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FEVER CELL
by Leonard Goldberg
Signet, December 2003
384 pages
$6.99
ISBN: 0451210549


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Dr Joanna Blalock has a major crisis at hand. There is a virulent form of smallpox making the round. A blunder from a careless Middle Eastern terrorist causes the virus to come out early, causing a panic in the medical community.

A terrible act of devastation has been planned and it will make the events of September 11 2001 seem like an ordinary day. The US has caught a 'lucky' break with this blooper. Now they have to act fast before the terrorists know that they have been compromised. Unfortunately, the story is far from convincing.

Leonard Goldberg opens up a can of worms with a novel about a possible outbreak, but he does not know how to contain it. The story relies too heavily on coincidence and conveniences that of course the good guys are going to win and bad guys are going to lose. Readers will figure out immediately who lives, who dies, and who will stop the terrorists. Joanna Blalock just happens to be in all the right places at just about the right time. The story's conclusion reads like an afterthought and it reeks with serendipity when the bad guys get their desserts.

FEVER CELL is the type of book for the easily amused who do not want to think much about plot construction or character development, but want to read a damsel in distress storyline filled with action and romance with an on-again, off-again law enforcement lover.

The novel also acts as a soapbox for the author to talk about the sad state of US hospitals and how unprepared we are for an attack by a terrorist group. A novel is not meant to be an editorial; it is only a way to alienate readers. Being as this is my first book by this author, I might be overreacting. Somehow, it is doubtful.

Reviewed by Angel L. Soto, February 2004

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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