Customer Reviews

Sleeper Cell

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

An Islamic sleeper cell in the US, releasing a two-step bio-terror attack on the US...a chilling and all-too-plausible scenario. Dr. Anderson does a masterful job of building suspense as an unconventional team of scientists races to discover the source of the threat and find a cure. A master-list of characters opens the book, and provides a handy reference to help keep track of who's who. Provides a cynical view of behind-the-scenes politics in which expedience and personal agenda supercede the search for truth and doing the "right thing".

Gripping, well-written, and well-researched. Kudos, Dr. Anderson!

In contrast to the first Amazon review I read, I found this book extremely intriguing and full of details that I need. Most authors water down their works to the point of being simplistic. Sleeper Cell is in the realm of a Tom Clancy novel. Full of details and content to keep my mind working. An exceptional work. Dr. Anderson has a bright future ahead of him. I cannot wait for his next book.


Frank

What a really cool find this was. I'm naturally drawn to international espionage, and spy thrillers, but wanted a change. I stumbled over this one late one night at a bookstore, and decided to pick it up. It ended up being quite terse, for a freshman novelist!

Bio-terrorism. Something all people fear, in the backs of their minds. This book certainly brings it closer to the front! It makes me almost as fearful of bio-terror, as I am of terrorist bombers.

As other reviewers have said, there are a lot of characters, so character development isn't strong. However, I don't find it terribly confusing. I think in a bioterror novel like this, you need more main players to make it seem more realistic. This novel is quite realistic.

I read this one in 3 days. Like most novels, it takes a little while to get going. But, once it does, it MOVES! So, if you're looking for a realistic new type of novel, this book hits the spot!

Overall, this was an entertaining biothriller, and the resolution of the 'nanovirus' was clever and frightening. I enjoyed the medical aspects of the story, but as a few others mentioned, there were a few too many characters to keep track of. One thing that I think may hurt this book some is that the beginning, to me was very slow, and involved two characters that we did not see much of further on in the story. I also was very confused by the early chapter that had Jim Summers and his girlfriend Sophia at a conference. A few chapters later Jim is trying to get a date with a co-worker, and I'm wondering what happened to Sophia? I kept expecting her to reappear and she never did.

This was, for my money, one of exactly two biothrillers that are genuinely disturbing and genuinely good. The other is The Cobra Event by Richard Preston.

As a person who works in microbiology and molecular biology, I frequently find myself irritated by the inaccuracies in the books that I read that are in this genre. This one, however, was stunningly accurate. There were, of course, portions of it that seemed implausible or far-fetched, and there were points (minor ones!) that were completely wrong. This is unique in the genre as being the first book like this that has literally made my jaw drop (Cre). Excellently done.

Nevertheless, this was a stunningly well-written story. Most of the details are at least biologically possible, and the entire scheme is both reasonable and potentially real. The probabilities are massively against anything like this ever happening, so everyone reading this should relax a little. However, the credibility of the author is very, very good.

That said there are a number of complaints about the characters in this book that I would like to address. They are, I think, all searching for a super-expert. They want a single individual or two who can flawlessly cover the breadth and scope of the five or six individuals who make up the Biodefense team. And the editors understood that. That is why there is a helpful reminder just inside the cover of what each of the scientists does. At a glance, you can find out that Goldberg is the infectious diseases expert, while Eva is the virologist. The cast is a bit complex, but I think that it is well-managed.

The only thing that could have arguably made this better was if it were longer and more developed. This is a minor concern, though, since this is a first novel. That aside, a 500-page book with another event introducing us to the characters (along, perhaps, with the two (only slightly explored and almost nameless) NSA agents) would have made this an even better book.

That criticism aside, I think that this was a wonderful book. It may be challenging for the lay reader to understand all of the complexities of some of the passages, but by and large the intricate details are not necessary for gleaning the bare storyline, so it seems unnecessary to nitpick. And, as a notorious nitpicker, that is something to be said.

I enjoyed it. Anyone who reads biomedical thrillers or other books in the bioterrorism genre would be well-served by picking up a copy. I purchased his second book the same day that I finished his first. And I read this book in less than 24 hours, so it is pretty well-done. Grab ir for some airplane or beach reading, and enjoy the ride.

Harkius

I really like this book. I didn't have any problem following the story as some others remarked. My only criticsm is that the book is too short. Whole parts of the book are just not fleshed out enough. The story was great, the action was great and the characters were good. I'm looking forward to Anderson's next novel.

Sleeper Cell is a gripping page turner. This author has done his homework and is able to present a plausible scenerio that will make you ponder the viability of biological warfare via nanotechnology. No matter what genre you typically read, you will enjoy this book. Cheers

The book is well-written, the pace is good, the science is gripping. I loved how the author made pretty complex microbiological processes fascinating and easy to understand. One of the best books I've read.

I bought this for my little brother as a birthday gift and he loved it! Shipping was very prompt and I received the order in a timely manner.

I need not expound on the storyline as by this time you have read the plot in the Editoial & Customer reviews. I was surprised at how many people had a problem keeping track of the characters, as I never had a problem with it. Who would you have eliminated? The President? His advisors? The Biodefense Team? The Hospital staff? Or the bad guys?

I pulled up this site specifically to see if Dr. Anderson has written a second book & was delighted to find out that he has. I can't wait to read it.