Midnight Plague

Mr Keizer's second novel is as entertaining and engrossing as his first. His charactors throb with realism and excitement. Well worth the read.

The deadline for D-Day is drawing near.A fishing boat comes aground on British shore with a boatful of dead passengers.It is discovered that they have died from a mysterious illness.Dr Frank Brink who has been working with the British on an antibiotic to thwart a biological by the Axis forces is sent to investigate.Dr. Brink interviews the surviving member of the crew Alix and discovers that a dreaded biological weapon is being tested within the French lines.He suspects that it is pneumonic plague which has a one hundred percent death rate. Dr.Brink and Alix must infiltrate occupied France.They have to locate the laboratory where the disease is being tested.They must find this location because the invasion of Normandy is close at hand.He has to stop his German counterpart from releasing the biological terror upon the invading Allied forces.Another part of his mission is to steat the antidote if possible. I found this book to be an exciting read just like the previous book "The Longest Night".Be sure to read this book.

Set in the days leading up to D-Day comes this historical thriller with a medical twist. Frank Brink, an American doctor, embarks on a mission to find a German lab that is rumored to be producing what the Allies fear is a horrific biological weapon. Their tipoff came from a French fishing boat found on a British coast, its hold filled with dead Jews --- and one surviving Frenchwoman named Alix Pilon. The English are very edgy, partly because it was their original idea to spray anthrax spores on the continent to infect their enemies. But Brink's German counterpart, Dr. Wollenstein, has been infecting the Jews with pneumonic plague, a deadly disease that leaves no one alive, in order to experiment with the effectiveness of his antidote. If Wollenstein can successfully create a vaccine to cure the plague, he will have no hesitation about dropping clouds of the Pasteurella pestis on the English and American soldiers coming ashore --- at the very least. He believes he can simply vaccinate his own German troops and wipe out everyone else. But it is a very ugly way to die, and his antidote must first be proven. Thus, he leaves behind himself a string of bodies blackened by the plague. Brink was working on his own serum for the Pasteurella pestis, but the impending threat of a possible biological attack on England sends him scurrying for the source lab the Germans have set up in France. Alix finds herself the American's unlikely ally. It was her father's fishing boat that held the unfortunate victims discovered aboard. For some reason, she blames herself and offers her help in tracking down the "devil" whose work is devising this nasty killer, in order to avenge her father's death. Alix and Brink work together while the clock counts down to June 6, 1944, and the body count mounts up. But roaming the French countryside in search of the pestis proves far more dangerous than Brink had feared. Rounding a curve can bring them face to face with a contingent of hostile Germans. Even though Brink speaks German, as well as French, his accent draws instant suspicion. And when he and Alix aren't being troubled by enemy soldiers along the way, they are by turns avoiding the sick and attempting to minister to their needs. Either threat could bring them the promise of great suffering and ultimate, if not instant, death. Stale from a steady diet of lab work, Brink worries that he no longer can save lives. And the problem is further complicated by the fact that many of the wounded they encounter are enemy personnel. His is a personal journey to reaffirm his worth, as they race against time to save the world from a cataclysmic devastation beyond imagination. Despite a distracting profusion of characters, the subject, with good solid writing behind it, will make MIDNIGHT PLAGUE a popular read for historical thriller fans. And the medical angle will draw in even more readers. --- Reviewed by Kate Ayers

It is only a matter of days before the Allies land on the beaches of Normandy and the Germans know it is coming though they don't know the correct day. American Doctor Frank Brink who once developed biological weapons is now trying to create antibiotics to counteract any act of bioterrorism that the Germans throw at them. The French Resistance rescues Jews who are then sent by boat to England. They don't know that the people they have saved have been contaminated with pneumonic plague which has a hundred percent kill rate. SS scientist Wollenstein bought the germs from the Asians and is using it on the Jews along with trying to create an antibiotic that will keep the Germans safe from the disease. His plan is to have the planes spray the germs over England. Brink is sent to stop him using any means available. A Resistance fighter guides Brink to Wollenstein's lab but there are other Germans who are willing to have what the doctor created in their hands. Brink fights with the various German factions, but also must quickly find the antibiotic because he and the beautiful Resistance fighter are infected and need the medicine immediately. Gregg Keizer has written a fantastic historical thriller that could be taken out of today's WMD headlines. The use of germ warfare goes back at least to medieval times and there is no reason to believe that countries will stop using it in the future. There is plenty of action in MIDNIGHT PLAGUE while the characters are symbols rather than three dimensional people. This doesn't take away from the enjoyment of reading this book because the stereotypes are easily recognizable and understandable. Harriet Klausner