The thrillers of Rick Mofina have been recommended to me by several people, so I tried one out. Panic Zone is a hefty paperback about a viral outbreak with worldwide consequences, a subject I usually don't like, but I gave it a try.
Jack Gannon is a news reporter and journalist who is sent in to cover a story in Brazil. He is the most interesting character of the many in the book, a go-getter journalist looking for a big break and willing to investigate where others have failed. After a bomb goes off in a popular coffee shop, the local slum gangs are suspected, though Jack feels differently.
In Wyoming, Emma Lane and her family are involved in a fiery crash, and through the burning smoke, Emma sees someone take her child out of the car. He is not seen again.
Robert Lancer works with the National Anti-Threat Center looking into terrorist events.
They are all brought together in the search for Gretchen Sutsoff, a rogue scientist who has some radical theories about controlling overpopulation in the world. She has set up a compound in Nassau where she is testing a manufactured virus on human subjects for an unseen international organization, using remote activated and controlled nano-technology.
If this has grabbed your attention you might like Panic Zone. I found it all right, but becoming tedious at the halfway mark. By the end I had lost interest, especially with Emma who seemed to be repeating the same dialogue about finding her son. I usually don't care about worldwide terror plots unless something new is brought. Gretchen's mania and the tech-plan wasn't enough for me.
It all culminates at a giant Human Rights rally in New York, and after 400 plus pages the actual resolution of the threat and fate of Gretchen Sutsoff was a severe letdown. That was it?
I read a lot of thrillers, and although this was a hefty paperback, it didn't live up to its promise of explosive action for me. I don't think I'd try another Mofina, not my cup of tea.
2010 / Paperback / 416 pages
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