets up with the ship upon its return to port in Norway, it is clear that something has gone terribly wrong. Fear haunts the faces of the crew. No one will talk. And someone wants Daly to stop asking questions. But if there's a wall around the facts, Daly will batter it down. Persistent and resourceful, he knows how to get answers when none are given. Yet, the more he uncovers, the more dangerous the stakes become. Until at last, he comes face-to-face with a shocking secret, pitching him into a harrowing race to prevent nothing less than...apocalypse.
Amazon.com Review:
The fictional bioterror of Richard Preston's The Cobra Event was scary enough, but The First Horseman is based on the real Spanish flu, a hideous virus that killed over 20 million people in 1918. From the opening pages, this second novel by investigative reporter John Case (author of The Genesis Code) thrusts readers into the thick of a rapid-fire plot. In New York, a man and a woman are murdered at their home by a cult whose motivations remain mysterious. Immediately, the action shifts to Tasi-ko, North Korea, where a medical worker flees to the mountains to escape a disease that has decimated his village. While he looks on from his hiding spot, North Korean soldiers pour into Tasi-ko and incinerate it and all of its suffering inhabitants. The CIA investigates the events at Tasi-ko, and realizing that the disease could well be a hybrid Spanish flu being tested as a biological weapon, recruits a team of American scientists to uncover the only known sample of the 1918 pandemic--which is frozen into the bodies of miners buried in the Arctic. From there the novel traces scientists Anne Adair and Benton Kicklighter on their expedition to the frozen town of Kopervik to uncover the miners' corpses. Not knowing that the CIA is behind Adair and Kicklighter's work, Washington Post reporter Frank Daly follows their story. When the scientists return empty-handed, though, he begins to suspect that a medical curiosity is on the verge of becoming a global catastrophe.
The strength of the novel is the eerie suspense that Case sustains by revealing only enough about the Korean plot and the Temple of Light cult to keep the reader fully engaged and wanting more. While Case doesn't spend much time delving into the lives and motivations of his characters, the Spanish flu is the real star. Case propels the novel with the constant reminder that a new plague is on the verge of exploding, and his several enigmatic subplots keep you turning the pages and praying that this is only fiction. --Patrick O'Kelley
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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In the North Korean villageof Tasi-ko a medical officer, who is scared witless, gets out of the village just before North Korean troops raze, then bury the village. The CIA is afraid that the North Koreans are developing a weapon based on the Spanish flu which killed something like twenty million people in 1918. They need a sample of the virus to get a vaccine.
And it just so happens that a couple miners who died of the disease way back when are buried in the permafrost is Spitsbergen, a Norwegian island in the Arctic Circle. Doctors Benton Kicklighter and Anne Adair are sent along with Washington Post reporter Frank Daly on an expedition to retrieve a sample of the virus, but Daly gets left behind and when he finally catches up, he's told that the good doctors weren't successful.
He doesn't believe them and that is the crux of this thriller. Daly has to find out what's going on, because catastrophe looms, the world is in danger and the reporter has to save it. Of course, there will be those who don't like his meddling. It wouldn't be a thriller otherwise.
There is tension galore in this perfectly and fast-paced thriller. Daly is an impressive character who I'd like to read more of.
Rated by buyers -
I happened across this book by sheer accident several years ago. Looked fairly interesting, but it turned out to be great! It was definately one of the best books I have ever read. If you love mysteries & unusual plots, this is a must. Read the editorials on the product page...It's that & more.
Rated by buyers -
This has got to go down as one of my favourite books. I was gripped by the story line right from the start and finished it in record time. I can't wait to read his other books!
Rated by buyers 
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This is the second book by John Case that I have read (after The Genesis Code). This author, who uses a pseudonym, is very skilled in the suspense/thriller genre.
The First Horseman is a riveting read that, just like The Genesis Code, is not only entertaining but also scary, because it could happen. The characters in the book are very well developed while the story continues to move; you all of the sudden feel like you know these people and can't figure out when it happened.
The book tends to move around a lot; there are several story lines that intertwine and all of it fits perfectly for a climactic finish, but it can get just a little confusing if you don't pay close attention to names. If you see a name early in the book, rest assured, it will come back up before the end; even if you have forgotten.
All in all, a fantastic read about an all-too-real topic. I will definitely read all of John Case's works. This book is almost a 5/5; I would give it 4.5/5, it is a great book.
Rated by buyers 
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I read this book while on vacation. I can say that this book is a great beach read, it's very fast paced and it makes you think at some points - just don't think too hard or everything unravels. The idea of a common flu germ being used as a weapon by a rogue country was great and scary, but that's where the credibility stops. The terrorism by a fanatical cult was a bit much and a real stretch. I think having north korean terrorists active in the US would have been more realistic and therefore more frightening to the average reader. Don't most people read these types of books for a good thrill?
Again, great beach read - a few daiquiris and anything seems plausible. :)
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