Andy West (1)

Reading this at the time the Corona virus outbreak was just getting noticed in China, it really makes one wonder. This is a story of plague, ancient and modern. What became known as Black Death wasn't Bubonic Plague as we know it today and presumed was the case earlier in history, but a hemorrhagic fever with a similar, but more viral pathology refined more than 1000 years ago by an Islamic scientist working for what was known to be a cult of assassins. Not only did the scientist create a stable medium to distribute the virus, but also a solution (both derived from monkeys known to a particular African tribe) that served as an immunization. This was millennia before the anyone knew of viruses or vaccines.

The story bounces back from the story of dedicated scientist to modern times, where Homeland Security catches wind of something going on. An agent imposes himself on a Islamic studies researcher at an east coast university; she and a newspaper reported get dragged into an international adventure by none other than the lead terrorist himself. And the Homeland Security guy...at one point a knight in shining armor reveals himself to be a doomsday cultist expecting this impending calamity to bring forth the rapture.

This was a very good historical/action novel marred, unfortunately, by long passages of painful, clumsy romance. The novel would be much tighter without, or at least with the sexual tension being far less invasive. Still, this was a very interesting read, especially considering what was happening in the news.… (mehr)

An esoteric medical thriller set in 2008 and 1160, the book is about the resurrection of the Black Death by an Ismaili sect who are heirs to the Assassins and reject the Aga Khan as their spiritual leader. The 1160 AD is about an Ismaili adherent researching disease in Ethiopia; he isolates and prepares a filovirus which is eventually released as the Black Death. In 2008, a medieval historian researching the Andalusian poetisas discovers a previously unknown poem which turns out to be a coded message about the Black Death.

This type of book isn't really my cup of tea and I was a bit uncomfortable with the demonisation of Muslims given events in recent years, but I suppose they are the enemy du jour.

Competently written, the story seemed to hang together. Recommended if you like this type of thing.… (mehr)

Waters of Destiny by Ian Watson and Andy West
The idea of an historical biological weapon and its rediscovery let loose on today's baffled billions is intriguing and might have made for some spectacular global mayhem. Unfortunately, “The Waters of Destiny” turn out to be shallow and tepid. Our heroin is sloshed about in this enervated log ride of a book. She's like a modern-day Perils of Pauline jerked about from one confrontation to another, none the worse for wear. The historical plot, imagining how such a weapon might be devised, fairs a bit better, but can’t make up for the main narrative. Contrived and plodding, this book promises way more than it delivers.… (mehr)