The Messenger

April 30, 2012
Miller’s latest (after The Woman in the Yard) is a timely bioterror thriller. Raised in an Iraqi refugee camp, Daria joins a terrorist organization that sends her off to boarding school in Florence, Italy. She lives an outwardly normal life, but eventually is summoned to Berlin, where she is infected with smallpox and put on a plane for New York, her mission to infect the city. Meanwhile, scientist Sam Watterman, whose career and finances were ruined after being pegged as a suspect in the 2001 anthrax mailings, emerges from retirement to help the FBI. He goes back to work for the money and the pleasure of sparring with an old rival who is now director of the CDC. Chapters dealing with Daria’s sleeper years defy cliché and bring her complex situation to life, but after she ditches her cover and begins to wander, Daria’s sections lose their urgency. Additionally, since Daria is part of a larger plot, Watterman doesn’t even know he’s looking for her until halfway through the book, which further saps momentum. The novel’s premise is terrifying, and Daria is a memorable character, but the execution falls short. Agent: The Bukowski Agency.

July 1, 2012

The anonymous "other" becomes the familiar in actor/writer Miller's (The Woman in the Yard) story of intrigue and bioterrorism. Flawed hero Sam Watterman, an American scientist who had been tossed aside by his own government, is called back into duty as the first hints of organized terror come to light. His path runs parallel to that of Daria, a young woman whose tragic life has been spent entirely in Iraqi refugee camps. In her view, America represents reckless, narcissistic, godless arrogance; she is easily recruited as a terrorist-in-training, imagining the glory of giving her life as a suicide bomber. Her trainers, however, have much more sophisticated weapons in mind: simple viruses that can kill millions. As Daria makes her way across the United States, she comes to know real Americans and begins to sense their common humanity, although her deeds of destruction cannot be undone. Both Sam and Daria have much to lose in their race against time, and the author builds to a tumultuous yet satisfying conclusion. VERDICT This is a high-stakes thriller with heart, recommended for fans of contemporary suspense.--Susanne Wells, Indianapolis P.L.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2012
This is structured like most of the biotech thrillers that filled shelves long before 9/11. A loon raging against evil America spreads deadly chemicals. Thousands die; cities are paralyzed. Troops are deployed but to little use. The hero, a cerebral type, is hauled from his lab, and in alternate chapters, we jump from the point of view of hero and the terrorist he seeks, as the unavoidable confrontation approaches. Readers should know that Miller is after something a little different here. The hero is the standard type, though older and with less hair, but the walking bomb is a lovely young Iraqi woman craving revenge after her family is slaughtered. She's taught to kill with a touch that transmits smallpox. Unfortunately, she spends a ponderous third of the novel discovering that Yanks are just like other people. Readers' responses to this tack will vary, though many will sense wasted promise: these Americans aren't very interesting. The last 60 pages, however, redeem the promise of the material in scenes that are both touching and dramatic. They're worth waiting for, though be prepared to trudge through the middle third.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)