Dead of Night

February 28, 2005
Bioterrorist attacks on DisneyWorld, gun-toting Russians and flesh-eating worms aren't enough to stop spy-cum-biologist Marion "Doc" Ford in his 12th adventure. When Ford reluctantly agrees to check in on a friend's brother, Jobe Applebee, a reclusive hydrobiologist, the simple favor escalates to horrific proportions. Ford stumbles onto a brutal interrogation scene, scares off Applebee's attackers, returns to find Applebee has hung himself and later learns that Applebee was "host to a feeding, breathing, sub-community of parasites." White barrels on full throttle: pretty soon Ford's uncovered a madman's plot to unleash ravenous guinea worms into local waterways and piranhas into Texas lakes, which will send property values plummeting—and thus make them ready for a quick snapup once the threats have been taken care of. With the help of his sidekick Tomlinson and a slew of other returning characters, Ford must hunt down the bad guys and find the miracle cure before a statewide infestation begins. Meanwhile, he's fending off Stokes's security—the sexually deviant Russian Dasha, the slow-witted Alexis—and assuring his pregnant girlfriend he'll be home in time for Christmas. White's latest is deliciously addictive and nail-bitingly suspenseful.

June 6, 2005
The past 11 adventures featuring Marion "Doc" Ford have found the marine biologist/ex–black ops specialist placed in more than his fair share of dangerous situations, and this entry is no exception. When old friend Frieda Matthews asks Ford to visit her eccentric brother, he reluctantly agrees—and soon finds himself wrapped up in an insidious real estate scam with bioterrorism at its core. Having narrated two previous Doc Ford audiobooks, Hill possesses an excellent grasp of White's prose and his diverse cast of characters. He supplies Doc with an appropriately earnest, world-weary voice and nicely captures the heavy Russian accent of the sadistic assassin, Dasha. His pièce de résistance, however, is his portrayal of Ford's burned-out hipster sidekick, Tomlinson. A quintessential non-materialistic/antiestablishment throwback to the '60s who finds himself incredibly wealthy, Tomlinson is the one source of levity in this dark thriller, and Hill delivers his confused musings with the finesse of a professional comedian. Simultaneous release with the Putnam hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 28).