Whiteout

Written by Ken Follett

Narrated by David Tennant

Jealousies, distrust, and hidden rivalries uncover dark secrets, then a dozen vials of a deadly virus go missing.

As a blizzard whips out of the north on Christmas Eve, several people converge on a remote family house. Stanley Oxenford, director of a pharmaceutical research company, has everything riding on a drug he is developing to fight a lethal virus. Several others are interested in his success too: his children, at home for Christmas with their offspring, have their eyes on the money he will make; Toni Gallo, head of his security team and recently forced to resign from the police, is betting her career on keeping it safe; an ambitious local television reporter sniffs a story, even if he has to bend the facts to tell it; and a violent trio of thugs are on their way to steal it, with a client already waiting.

As the storm worsens and the group is laid under siege by the elements, the emotional sparks crackle and dark secrets are revealed that threaten to drive Stanley and his family apart for ever.

Filled with startling twists, Whiteout is the ultimate knife-edge drama from an international bestselling author who is in a class by himself

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: Nov 17, 2006
• ISBN: 9780230527874

Ken Follett

Ken Follett was born in Cardiff, Wales. Barred from watching films and television by his parents, he developed an early interest in reading thanks to a local library. After studying philosophy at University College London, he became involved in centre-left politics, entering into journalism soon after. His first thriller, the wartime spy drama Eye of the Needle, became an international bestseller and has sold over 10 million copies. He then astonished everyone with his first historical novel, The Pillars of the Earth, the story of the building of a medieval cathedral, which went on to become one of the most beloved books of the twentieth century. One of the most popular authors in the world, his many books including the Kingsbridge series and the Century trilogy - a body of work which together chronicles over a thousand years of history - and his latest novel Never - which envisages how World War III could happen - have sold more than 188 million copies. A father and husband, Ken lives with his wife in England and enjoys travelling the world when he can.

Reviews for Whiteout

[eadieb-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ken Follett is an excellent storyteller and Whiteout is a page-turner that does not disappoint. A missing canister containing a deadly virus and a deadly snow storm make up the plot of this bio-terrorism novel. It is a riveting thriller full of romance, family relationships and company security. The characters are well-fleshed and believable. I found Follett's writing to be suspenseful and entertaining. I look forward to reading more Follett in the near future. I highly recommend this book to those who love suspense thrillers.Ken Follett is an excellent storyteller and Whiteout is a page-turner that does not disappoint. A missing canister containing a deadly virus and a deadly snow storm make up the plot of this bio-terrorism novel. It is a riveting thriller full of romance, family relationships and company security. The characters are well-fleshed and believable. I found Follett's writing to be suspenseful and entertaining. I look forward to reading more Follett in the near future. I highly recommend this book to those who love suspense thrillers.Ken Follett is an excellent storyteller and Whiteout is a page-turner that does not disappoint. A missing canister containing a deadly virus and a deadly snow storm make up the plot of this bio-terrorism novel. It is a riveting thriller full of romance, family relationships and company security. The characters are well-fleshed and believable. I found Follett's writing to be suspenseful and entertaining. I look forward to reading more Follett in the near future. I highly recommend this book to those who love suspense thrillers.

[vivienner_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fast-paced and exciting with some very tense moments brought about by a biological terror threat. The story takes place in Scotland during a Christmas Eve snowstorm. The plot twists held together well even as the unlikely events unfolded. It was lightened in places by some prosaic lines from mother whose first instinct in an emergency is to put the teapot on. A short, fun read.

[charon07 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not the best Ken Follett I've read. He seemed to have cribbed a lot from "12 Monkeys," and the usual good sex scenes were tacked on at the end gratuitously.

[elizabethcromb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Great suspense. Would make a good movie, like some of his others.

[olivermagnus · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Whiteout is a page turning thriller that combines suspense, romance and biological terrorism. It's set in Scotland at Oxenford Laboratories and centers around a pharmaceutical research company: the director, security team, and the director's family members. It's a very fast-paced read, with most of the action occurring over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. There is a nice epilogue at the end, which moves us forward in time about one year.

Ken Follett writes a wide range of genres. This is not a multi-book saga like the Century Trilogy or Pillars of the Earth but I found it to be a great change from some of the more intense books I've read recently.





WTR 1363

[dverg48 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Boring...I gave up on it.

[paulhock-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I thought this was interesting enough but not quite believable. Especially the ending of the book. Don't want to get into detail and spoil it. Nevertheless It kept my interest, I had to see the outcome.

[heidialice · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In a high-security biomedical lab in remote Scotland, a deadly virus goes missing on Christmas Eve, as a blizzard moves in. The lab director and security director race against the clock and the fast-moving storm to find the virus before it is too late. In a slightly contrived denouement, the main characters all get snowed in at the lab director's isolated manor.Fun, fast-paced if a little cliched. There are certainly better and better-written thrillers out there, but a fine plane read.

[sandyamcpherson · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was one of Follett's more forgettable novels. It was a terribly contrived situation for a break in by an angry ex-employee. [Spoilers] it was blatant idiocy of the security chief not having the computer software revised for protecting the building access after the software developer was caught stealing. Duuuh. The bad guys holding the family hostage later on continued this implausible pot boiler.

[jackmassa · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A deadly virus is stolen from the vaults of a drug company in Scotland. Can the Facility Director (a gorgeous 36-year-old former policewoman who is secretly in love with her boss (the shy but brilliant professor who founded the company)) catch the thieves and avert a terrorist plot to spread worldwide plague? On Christmas Eve? In a blizzard? With her mother in the car?

Follett is a magician, skillfully mixing thriller and soap opera with dashes of sex and violence. I can't quite figure out how he breathes so much life into these standard-issue characters or makes me care so much about them. A Grand Master of direct, blatant prose and edge-of-the-cliff suspense in top form.

[laugal-2 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

didn't like this one.

[carol420 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An ex policewoman, Toni Gallo is now head of security at a pharmaceutical firm, Oxenford Medical. As the Christmas holiday approaches a cannister holding a lethal virus has gone astray.

Characters in this evil vs. good battle all converge upon the Oxenford family home in Scotland. Once there, they're kept captive by a blinding winter storm. Toni has eyes for her boss, Stanley Oxenford. But, she'd be better off to keep her attention fixed on his son, Kit, a gambling ne'er do-well who plots to steal from his dad's lab to pay off debts.

"Whiteout" reads like a rushed book, in the style of i-had-to-do-it-fast-because-my-publisher-wanted-something-out-by-the-deadline. In sum, do not read this book if you never read Follett before. Start out with either "Pillars" or "Eye of the Needle" and then move to this one if you are compelled.

[haylesdot · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This starts with a great plot for a thriller, the theft of a virus from a secure laboratory, just a small amount of which could kill thousands. I enjoyed getting to know the characters and the secrets of a family which unravel as the plot focusses on their Christmas gathering. It was an ideal Christmas read, and the car chases in the snow were entertaining. As the story leads to the stand off between the criminals and the family there were some farcical twists, but still a good enough read to see you through the days between Christmas and New Year.

[proustitutes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I used to think it was weird that Follett wrote mostly mid-sized page-turner crime/mystery/adventure type novels, and then he wrote PILLARS OF THE EARTH and the like. I couldn't understand how the same author could write two wildly differing books.

Now I get it. What made Pillars of the Earth and World Without End and Fall of Giants so lovable, to me, was the character development. He got you inside the minds of his characters, made you cheer for them, and wrote flawlessly of their intrigues and actions and thoughts without boring you one bit.

THAT is what made this novel so amazing for me. This was another one of his regular page-turners that I picked up at a garage sale for fifty cents. I read it on a five hour car ride and enjoyed myself immensely. I wanted to know what happened to all of my quickly cherished new friends, and loved the novel all the way throughout. A solid plot, very realistic, and SUPER entertaining.

Thank you Ken Follet! I'm now persistently on the lookout for more of your books!!

[arecafe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this book. The plot moved smoothly and quickly. While the plot itself is nothing new, it still had plenty of drama, romance, humor and sex. The location is different and adds something new and exotic to the story. The characters are well developed and are a good example of opposites attracting. The more confident, outgoing and boisterous Ryan and the quiet somewhat nerdy Cameron, yet fundamentally the two men end up being more alike than different. I also liked that Cameron had a friend, someone to help him along and get past his shyness, in Jason. Jason is friendly and outgoing and his character added a bit more realism to the story and kept Cameron from seeming so whiny and self-involved. There are also plenty m/m situations, some are steamy and some are just raunchy fun. If I had one complaint it would be that I would have liked more information in the epilogue, as to what happened and how Ryan, Cameron and Jason all got along. This one of those stories that you will enjoy anytime as long as you do not try to take it too seriously or make more of it than it is. I would recommend it to anyone who likes m/m romances.

~ TRS for AReCafe

[tcgep · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It was an entertaining book. Fast reading.

[alienhard_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.5 stars

This is one of those 100-pages-at-a-time barnburners. And to think I was about to give it away. I was amazed at how many characters Follett introduced in such a short novel and how he was able to keep it all afloat throughout. Of course the content is nothing new: scary virus, bad guys, family drama, unrequited love, even a strange car chase. And it all wraps up in a nice bow at the end. But, if you want fast-paced entertainment, this fits the bill quite nicely.

[atdcross · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It was not action-packed but the characters and their interactions kept me reading.The basic premise: During a snowstorm on Christmas Eve, a deadly virus is stolen from the laboratory and the security director, Toni Gallo, with pangs of guilt for having not prevented the theft and in love with the scientist who owns the medical research firm that developed it, goes on a deperate search for the thieves before they can get away and transfer it to whomever it is that seeks it. The blizzard makes it all the more harder to catch the theives before the trail runs cold and they are gone.It's a good read. The characters and their development in the story will, I think, want you to keep on reading it. I especially was intrigued by Stanley Oxenford's, the owner of the research laboratory, character with whom Toni falls in love, a man about 20 years younger than her.However, I must add a warning that was brought to my attention by a comment made from another reviewer wherein he stated, "the 'love' scene between the two teenagers was a bit much. Even though it was fiction It felt creepy reading about kids doing sexual things to each other. I know it happens but that doesn't mean I have to like reading (in detail at that!) about it."With shame, I must agree, although (to my shame) while reading it I experienced no such moral sensitivity.

[john257hopper · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was until now the only Ken Follett novel I hadn't read. It's slightly unusual in that it is a modern thriller set in the 2000s, not a World War II, Cold War or historical novel. It revolves around the theft of a deadly virus from a research facility in Scotland and its use as a weapon of biological terror. In places it read a bit more like a Michael Crichton novel though I think Follett is better at creating more believable, rounded characters. The latter part dealt with a very tense, gripping hostage situation with some extremely unpleasant villains (one in particular). All the same, this isn't one of my favourite Follett novels.

[leslie398 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good suspense novel

[amethyst2mirfi · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Initially I thought this would be a fairly pedestrian read, but as the story progressed I found that there were twists and turns in the plot which kept me turning the pages.

[ashryan_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

While I was reading Whiteout, it just seemed like a decent but pretty typical thriller, with some of the same flaws as many other thrillers of its type. (Notably, Follett's attempts to deal with the problem of how to isolate all these characters in a story with a contemporary setting and modern technology are necessarily somewhat clumsy---every character either forgets their cell phone or hasn't got one for some reason, and in the couple of cases when they do manage to get to their phone to try to call for help, the battery is of course dead.)But the more I thought about the story afterward, the more I realized it was a rather brilliant way of dramatizing its theme about the role of taking risks, and the appropriate precautions, in the pursuit of values. From the scientist who researches cures for deadly diseases and necessarily keeps strains of such diseases in his lab for testing purposes, to his head of security who puts her career and her heart on the line in protecting her boss's interests, to his son who racks up enormous gambling debt despite his "perfect system" and plots to steal a lethal virus both as a way out for himself and as revenge against his father for refusing to bail him out a second time, to teenaged sweethearts discovering sex and the proper use of condoms---everything in the novel is beautifully integrated toward this end.Many reviewers have criticized Whiteout for being formulaic, having flat characters, etc. But many of these same reviewers in the same breath praise other novels of his, such as Eye of the Needle, which Whiteout is actually better than in these respects---so don't pay any attention to them.

[jbreedlove_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A deadly virus is stolen and the mastermind is the owners' son. All during a blizzard in Scotland. A well written well paced interesting read. I will read another Follet book.

[kelberts_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

least favorite Follett book I have read - what was the significance of the puppy?

[neilsantos_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Better, a little more thrilling than the last one. Reads a lot like Night over Water.

[luvmysteries5 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

An exciting story. Different from previous spy thriller novels that he wrote.

[taylorsteve_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was a surprising slow read for me. The plot line was weak and mostly predictable, and both the protagonist and antagonist were frequently portrayed doing unbelievable things for unbelievable reasons. The background current of sex was a frequent theme for most characters, so much so that it became offensive, especially with the 14-16 year old characters. The book wasn't worth the time it took to read it - even though I was on a plane for 10 hours with nothing else to do.

[punxsygal · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Whiteout by Ken Follett4 starsA young worker from a biohazard lab in Scotland dies a horrible death from a virus. Then, the son of the owner of the lab plans and executes a robbery at the lab, believing the target of the theft is a vaccine. He is involved in the robbery to settle a gambling debt. During the robbery he learns the real theft is to be of the virus. A blizzard is raging over Scotland and things start going wrong with the "perfect" plan. A fairly good thriller--but cuddle up with a blanket as the descriptions of the blizzard will make you cold.

[bruce_krafft_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

OK, I wasn’t prepared to like the story. I read the description and thought, hum sounds a bit dull, the description makes it sound as though the entire story takes place at the house (it doesn’t.) But it takes place in Scotland where they have lovely accents and was read by David Tennant, who does audio books brilliantly so I had to get it. It was entertaining. I admit that I didn’t like it as much as the other non-Doctor Who audio book that I have read by David Tennant [Quite Ugly One Morning] but I don’t feel that I wasted my money.It is quite a thriller and you are ‘on the edge of your seat’ quite a bit. I loved the character of Toni’s mother, who added a bit of spice to the story. No thinking or any intellectual engagement is needed to understand and follow the plot and there are memorable moments of emotional exchange between the various characters, and the characters are well developed.DS

[miyurose_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I just can't say enough about Ken Follett. I am just immediately engrossed in his books, before the first chapter is even done. I actually spent over 3 hours last night reading (during American Idol!), I was so interested. This is the first of his I've read that actually takes place in modern times. Most everything else I've read was set in the WWII era, so this was a nice change of pace.