EXPOSED - Alex Kava
MIRA Books
ISBN-13: 978-0-7783-2557-4
ISBN-10: 0-7783-2557-1
October 2008
Suspense

Quantico, Virginia, 2007

A cage full of monkeys is stolen from a man dying in Africa. A threatening letter arrives in a box of donuts at an the FBI office in Quantico. In tracking down clues, Agent Maggie O’Dell and her boss, Assistant Director Cunningham, are exposed to an unknown biological threat. While administrators at USAMRIID (U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Disease) at Fort Detrick try to discover the infection, contain it, and prevent knowledge from leaking out to the general public, other random attacks happen in Chicago and Pensacola. In a worst-case scenario, Colonel Benjamin Platt, head of the investigation at USAMRIID, discovers the infection is the most deadly strain of Ebola known. In Africa, one treatment is to barricade infected villages and let the disease run its course; few survive.

While Maggie and Cunningham are in quarantine at USAMRIID, Maggie’s partner, Agent R.J. Tully, works to track down clues and discover who is behind this national threat. Soon it becomes apparent this is a domestic born terrorist; but what is this person’s agenda? The answer will surprise and repulse you.

EXPOSED is the sixth Maggie O’Dell novel, but it was my first. It is a thrilling, sometimes disturbing, read. With five previous novels for character development, I still had no problem connecting with Maggie or her partner, Tully. Tully’s family problems with his daughter Emma and his ex-wife’s upcoming marriage add much to his appeal. His experience, dogged determination, and dependability only add to his character. Maggie is a career woman who has escaped a troubled childhood. Ms. Kava lets the reader divine Maggie’s sterling character through her dialogue and actions. The threat in EXPOSED is very real, and the undoubted research author Alex Kava undertook makes it all the more believable. Excellent reading.

Robin Lee