The Ides of March [Paperback]

Ron Cutler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2000

As punishment for disobeying his superiors and bringing a Serbian killer to justice, McCord, an experienced intelligence officer with the NSA, is sent to investigate a mysterious disturbance on the Ugandan border. What he discovers is a camp manned by Russian scientists who once worked for Bio-preparat, the top secret Soviet bio-weapons facility. Using the cover of the civil war, the scientists have been monitoring the experimental use of a strange new weapon being used to destroy the native population. But before McCord can get there, the camp is attacked by terrorists who manage to hijack the weapon. A sole terrorists survives the attack, which reveals the weapon's devastating effect for which there is no known cure. Ironically, it is the surviving terrorist who carries the genetic code for a possible treatment. A man McCord must find before he accomplishes the horror of his deadly mission. In a race against time, McCord is aided by Dr. Kate Atwood, a researcher at the Army's top secret bio-weapon facility at Fort Detrick. McCord and Kate are propelled on an intensive journey that takes them from Africa to Moscow, South America, London, Washington and finally, New York, where they discover the true nature of the weapon itself and the ultimate aim of the terrorist's mission. A holocaust that will destroy millions.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Edgar Award nominee Ron Cutler is the author of eight novels including The Firstborn, The Seventh Sacrament, and To Kill a King. He has been an Indie filmmaker, commercial artist, teacher and attorney. Ron is currently a screen and television writer. His numerous screen credits include Blood Red and the critically acclaimed Article 99.

Product Details

• Paperback: 476 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595006175
• ISBN-13: 978-0595006175
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,458,585 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent thriller ! Up there with the best!, April 20, 2001

By 

PAT MULLAN (Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ides of March (Paperback)

Ron Cutler now joins a very small list of thriller writers on my bookshelf: Jack Higgins, James Patterson, Tom Clancy, Jeffery Deaver, Frederick Forsyth, Ken Follett. No need for me to talk about this book or to summarize it. It's just great: well written, superbly plotted, fast paced, international locations, intrigue, suspense, mystery, high stakes plot of world class thriller level - and gripping until the very last sentence.

Congratulations, Ron Cutler! I envy you !

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book!, May 31, 2001

By 

Huntress Reviews (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ides of March (Paperback)

McCord is an experienced intelligence officer with the National Security Agency. He is sent to the border of Ugandan and discovers an empty camp of what used to be a top secret camp full of Russian scientists. They had been testing and monitoring the experimental use of a new bio-weapon called the SV Strain. But terrorists had attacked the camp shortly before McCord arrived and stole the aluminum canisters containing the weapon. One case was blown open during the theft. The SV Strain had been released. All died instantly, except Kiernan. Kiernan became a carrier of a plague for which there was no cure!

Dr. Kate Atwood, of the Army's special biological unit, joins McCord and they begin to track Kiernan by the bodies of people infected with the plague. But Kiernan is a highly trained intelligence officer with extensive field experience that was thought to be under deep cover. He had been, but not any longer! Kiernan knew he was dying. He intended to take the plague within himself, along with the two other canisters containing the SV Strain, to New York City. He would have revenge on a small group of people there, killing millions in the biggest holocaust of all time!

***** W-O-W! I am having trouble shaking this one off! I keep telling myself that this is a work of fiction. The scary thing is, the chances are high that something similar to the SV Strain is already out there and only an elite group working on it know!

A well written story with a strong plot. There was bad editing in my copy, but it may be a "review copy", I can't tell. The story is fast paced and held my attention from the first page until the climactic ending. Highly recommended! *****

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An intriguing page-turner, June 9, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ides of March (Paperback)

Ron Cutler has received a Edgar Allan Poe Award nomination for his novel The Seventh Sacrament, and a Progy Award for The Firstborn, an occult thriller. His screenplay Article 99 starred Kiefer Sutherland and Ray Liotta. Past lifetime occupations include law and teaching. The Ides Of March is his ninth novel.

There is nothing like chemical warfare, also known as bio-terrorism, to make a reader sit up and take notice. Cutler's hero McCord is a National Security Agency operative, James Bondian in his loneliness and single-minded approach to his job:

"McCord was an alien species among the bishops and queens of Intelligence who prowled their dark corridors of secrecy and whose world was anonymous and imprecise. McCord had too many times violated their rules of misdirection and innuendo. There was something too laser like, too narrow and precise in McCord's definition of moral certitude. So they steered clear of him, when what he presented to them required a force of will they were unwilling or unable to muster. But they drew him close again, when that force became necessary, and too often called upon him to provide it."

When people in a small Ugandan community start dying mysteriously, the agency suspects Russian black market tactics of some strange bio killer. McCord is sent in to investigate. Dr. Kate Atwood, a bio weapons researcher teams up with McCord, and what they uncover is a substance that is not of this earth. It is McCord's job to find out whodunit, but not to embarrass anyone in the government. That proves to be a little hard to accomplish, since their foe turns out to be a renegade British agent.

Cutler's new novel is an intriguing page-turner whose subject matter is so horrific that the reader is sure to be engrossed by page two. Cutler correctly pricks a theoretical hole in America's defenses, thereby setting himself up as one of the top authors of scientific intrigue. The Ides Of March has it all: a great love story; crisis pacing; and an evil that is hard to fathom. The ending will have the reader ignoring all worldly machinations to remain glued to the book.

Shelley Glodowski, Reviewer