The Devil's Workshop [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Stephen J. Cannell (Author, Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 7, 1999

Stacy Richardson is a microbiology graduate student at the University of Southern California, taking her final doctoral exams.  In the middle of her "Quals," Stacy learns that her husband, head of the university's Microbiology Department, has "committed suicide" while on sabbatical at a super-secret bio-weapons lab known as the Devil's Workshop.  

Meanwhile, two train-riding hobos, "Lucky" Cunningham and "Hollywood Mike," are traveling near Vanished Lake, Texas, where the newest generation of bio-weapons is secretly being tested.  A bio-accident at Vanishing Lake turns the town into a living hell; one of the many casualties is Hollywood Mike, who, it turns out, is the son of egomaniacal, larger-than-life motion picture producer Buddy Brazil.

An unlikely trio, Stacy Richardson, Lucky Cunningham, and Buddy Brazil work to expose the horrific truth about the Devil's Workshop while trying to stop a gang of white supremacists from "detonating" the frightening new bio-weapon.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Emmy Award-winning TV writer/producer of The Rockford Files and The Commish strikes again (after Riding the Snake) with this quirky new action-driven nail-biter, which imagines the havoc unleashed by doomsday bioweapons. Doctoral candidate Stacy Richardson is called out of her oral finals to be told that her husband, the brilliant microbiology department chairman at USC, has killed himself while on sabbatical at a hush-hush Pentagon-funded bioweapons research center just outside Washington. Devastated, she flies east to accuse the military hierarchy of murdering her husband in an attempt to cover up a covert research project involving deadly Pale Horse Prion, a bioweapon that can be genetically engineered to kill specific ethnic groups. Back home in L.A., her husband's final e-mail reveals that the military is planning a test at a deserted prison town in Texas. Traveling incognito, Stacy arrives just in time to witness the catastrophic destruction of the quiet town as the military desperately tries to eliminate the mosquitoes carrying the deadly Prion. In the wake of the disaster, Fannon Kincaid, a zealot hobo preacher intent on fulfilling the Armageddon prophesy of Revelations, kidnaps renegade scientist Dexter DeMille, who has the Prion. In her effort to save the world, Stacy hooks up with Cris Cunningham, a former Desert Storm hero, and Buddy Brazil, the movie mogul dad of one of Prion's victims. Unfolding as a cross-country train chase in and out of hobo jungles, the shoot-'em-up finale comes thundering down in the railroad yards in Washington. Unfortunately, the schmaltzy fade to black is excessive and lacking in taste. Typically, Cannell is strong on action and plot, and weak on feelings, sensitivity and depth of character. Agents, Eric Simonoff and Mort Janklow. Major ad/promo, 12-city author tour.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

"The devil's workshop" is the bioweapons program in Fort Dietrick, MD, where Stacy Richardson's microbiologist husband has just committed suicide. Poor Stacy is about to find out, with the help of two hapless tramps in the vicinity, that the program's director has been using inmates at a nearby prison to test new bioweapons capable of targeting certain ethnic groupsAwith horrifying results.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Random House Audio (September 7, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 055352674X
• ISBN-13: 978-0553526745
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,522,678 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Little People Fight Back, April 22, 2002

By 

Untouchable (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Devil's Workshop: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Here is a great example of microbiological experimentation and the dangers of dealing with what is essentially a weapon in which no one really has total control. In this case, during the testing phase in which the virus is to be delivered to the test subjects via mosquitoes, some escape the test chamber, beginning a chain reaction of human devastation.

The saviour of the world comes in the form of two people who are seeking vengeance after their lives are touched by the creators of the new bio-weapon. The first is Stacey Richardson whose husband was a microbiologist working on a military installation. She wants answers after her husband is murdered but his body has been set up to look as though he committed suicide. The second is Cris Cunningham, an ex-marine and Gulf War hero who now carries a devastating virus thanks to an American-made bio-weapon used by the enemy. He's after vengeance, but is hampered by a serious drinking problem.

The action really takes off after a series of suspicious events in east Texas which lead Stacey and Cris to return to the scene of the disastrous test. In Cris' former life, he was a hobo, catching rides on passing freight trains and it's this means of transportation that they use as they chase a group of renegade killers who have gotten their hands on a batch of the deadly virus.

This is the classic underdog scenario where people who have been terribly wronged by those with power take matters into their own hands and fight back against the odds. Throw in a few off-beat characters and an unusual chase sequence and you've got a non-stop thriller that provides for very entertaining reading.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a must read!, March 4, 2004

By 

Jacki (Littleton, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Devil's Workshop (Audio Cassette)

The Devils Workshop is my all time favorite book. It ties together so many different subjects: science, love, action... It's so easy to get hooked on, I've read it at least ten times...and I'm still not bored of it. I would definitely recommend it for anyone who loves to get lost in the action and emotion of a great book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Thrilling Adventure Among Deadly Bioweapons, August 22, 2001

By 

George Webster, Ph.D., (Orlando, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Devil's Workshop: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

After microbiologist Stacy Richardson gets shocking news that her scientist husband killed himself at Fort Detrick, she finds that he knew of illegal work being done there by the Military. Suspecting that he was murdered, she teams with former Marine officer Cris Cunningham to find that a secret lab at Detrick is producing deadly prions that target specific races. It is testing the prions on human prisoners. Admiral Zoll, in charge of the project, orders Stacy and Cris killed. But a complication arises when a white supremacist preacher sets out to steal the prions to use to wipe out minorities. All in all, it's a rousing thriller that will keep you turning pages.