Cold Plague

Aftering seeing this book I decided to try Daniel's older "Blood Lies". I enjoyed it and decided to buy Cold Plague. I can't put my finger on why, but I enjoyed Blood Lies more. Despite that, I do think this is a good book.

An amazing book. On the surface, a thriller about mysterious deaths from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in France, made more mysterious by emerging connection to water mined from an ancient lake buried deep under the Ice of Antarctica. The story becomes a race against time, as this ancient water begins to enter the market as an exotic product, the purest (hah!) water on Earth, selling to the richest of the rich at outrageous prices. As a mystery, everything is resolved in the nick of time, so you needn't worry there. And the actual "mystery" is never really unresolved, since the novel follows both the heros and villains from the beginning. But, as I read this, it was hard to put down, and even more surprising, I found it actually entered my nightime dreams and affected them. It really hit a nerve. Not really nightmares, but the prions of the story seemed to have found a way deep into my thoughts, as I tried to finish the story in my sleep. This hasn't happened from a book for me in a long time, and I think it represents just how well written and captivating the story was.

I found this author after buying a paperback at a garage sale. Since then I have read all of his (Kalla's) books and waited anxiously for this one.....NOT DISAPPOINTED IN THE LEAST! Great read!

Dr. Claude Fontaine and his team develop a method to bring to the surface fresh water from a gigantic lake two miles under the Antarctic ice. Claude sees the economic possibilities as his pristine pool will contain no modern day toxins. He plan is to sell bottles containing this natural water at exorbitant prices. The World Health Organization sends its investigative infectious disease specialist Dr. Noah Haldane (see PANDEMIC) accompanied by Duncan McLeod to France where horrific human deaths from the human equivalent to mad cow disease have been reported. The European Union's Agricultural Commission sends agent Elise Renard to join them the WHO representatives. However, as the evidence mounts, Noah believes these deaths are something similar but not quite the same as mad cow; the speed is much more rapid and the effect much more intense. He soon links the deaths to the Antarctic water that is being pushed by the bottom liners as a health elixir for the wealthy. This exciting medical thriller pits economic interests against health interests and unlike the American federal government science matters so that Noah and company have a reasonable chance to stop mass production if they can stay alive long enough to make their point heard; the opponents own the media. The story line is fast-paced, but takes a bit too long to get to the bottom line confrontation between money and health. Readers will enjoy this fine tale, but wonder if this occurred in the USA instead of France what the outcome would have been. Harriet Klausner