Antidote, a new spy thriller deals with the real possibility of terrorists using germ warfare as a threat against whatever target appeals at the moment. Anyone who believes that germ warfare is unlikely should read, for example, the news about current problems at the Centers for Disease Control that required closures of two laboratories: Live anthrax bacteria were mistakenly transferred to an unsuspecting laboratory, endangering the lives of workers; and a benign flu was accidentally contaminated with the dangerous H5N1 bird flu strain. In addition, vials of live smallpox virus were recently discovered in a cabinet at the National Institutes of Health, where they had been stored since the 1950's.The threat is scary and real.

"Antidote" begins at a slow pace, entertaining in a this-isn't-bad-and-I've-nothing-else-to-do kind of way, but becomes a page-turner about the time that the Chechin is introduced. In this story, a group of Soviet Georgians develop a strain of common bacteria and create an epidemic against the Russian High Command. Robert Cook, a microbiologist in La Jolla helps track down the perpetrators through France, Moscow and the Georgian republic. The novel features the sights, sounds and tastes of those lands, while bringing in enough science to interest the lay reader who likes a galloping thriller...