Book Review: The Carrier

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

The Carrier     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Holden Scott
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Medical
St. Martin’s, May 2000, $24.95, 320 pp.

Jack Collier has a brilliant idea that will not only attain him his Ph.D. from Harvard, but cure cancer. However, his faculty advisor Dr. Dutton steals the ideal of training Strep A bacteria to eat tumors leaving Jack expelled for plagiarism and feeling heartbroken.

Jack flees Harvard to seek his former girlfriend who is dying from cancer. However, unbeknownst to Jack he has become infected with his cure, turning him into a modern day but deadlier Typhoid Mary. He kills anyone who comes in physical contact with him. With the FBI wanting to stop Jack before others die, while others want Jack dead before he reveals the truth, he continues his trek cross country to try to save a life.

THE CARRIER is an exciting, fast-paced medical thriller that falls a bit short of being a classic horror tale. The story line moves so fast that readers will finish it quickly, but feel very little towards the characters in the process. Even though this tale is not quite what it could have been, any one skeptical about Holden Scott’s talent will realize he is a major player who needs to know speed kills interesting plots, even one that is still fun to read.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner