Review by Booklist Review
A man who thinks of himself as a political activist, but who appears to be more like a terrorist, has big plans nearing fruition. An American federal agent is keeping an eye on him, hoping to uncover the details of the man's plot. When some deadly nerve gas goes missing, the American agent thinks he's solved the mystery, but is it already too late? Between the late 1960s and the early 1970s, Crichton published a handful of actioners under the name of John Lange. They're mostly straightforward thrillers, usually with a distinct pulp-fiction flavor to them (fast-paced action, slick stories, slightly larger-than-life characters). They don't really resemble a Michael Crichton novel, although this one, from 1972 three years after Crichton published The Andromeda Strain under his own name just might come closer than the other Lange novels. Science and technology are key elements in the story, and some of the writing has that familiar Crichton feel to it. A well-constructed race-against-time thriller.--Pitt, David Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A daring plot to launch a devastating bio-terror attack on the U.S. is the engine that drives this pulse-pounder Crichton wrote in 1972 under the John Lange pseudonym. Admirers of Crichton's better known scientific thrillers such as Jurassic Park will recognize the opening device; to make what follows seem more realistic, the book begins with a rendering of "the facts" that reads as if it was derived from a government report. Seven mobsters have hijacked a train carrying two canisters containing hazardous chemicals that were subsequently spirited away by helicopter, despite precautions to keep secret the transport schedule. The theft of a half-ton of nerve gas may be at the behest of millionaire John Wright, founder and leader of an extremist political movement, Americans for a Better Nation, and a gifted mathematician and expert in the area of "two-component interactions." The efforts to forestall disaster are appropriately suspenseful, and fans of post-9/11 thrillers will find a welcome alternative in the author's treatment of a familiar storyline set in the recent past. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
