Stephen H. Smith

Thank you to Black Rose Writing and Library Thing for the opportunity to read and review an early copy of this thriller. The subject is quite timely: a Chinese scientist has unearthed a frozen victim of the Spanish flu and taken it to a lab in North Korea, where he's using it to develop a deadly virus which he plans to unleash on the United States.
The CIA gets wind of the plot and, along with a Chinese/Korean-American reporter, they travel to North Korea to try to stop the madman.
The team travels the globe: the Dominican Republic, India, South America, back to the United States, China, and finally, North Korea. Although the story is packed with action, often the narrative is more telling than showing.
The story is told in an omniscient point of view, hopping from head to head of multiple characters--good guys and bad guys. I never got a sense of a "main character" although there are several who are central to the story.
There's a subplot involving the kidnapping of the daughter of one of the CIA agents. I'm not sure why it was included; perhaps to heighten the stakes for the agent involved.
Overall it was an entertaining read and, as I mentioned, quite timely. The author has a lot of scientific knowledge which shines through.… (més)

I was given this book by the publisher in exchange for a review.

Sadly, I could never get fully immersed in this book. The premise was both timely and intriguing, but never fulfilled the promise that I hoped it would. I thought a book about the resurrection of a killer flu virus would be hard to put down. Unfortunately, it wasn't hard at all. The first third of the book was very difficult to get through because it was "all hat and no cattle". Very little action, a lot of traveling, and way too much talking. I found myself skimming pages just to get to the end- which I hate doing.

Maybe others will have a different take on this story, but this reviewer was left wanting.… (més)