Date first published	15 September 2011
ISBN Number	0 752 876465
Page Count	401 h/b
h/b= hardback : p/b= paperback

Storyline

In Northern Uganda an American Special Forces team is wiped out by a group of normally peaceful farmers. Footage of the attack shows even women and children possessing almost supernatural speed and strength, consumed with a rage that makes them immune to pain, fear, and all but the most devastating injuries.

Covert-One's top operative, Army microbiologist Colonel Jon Smith, is sent to investigate the attack and finds evidence of a parasitic infection that for centuries has been causing violent insanity in tribes then going dormant. This time though it's different. The infection is purposely being kept alive and the director of Iranian Intelligence is in Uganda trying to make a deal for a biological weapon to unleash on the West.

As Smith and his team are cut off from all outside support, they begin to suspect that other forces more powerful than the Iranians are in play, and that the source might lead all the way back to Washington DC.

Review

This book caught me somewhat by surprise, as I had thought that this franchise was long dead. With the last Covert One book being published back in September 2007. The series has returned and with a new author, which has made the assessment somewhat difficult and hard to compare with the earlier books. ( It is also difficult to remember what the other authors were like). So effectively we are having to start from scratch.

I found the writing quite clinical, the descriptions and the actions seemed remote from real people, and I found myself somewhat detached from Jon Smith, whereas in previous stories I quite worried about the character and what happened to him.

Most of the cast of characters are in the book, and one or two sticky issues, particularly the one concerning Randi Russell, have now been resolved, so I guess we may see future stories with the two operating as a team.

The story is not a new one. Tom Clancy did a story based around the Ebola Virus back in 1996 (See Executive Orders), and this was done much, much better. The plan in Executive Orders was much more complex, to turn the Virus into a much more vicious weapon. This weapon whilst pretty horrifying was designed to be a limited attack weapon. However this parasitic weapon, seemed to be more prone to failure, as the host became obviously ill - especially with blood pouring down over his face.

The books pace seemed fairly static, more like a ten mile jog than a sprint, the battle in the village, just confused me at one point, and then all of a sudden it was attacked by American military.

The search for the mole, and the idea of senior CIA becoming involved in 'wet work', doesn't work for me, and I'm not sure that the faked helicopter crash would wash with air crash investigators. In the concluding 'Authors notes' Mills states that he likes to be authentic, and I'm not sure that he does that with sections of the book. Would CIA really fake the death of two senior executives? Personally I don't think they would, and too many questions would be raised. Yes putting them on trial would be a risk, especially as Covert Ones cover might be blown, but a more likely scenario would be a quick pay off.

It was nice to see Marty take a back seat with this story, as with his Aspergers, it is very unlikely that someone like Jon would take him into his confidence. Marty is like candy - OK in small doses!

Overall, it was an interesting read, even if the story has been done before. The aspects of the story were all within the bounds of reality, some of the earlier books I felt pushed the realms of reality quite badly. The book is better than the current Bourne franchise (I have not read Bourne 10 as yet), and perhaps a second novel will allow the author to get stuck in.

When preparing to write this review my opening paragraph was going to start along the lines of ' I doubt that Ludlum had any input into this story', however now realising that Clancy had written his story back in 1996, it is just possible that this story outline was put on the backburner to allow the dust to settle on Clancy's book. Ludlum died in 2001, so it is possible the story outline existed, but perhaps not as Covert One story.

I've given the book a three to start with. I may review the marking if Mills does a few more and I find what style of writing he has, it is very difficult to tell from this one story. Certainly I would recommend this story over the current Bourne books. However they do deliver more energy and impact than this one. You can feel quite exhausted after a Bourne fight.

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