Whiteout, Ken Follett

Ken Follett, an English author, sets the pace of Whiteout in Scotland at a biological pharmaceutical laboratory that is trying to develop a vaccine for the deadly Ebola virus. Toni Gallo, an ex-cop, is the head of security for Oxenford Pharmaceutical. She discovers some of the vaccine missing and finds one employee dead from exposure to the virus. This is the precursor of a more serious crime orchestrated by Kit, the son of the owner Stanley Oxenford. He was an addicted gambler who ran up a big dept with a mobster which led him to develop a theft at the firm that will allow him to pay off the dept and start anew life in another country. Kit proceeds with the crime on Christmas eve. They were plagued with blizzard conditions but went forward anyway. The criminals got away with the payload but the storm led them to the Oxenford estate where they thought they could get a four wheel drive car and make it to the pickup chopper close by. The criminals are confronted by the Oxenford family, who gathered for Christmas, and found them to be more of a challenge than expected. Follett keeps the readers interest by the whiteout conditions of the storm and the many clashes of the good guys and the bad. The suspense is thick and the story is intense. It is hard to believe that greed can tear a family apart, but we do have a choice. Follett writes a good story that keeps the reader involved and I am going to read more of his work. Good book!