Whiteout by Ken Follett

This medical mystery takes place in Sweden at a medical research facility.  A deadly virus has been taken by one of the lab assistants.  He along with a rabbit is found dead - no one else has been exposed.  But this is only the beginning of the story. Another theft is planned by the disgruntled son of the owner/scientist of the research facility.  In some instances, it was a comedy of errors by the thieves and yet it had a very serious undertone.  Even though the security at the facility was exceptional,  the virus was taken.

This book makes you really think about what could happen if the deadly viruses that are being tested got into the hands of terrorists or someone crazy.  How easy it would be for someone to blend in with a crowd and release the virus into the air.  The testing needs to be done and an antibody found, but who is in charge of security, how good is it.  What happens if some disgruntled employee decides to sell the virus to the highest bidder?  Could this only happen in a book or a movie?

I don't know if the author meant for this to be totally serious or if he was trying to lighten up the subject matter by making the thieves look stupid.

It was a good read.

Read:  April, 2011

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