THE DEADLY TRADE

In this follow-up to Man in the Middle (2003), a failing San Diego biotechnology firm recklessly experiments with a deadly virus and cravenly consorts with Mideast terrorists.

An anonymous Dutch doctor injects a trio of homeless men with something unsavory. Shortly thereafter, a small explosion rocks the Isotopic Research Bio-Laboratory, killing several. Summoned to the scene are lumbering detective Bob Moore and financial analysts Tim Mack and Betsy O’Brien, who represent Isotopic’s banking firm, Atterberry-Stanton Securities. In the wake of his young wife’s death and a subsequent bout with alcoholism, Tim has recently moved west to start a new life. He senses suspicious behavior at Atterberry-Stanton—its director of security seems to be stalking his office, for example—but doesn’t entirely trust his own instincts in light of his recent history. Tim finds a sympathetic ear in Betsy, and they begin a skittish, stop-and-go romance. Meanwhile, sinister events are happening all over both Isotopic and Atterberry-Stanton. These range from minor (ubiquitous dark car trailing Tim and others) to Machiavellian (mysterious death of scientist Nils Vost). Womanizing Atterberry-Stanton rainmaker Carter Ramsey picks up an aggressive blond named Sherry Gaylen, who runs him through his sexual paces and leaves scratches all over his body. She then disappears without a trace, and he rapidly succumbs to a mystery illness that ravages his body and kills him painfully. Morris keeps the reader a couple of steps ahead of both trusting Tim and hard-boiled Bob, who’s ultimately sidelined in a deadly ambush. The splintered narrative of a hundred-plus chapters offers multiple twists as well as frequent perspective shifts. Mad scientists and madder Middle Eastern extremists, “mutated organisms” of the former Soviet Republic, are planning to unleash a anthrax-like virus. It all rests with Tim to expose them in the proverbial race against the clock.

Morris gets some suspense mileage out of Tim’s uncertainly about whom to trust, whom not to. Otherwise, a brisk but undistinguished thriller.