| Ken Follett's November 2005 release
Whiteout is set in a snowy Scottish village with a chilly Victorian mansion for the action. Heroine Antonia Gallo, an ex-cop, takes her job as Oxenford Laboratory's security director dead serious. An employee's death is traced to a security breach.
Toni not only faces tough questions from old collegues threatened by her astute investigative skills, she may well lose the respect of Oxenford's owner and medical director.
And even more is at stake: the missing anti-viral drug is BSL4--the highest biosafety level. Somebody wants both the contained virus, Madoba-2, which causes multiple hemorrhage and painful death and the anti-viral sample Dr. Oxenford has cultivated. Terrorists or pharamaceutical competitors? For goodwill or to destroy a nation? Widower Stanley Oxenford trusts Antonia and includes her in his family Christmas festivities. They intend to discuss damage control and narrow the investigation but his dysfunctional family interferes with the investigation. Smitten by Dr. Oxenford and his intellectual prowess, she focuses on the most likely suspect where a snowy homefront turns into blinding blizzard prison. Follett's characters are not thwarted by unusual behavior. Loyalty and anger clash while love blossoms. As the reason behind the treacherous theft of the biological drug unfolds, Follett makes no bones about who you should like or dislike. I just didn't understand why he decided to allow so much weakness for such paltry reasons. But then, maybe Follett's talent shouldn't be questioned. His characters are real and the pages turn with ease. Not his best book but one that begs for attention on a cold winter night. If it's snowing outside, don't let anyone in who is sneezing. Viruses can be deadly.
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