Exposed

Starred review from August 25, 2008
Last seen in A Necessary Evil
(2006), FBI special agent Maggie O'Dell pursues a vengeful monster and his sadistic assistant who infect innocent people with the deadly Ebola virus in bestseller Kava's most terrifying psychological thriller to date. While investigating a bomb threat in suburban Elk Grove, Va., Maggie and her boss, Assistant Director Cunningham, become exposed to the virus. The pair wind up in “the Slammer,” an isolation ward within the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Fort Detrick, Md. On the outside, Maggie's partner, R.J. Tully, investigates other cases of exposure to the virus, including an entire Chicago hospital. After Maggie's release, a clue Tully uncovers from his past sends him racing to save Maggie from the evil mastermind responsible for the viral threats. Full of authentic details taken from similar real-life crimes, the smart, thrill-a-minute plot builds to a cliffhanger ending that will leave fans eager for the next installment.

December 22, 2008
With reminders of tainted Tylenol, the Beltway snipers, anthrax-laced envelopes and the hooded Unabomber, Kava creates an atmosphere of queasy suspense that reaches the ultimate in discomfort with a nasty madman unleashing the superdeadly Ebola Zaire virus (the so-called “slate cleaner”) on a blissful populace, including FBI profiler Maggie O’Dell. Tanya Eby Sirois takes all the terror in stride, narrating the thriller in a measured, levelheaded manner rather than trying to embellish the already chill-inducing prose with dramatic flourishes. It’s a good narration choice, suiting the no-nonsense mood of series heroine O’Dell whom Kava places in isolated jeopardy from the jump by infecting her with the virus. And it also fits the determined approach employed by O’Dell’s uninfected partner, R.J. Tully, as he performs the novel’s heavy work of sifting through the clues, grilling suspects and searching for the mystery maniac. A Mira hardcover (Reviews, Aug. 25).