White Sleeper

A recovering alcoholic doctor who works for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention converts effortlessly and rapidly from insightful intellectual into an action hero; those who accept the implausibility of the setup will find this present-day medical thriller diverting. Dave Richards's once bright professional future has been blighted by his addiction to the bottle, but he catches a break when his boss sends him away from Atlanta headquarters to look into unusual deaths in Arkansas, some from bubonic plague. He's joined in his investigation by Paula Mushari, a Muslim FBI agent, who is both proficient at her job and a looker. Richards quickly realizes that a serious bioterrorism threat looms, and the reader knows its source. Ben Curran is introduced in a flashback to 1996, as his parents are gunned down by ATF agents in an incident reminiscent of Ruby Ridge, and the authors trace his evolution into domestic terrorist. Things move swiftly to a satisfying conclusion.