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When Arkansas experiences a wave of rare fatal diseases, the CDC sends disgraced doctor Dave Richards to investigate, and he knows this is the case that could save his career. When he teams up with FBI agent Paula Mushari, Richards thinks he may have found the person who can help him find the answers. But as they dig deeper, they begin to get a sinister glimpse into what they are dealing with-a vengeful sect, led by the son of a late white supremacist, intent on destroying a nation. As Richards fights to save his job, he and Mushari must race against the clock to prevent a plague of catastrophic proportions.
From an ATF sniper’s rifle camouflaged in a forest emerged a bullet hitting an unarmed woman, a mother in a cabin in Idaho. The elite governmental task force had been on the trail of Harlan Curran, a known white supremacist and anti-establishment terrorist. The collateral damage of killing Harlan and his wife, the parents of their young son Ben Curren, etched an indelible memory in the lad’s mind as he witnessed the onslaught of violence from this federally sanctioned and orchestrated search-and-destroy killing. The inadvertent blatant hostility of having a trigger-happy agent fire before the order was properly given preempted the possibility of capturing the suspects, and thus had its dire consequences. It cemented into the mindset of this young man a desire to grow up to kill as many non-whites in America as possible. From his dead father’s brainwashing, he believed in a bigoted effort to bring the white race back into its God given status of being the supreme rulers of this land. Thus, Ben Curren became what is known as a “sleeper cell.” So begins White Sleeper, a novel by Dr. David Fett and Stephen Langford, co-authors of a suspenseful and complex literary work of contemporary terrorism possibilities.
In White Sleeper, the protagonist Dr. Dave Richards has a knack for solving difficult life-threatening diagnoses; sometimes by looking in plain sight for the obvious causes. This has bolstered his reputation as being one of the best in the country, and has been noticed by the Center of Disease Control. When the CDC attempted to determine the cause of a deathly outbreak in the South, they called upon Dr. Richards to assist in determining the bizarre circumstances of what was seemingly a medical mystery of unknown origin. In attempting to solve this, Dr. Richards met Paula Mushari, an attractive FBI agent with “an expecting attitude.” Along with scores of other doctors, agents, and governmental black-op guys, they embarked on their quest which led to an unimaginable plan of death and destruction, conceived by the then mature Ben Curren as the terrorist mastermind.
David R. Fett, being a medical doctor in real life, no doubt added much to the factual credibility of the storyline, as he and Stephen Langford articulated a mentally absorbing and challenging book complete with fast-paced action and plenty of fascinating characters. “Overly filled with characters,” might be said as a criticism, as many only had a passing contribution to the story. However, if people in a book were analogous to spices in a recipe, this book would be a cornucopia of flavors, stimulating the senses and memorable beyond belief. Both Fett and Langford have a characteristic way to introduce a person. The first part of what they write is what the character does along with his or her name; the second part is who they are inside. This technique made for a very interesting cast of characters, as in one or two sentences they would introduce someone by name, title, and tell of their focus in life. They use what is called, “Sizing a person up in 10 seconds.” This gives White Sleeper a style unique unto itself, and makes for a refreshing suspense filled story.
David R. Fett and Stephen Langford work well together. You can tell; the proof is on the paper. Between realistic and factual elements of the storyline, credible and interesting characters, sophisticated plot foreshadowing, superb timing in building suspense and an intelligent fast-paced novel filled with visuals and terse dialogue, White Sleeper is simply infectious! Just as the “little things” in the authors’ style lend itself to a memorable book, it’s the “little things in life” – those pictured on the cover under an electron microscope - which can kill you!
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