Stinger [Hardcover]

Nancy Kress (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1998

FBI Agent Robert Cavanaugh has been transferred from the organized crime unit to the slow-paced office in Maryland. When a nurse at a hospital notices an increase in fatal strokes among healthy black adults, the trail leads to a new strain of malaria that is fatal to those with the sickle-cell trait. There's no hard evidence of human intervention, but Cavanaugh must convince the FBI to look for the answers before it becomes an epidemic or even race war.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When an outbreak of malaria in Maryland selectively kills African Americans with the sickle cell gene, and the mutant parasite at the root of the epidemic has not one but many coordinated alterations, it looks like a genocidal design. While African American epidemiologist Melanie Anderson hops continents in search of the surmised white-supremacist culprit, her collaborator, white FBI agent Robert Cavanaugh (a chief figure in Kress's previous bio-thriller, Oaths and Miracles) is out in the woods collecting mosquito samples and dodging marriage to his girlfriend. As clues surface that the U.S. government may be covering up evidence of the epidemic's source, Cavanaugh and Anderson work alone to unearth the true story. Although Kress excels at wringing drama out of hard science, her plot is jerky and contrived: the right things seem to happen but for no organic reason, and the ending (involving unexpected benevolence from on high) is sure to frustrate readers. One fine plotting device is Kress's interpolated "Interims": eloquent, synecdochic vignettes of the epidemic and its effects on everyday life. Yet despite these, and a fascinating twist involving the IRA, the Indian population of London and the genetic history of the sickle cell trait, few are likely to catch fever over this uneven malarial tale.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Another biotech thriller featuring the long-suffering, messed-up FBI agent Robert Cavanaugh (Oaths and Miracles, 1996). Consigned to a backwater office in southern Maryland, his relationship with science writer Judy Kozinski already coming unraveled, Cavanaugh notices a sudden upsurge in the incidence of fatal strokes reported by local hospitals. Inexplicably, almost all the victims are black. Meanwhile, at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, militant black doctor Melanie Anderson examines blood samples from black Senator Malcolm Reading, dead of a thrombosis induced by malaria. But Reading carried the sickle-cell trait, which should have made him resistant to malaria. More alarming still, this ``malaria reading'' attacks only those with sickle-cell. Cavanaugh's thrombosis epidemic results from an outbreak ofmalaria reading. To Melanie, the evidence adds up to attempted genocide, a theory her superiors reject. She seethes as the CDC and the Army cooperate to stamp out the epidemic. Cavanaugh, meanwhile, has been seduced by his ex-wife Marcy, but only so she can ditch the family dog. Still, Cavanaugh and Melanie ascertain that someone deliberately bred malaria reading as a biological warfare agentthey suspect the secret CIA lab at Fort Detrick, not the too-obvious suspect the FBI publicly arrestand that their bosses are cynically covering up the whole affair. They're right about the conspiracy, as it turns out, but wrong about its source. Agreeably understated, impeccably crafted, engagingly peopled, and, this time, the offstage villains are perfectly suited to the swirling, murky atmosphere of paranoia. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 303 pages
• Publisher: Forge; 1st edition (October 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312865368
• ISBN-13: 978-0312865368
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,510,202 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Competent, but not great, October 11, 2000

By 

Gunfighter (Northern Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stinger (Mass Market Paperback)

Ms. Kress turns out a competent work of mystery here. The story is good, and we don't find out "whodunit" until the very end. My only complaint is that the characters were a bit cliche. Dr. Melanie Anderson was just about the angriest character I have ever seen. In my own humble opinion, I don't see how she could possibly have risen to a position of responsibility within the CDC with some of the know-nothing convictions she holds. Agent Cavanaugh is the quintessential "man afraid of commitment"

Read this book and be entertained for a few hours.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable Science Fiction Mystery, September 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Stinger (Hardcover)

This is a competent science fiction/mystery hybrid. The plotting is good and quality of writing solid. Good for a short, undemanding read.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A scary stinging scientific story, September 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Stinger (Hardcover)

Dellbridge Community Hospital in La Plata, Maryland, suddenly is dealing with the beginnings of what could easily become an epidemic when several African-Americans die from strokes. FBI Agent Robert Cavanaugh investigates the astronomical possibility that this is just a coincidence. Besides race, it is quickly determined that the common factor is that all of the deceased carried the sickle cell gene.

Though they understand the cause, CDC is divided as to how the mutant strain formed. Epidemiologist Melanie Anderson insists that this particular strain was genetically engineered to eradicate the black race. Because of the potential size, the Army sends in its best team because they are taking the risk seriously. Cavanaugh must convince his own agency that two and a half million Americans are at dire risk and a race war could be imminent if the FBI fails to actively seek answers.

STINGER is a well written scientific thriller that fans of the sub-genre will take pleasure reading. The plot is well designed as Nancy Kress demonstrates her remarkable ability to scribe complex scientific knowledge and theory into an easy to read fiction. However, too many events seem to miraculously occur for the hero and heroine, and the ending seems weak for a story line as well written as this one is. As with her previous novels, OATHS and MIRACLES, Ms. Kress provides fans with a state-of-the-art science thriller that is frightening because it appears so realistic yet remains an enjoyable experience.

Harriet Klausner