A Heartbeat Away
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- €3.99
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- €3.99
Publisher Description
A shocking medical-political thriller by the New York Times bestselling author and master of suspense, for fans of Robin Cooke and Michael Connelly.
The fate of the country lies in the hands of one man.
On the eve of his State of the Union address, President James Allaire is ready to give the speech of his career. But when a terrorist group lets a deadly virus into the Capitol building, horror is unleashed and the 700 people present must be quarantined.
Virologist Griffin Rhodes - currently imprisoned for alleged acts of terrorism - is the only person who could combat the strain. Enemies are closing in, and every presidential successor - but one - is trapped inside the Capitol. With the security of the nation at stake, can Griff unravel the mystery before time runs out?
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Palmer (The Last Surgeon) offers a nifty plot premise in this high-concept medical thriller, but a plethora of subplots distracts from the more interesting primary issue. As the U.S. president, James Allaire, is beginning his State of the Union address, a number of small containers of a viral agent explode and infect the more than 700 people, including every important member of the government except the director of homeland security, who have gathered in the House chamber. The Capitol must be sealed off and the infected audience held inside until a cure for the disease can be found. The plotters behind the attack, a group of domestic terrorists known as Genesis, demand, among other things, that the government abolish the Patriot Act and cease unchecked spying on ordinary Americans. Overblown prose does little to make the implausible scenario more believable. Readers with a low tolerance for the hyperbolic are advised to give this one a pass.
