Whiteout

A deadly virus is stolen from the vaults of a drug company in Scotland. Can the Facility Director (a gorgeous 36-year-old former policewoman who is secretly in love with her boss (the shy but brilliant professor who founded the company)) catch the thieves and avert a terrorist plot to spread worldwide plague? On Christmas Eve? In a blizzard? With her mother in the car?

Follett is a magician, skillfully mixing thriller and soap opera with dashes of sex and violence. I can't quite figure out how he breathes so much life into these standard-issue characters or makes me care so much about them. A Grand Master of direct, blatant prose and edge-of-the-cliff suspense in top form.

In a high-security biomedical lab in remote Scotland, a deadly virus goes missing on Christmas Eve, as a blizzard moves in. The lab director and security director race against the clock and the fast-moving storm to find the virus before it is too late. In a slightly contrived denouement, the main characters all get snowed in at the lab director's isolated manor.

Fun, fast-paced if a little cliched. There are certainly better and better-written thrillers out there, but a fine plane read.

'Whiteout' features a break-in to a high-security biomedical lab in Scotland. A deadly, more robust variant of the ebola virus is the target. The son of the lab's owner is in on the dirty job and terrorists are the buyers. Ken Follett gathers the elements of a good page-turner, but fails miserably to translate it into a credible story.

The book contains numerous groaners. The characters are all carciatures. The lab owner's son had been in charge of the security software before he was caught stealing from dad, but the passwords aren't changed! The lab's security director just happens to be the ex- of the top cop in charge of the case, but they continue to bicker like 6-year olds while an extremely deadly virus has been stolen and remains show more unaccounted for. Later, a fight occurs in which the four combatants all end up in a pile at the bottom of a staircase - at which point I begin to wonder if Follett isn't just pulling our leg and the whole book is supposed a comedic farce. Victims that clearly should simply be shot dead by the bad guys are instead tied up - how do you think that works out? Didn't I see that in an Austin Powers movie?

Has Follett gone downhill or have I become pickier? I used to enjoy his works (The Pillars of the Earth and Lie Down With Lions), but combine this one with the more recent World Without End, the long-awaited sequel to Pillars, and I am ready to look elsewhere for a good thriller - like Lee Child's Without Fail (Jack Reacher Novels).

Avoid this book - dare I say, like the plague. show less

I used to think it was weird that Follett wrote mostly mid-sized page-turner crime/mystery/adventure type novels, and then he wrote PILLARS OF THE EARTH and the like. I couldn't understand how the same author could write two wildly differing books.

Now I get it. What made Pillars of the Earth and World Without End and Fall of Giants so lovable, to me, was the character development. He got you inside the minds of his characters, made you cheer for them, and wrote flawlessly of their intrigues and actions and thoughts without boring you one bit.

THAT is what made this novel so amazing for me. This was another one of his regular page-turners that I picked up at a garage sale for fifty cents. I read it on a five hour car ride and enjoyed show more myself immensely. I wanted to know what happened to all of my quickly cherished new friends, and loved the novel all the way throughout. A solid plot, very realistic, and SUPER entertaining.

Thank you Ken Follet! I'm now persistently on the lookout for more of your books!! show less

Fast-paced and exciting with some very tense moments brought about by a biological terror threat. The story takes place in Scotland during a Christmas Eve snowstorm. The plot twists held together well even as the unlikely events unfolded. It was lightened in places by some prosaic lines from mother whose first instinct in an emergency is to put the teapot on. A short, fun read.

Whiteout by Ken Follett
4 stars
A young worker from a biohazard lab in Scotland dies a horrible death from a virus. Then, the son of the owner of the lab plans and executes a robbery at the lab, believing the target of the theft is a vaccine. He is involved in the robbery to settle a gambling debt. During the robbery he learns the real theft is to be of the virus. A blizzard is raging over Scotland and things start going wrong with the "perfect" plan. A fairly good thriller--but cuddle up with a blanket as the descriptions of the blizzard will make you cold.

A happy melange of intense thriller and family discord, this book transcends genres by mixing espionage, terrorism, relationships and comedy. The characters are believable and spunky; the scenes are alternately nail-biting and hilarious. Follett managed to create an entertaining, original and unpretentious piece which will certainly appeal to most.