Red Tide

G. M. Ford

Book 4 of Frank Corso

Language: English

Publisher: HarperCollins

Published: May 24, 2005

Description:

From Publishers Weekly

Ford hits the ground running with his fourth solid Frank Corso novel (_Fury_; Black River; etc.). Someone has sprayed a modified Ebola virus into a Seattle bus tunnel, killing more than 100 people. Journalist Corso promptly descends into the deadly tunnels to see what's going on—because that's the kind of guy he is. The masterminds behind the plot have a pretty good reason for the destruction and are a welcome change from the genre's familiar wild-eyed Arab terrorists. It's all very straightforward, especially after a note warns that the next round of virus will become airborne in 30 hours and will live for 30 days—which makes the bus tunnel business look like child's play. Scientific modeling points to a doomsday scenario, with the death of virtually every human on the planet the probable result. From then on it's a race against the clock as Corso teams up with courageous Seattle cop Charly Hart to stop the terrorists. Ford creates likable characters, whom he has the nerve to subject to the worst, no matter how attached the reader has become to them. There's not a lot of flash, and the twists and turns are easily negotiated, which keeps the pace fast and the characters in the foreground, making this an entertaining read in a dependable series. FYI:_ Ford also writes the successful Leo Waterman series_.
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From

Frank Corso would be way better off if he could only mind his own business, but mystery lovers would be very much the poorer. In this fourth installment of the series, the disgraced journalist turned successful crime novelist and inveterate snoop finds himself in the neighborhood when terrorists strike the Seattle bus tunnel with a ghastly mutation of the Ebola virus. Does he sensibly scamper away to safety, or does he somehow manage to purloin a haz-mat suit and masquerade as a member of the team investigating the scene of the carnage only to end up as the prime suspect? Readers of Ford's prior Corso novels will know the answer to that one, and they will also know to expect a great deal of mayhem to ensue as Corso pursues the terrorists while eluding the cops in an attempt to save his beloved Seattle from an infinitely more devastating attack. They won't be disappointed, either. Ford's intelligently constructed story, peopled with convincingly three-dimensional characters, gathers momentum like a runaway monorail car. You simply can't get off until the ride is over. Dennis Dodge
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