The Return of the Spanish Lady - Hardcover

Davis, Val

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312262248 ISBN 13: 9780312262242

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2001

Synopsis

Archaeologist and expert on old planes Nicolette Scott tries to stop a pharmaceutical company from reviving the 1919 "Spanish Lady" flu epidemic that had killed millions around the world so it can make billions on the antidote.

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Reviews

The mad scientist/millionaire/megalomaniac conspiracy formula gets a thorough rehash in Davis's latest Nicolette Scott mystery, following Wake of the Hornet (2000). Archaeologist Scott joins an expedition to Alaska to find a valuable Japanese plane downed during WWII. Backing for the project comes from a "philanthropic" pharmaceutical company, whose real motive is to locate the frozen bodies of a group of gold miners who died from the Spanish influenza that killed millions worldwide in 1918-1919; their camp is near the plane wreck site. The plan is to extract the flu virus from the 80-year-old corpses, reintroduce the disease, then make a fortune with an antidote. Davis alternates this paranoid plot with the tale of the miners, who were infected in New York City and died in Alaska. Her research and recreation of 1918 Manhattan provide some depth to an otherwise flat story. The contemporary characters are cardboard creations with their hearts on their sleeves. The action involves countless treks along snow-covered escarpments by a number of unlikely hikers. The most interesting characters--and most realistic threats--are a female grizzly and her two cubs, searching for food before going into hibernation. The plot devices--getting Scott to the locale of the airplane crash and then putting her in peril--are clunky enough, but the idea that a venal drug company would go to such ridiculous lengths asks too much of the reader.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Archaeologist and antique-aircraft specialist Nicolette Scott has a new job at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. When asked to participate in an expedition to recover a Japanese plane that went down in Alaska during World War II, she jumps at the opportunity. Once she arrives, however, the true nature of the mission becomes clear. The drug company sponsoring the trip really wants to recover the bodies of gold miners who died during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918-19. Since the virus can survive in frozen corpses, anyone handling them may contract the deadly disease. Nick is determined to stop the evil drug executives even if she dies in the process. Chapters describing the 1918 epidemic interspersed with the main story provide some historical perspective. Readers will keep turning pages to follow this engaging mixture of science, history, and action. Barbara Bibel
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0312262248
• ISBN 13: 9780312262242
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256