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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN num: 9780778325574
ISBN number: 0778325571
Label: Mira
Manufacturer: Mira
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 432
Printing Date: October 01, 2008
Publishing house: Mira
Sale Popularity Level: 12509
Studio: Mira
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Product Description:
Agent Maggie O'Dell and Assistant Director Cunningham believe they're responding to a threat made at Quantico. Instead they walk into a trap. Before they realize it, they've both been exposed to a killer who can strike at anyone, at any time, and no one can predict who might be next…until it's too late.
The killer's tactics suggest he's an aficionado of criminal minds. He uses bits and pieces from those he admires: a phrase from the Beltway Snipers, a clue from the Unabomber, a delivery method similar to the Anthrax Killer. His weapon is a deadly virus, virtually invisible and totally unexpected. His victims appear to be random but, in fact, they are chosen with a revengeful precision. The vaccine is limited and untested.
Maggie knows dangerous minds—from hauntingly perverse child predators to cunningly twisted serial killers. Now she faces a new opponent from inside an isolation ward at a biosafety containment hospital. Maggie must help Agent R. J. Tully find clues to catch the killer—while waiting to see if the deadly strain is already multiplying in her body. With every new exposure there's the potential for an epidemic. And Maggie knows she and Cunningham may not live long enough to discover who is the deadliest, most intelligent killer they've ever profiled.
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Rated by buyers -
This book was a real eye opener to how incredibly vulnerable we are as a population to biological terrorism whether domestic or international. The story was easy reading and I hoped that all the characters would survive the viral infection at the center of the story. However, just as the book was winding up to what could have been a stunning and compelling conclusion, the author abandons it. There is no resolution to Razzie's fate, or that of Conrad's mother. We know nothing about what happened to the little girl Mary Louise. We have no idea what Dr. Platt's fate was after his confrontation with his superior officer Cmdr. Janklow whom he has accused of some crime which isn't revealed. We know nothing about Janklow's henchman Dr. Mc Cathy's involvement. We know nothing about the outcome of Dr. Antonelli and her hospital in Chicago. Is Artie ever discovered? Even more questions arise because there was way too many loose ends. What happened to Maggie's sudden onset of symptoms that appear and then are dismissed?
Instead, the tale closes was a ego boost for Maggie and had no relevance to a logical story ending. The author has Maggie smiling over receiving a pizza delivery sent by the creepy ADA Nick Morelli, who has just spent an entire weekend stalking her outside her home while she is confined to USAMRIID's Slammer. This author has a lot of promise, but she is no where near the league of Patricia Cornwell, Catherine Coulter or Karin Slaughter. I do expect that as she writes more stories, her books will be more "finished". She certainly does offer timely information for all of us to be conscious of and prepare for intellectually.
Rated by buyers 
-
I found the premise of this novel to be not much more than a combination of the movie "Outbreak" combined with a female law enforcement officer reminiscent of Kay Scarpetta. Thus, it merits no more than a three-star rating due to its lack of originality.
The book is nicely written, but does not grab the reader with anything extraordinary in the way of humor, character development, or forensics. The chapters are short and easy to read. The language is simple and no dictionary is required to enjoy the book.
Take this novel with you when you have to wait in the doctor's office, an airport, or any other place where you need something to read that does not require deep concentration. Wait until the book appears on the resale sites or the bargain book counters; it isn't worth purchasing it at the publisher's price.
Rated by buyers -
This is the very first Maggie O'Dell book I've read and I'm greatly underwhelmed. A huge fan of any series about smart women, I looked forward to meeting a new femme -- and I still am. There's not enough of Maggie here to engage with. The cast of characters is large and not well-developed and the chapter formats are not consistent, so it's hard to keep track of who's on very first and harder to care. The science tends toward the graphically gross rather than the Discovery Channel format where the reader can say "well, at least I learned something." Although settings should matter, there's a lack of detail there, too.
Halfway through I realized that I didn't care what happened to any of these people. Even the dog lacks charm. If you like the genre, try Michael Cordy or Crichton.
Rated by buyers -
This is my very first Kava novel, so I come in on book 8 in a series, and was easily, thanks to obvious 'trackback' comments in the narrative, able to keep track of what I presume to be plotlines from earlier books, without feeling that I was unable to grasp the story at hand. So if you've never read her, you can jump in at any time and she gets you up to speed pretty quickly.
This book won't keep you for more than an evening, which is a plus and a minus. The chapters are short and zippy, and the plot unfolds at perfect 'thriller' pace. On the downside, that means that character development is primitive. You guessed it: every single attractive man in the novel is enamored of our heroine, who is your typical feisty divorcee. All the bad guys are almost mustache-twirlingly evil from the get go. You'll figure out who the mastermind villain is pretty quickly, so it's less a mystery than a thriller.
That didn't stop me reading, though, because Kava's way of folding in real life events (the Unabomber letters, etc) is tremendously readable and there's a certain suspense to be had when you know the villain and the idiot detective doesn't and has a nice little private meeting with the aforesaid villain....!
If you're looking for deep characters, go for Elizabeth George. If you want a perfect 'airplane read' for your holiday trip, one that will keep you turning pages but not overtax your vacationing brain, and you like your characters a bit on the flat and obvious side so long as the plot carries the weight, this novel will surely satisfy.
Rated by buyers -
Animal cells DO NOT HAVE CELL WALLS. Ebola cannot cause the cell walls to burst --because animal cells have membranes, not walls. This enormous blunder made me want to scream loudly.
I love this series of books, but the current one shows Kava's need to do a lot more research to get the basic science right.
Furthermore, Kava repeats the same ideas (we know Maggie is divorced and her ex was a self-centered baby and that Tully is shy with the women and has trouble with his teen daughter) throughout her books and throughout this one in particular.
Yes, I will read the subsequent Maggie O'Dell novel. I will simply have to hope that she does a better job of researching and writing it.
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