- Mass Market Paperback: 373 pages
- Publisher: Ballantine Books Inc.; 1st Domestic Mass Market Ed edition (Jun 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0345435796
- ISBN-13: 978-0345435798
- Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 2.7 x 17.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,125,759 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The First Horseman
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
The ideal destructive plague is one which is passed on before it kills, one which is in the air we breathe and the fevered skin we touch. John Case drops heavy hints to the well-informed as to what is at stake in his new techno- thriller early on, when the sole survivor of a North Korean village sterilised by its own government's bombers babbles uncomprehendingly about a "Spanish Lady". He confirms them by sending a party of American scientists to excavate a group of miners caught in permafrost since 1918; bodies which prove, scarily, to be long gone with only a painted white horse in their place. A woman bacteriologist and an overbearing science journalist put together bits of the story that their government is scared of anyone knowing. Members of a pseudo-scientific cult carry out terrible murders--frying the over-curious in a giant microwave--for what they regard as the long-term good of the planet.
There are comparatively few surprises here, but ingenious plotting and a pervading sense of horrid possibility; Case knows his biotechnology and has a healthy paranoia about all of the possible groups that might abuse its power. --Roz Kaveney --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Product Description
On the Norwegian sea, an icebreaker forges its way through frozen waters to a remote island in the Arctic, carrying a scientific team that hopes to unearth the bodies of long-dead miners. Washington Post reporter Frank Daly has the story of a lifetime. But his plan to join the scientists on their historic mission is ruined by a ferocious storm. When he meets up with the ship upon its return to port in Norway, it is clear that something has gone terribly wrong.
Fear haunts the faces of the crew. No one will talk. And someone wants Daly to stop asking questions. But the more he uncovers, the more dangerous the stakes become. Until at last he comes face-to-face with a shocking secret, a secret that pitches him into a harrowing race to prevent nothing less than . . . apocalypse.
Fear haunts the faces of the crew. No one will talk. And someone wants Daly to stop asking questions. But the more he uncovers, the more dangerous the stakes become. Until at last he comes face-to-face with a shocking secret, a secret that pitches him into a harrowing race to prevent nothing less than . . . apocalypse.
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First Sentence
At first he didn't hear it. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
At first he didn't hear it. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A good read that has some very interesting and imaginative background ideas. As with "The Genesis Code", the first few chapters of "The First Horesman" spark the imagination, compelling you to read further, only to find that the conculsion is rushed. The ending came far too abruptly for my liking. John Case has some really interesting ideas and is obviously well-researched on his chosen subjects. However, it would have been a more satisfying read to have these ideas drawn right out to the bitter end.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an okay read - nothing more, nothing less. The overall plot is very interesting and the story is well told up to a point. The real flaw though is the rushed, and in my opinion, corny, ending to this book. It really was substandard, straight-to-video, B-movie type of stuff (and yes, I am reviewing the book). I won't give too much away, but why at the very end would the chief baddie be the one to carry out 'the deed', and not one of his followers? And why was it the 'good' guy who tracked him down and stopped him carrying out 'the deed' - surely the police / FBI would have got him?
As with John Case's previous book, The Genesis Code, the initial plot will have you hooked, but as the story drags on it does become a little silly and rushed.
As with John Case's previous book, The Genesis Code, the initial plot will have you hooked, but as the story drags on it does become a little silly and rushed.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
John Case's second book had the same off the wall, zany plot as Genius Code, but I wouldn't recommend it to my best friends, which I did with his first. The book starts off brilliantly, seems to lose itself in the middle then rallies in the final twenty pages or so. It would probably make a great film with a little tweeking, though someone should tell the scrip writers (and John Case) that Beefeaters guard the Tower of London, not Buckingham Palace - it would also be nice to have an English version, it wouldn't take more than half an hour to run through the spell checker and translate from the American and not to do so is just sloppy. I look forward to the next book with interest, John Case could do worse than read a little Desmond Bagley for a few tips provided he doesn't adopt 'that' word of his! Thanks for a good read, Geoff Irish (Hants, UK)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
The First Horseman
I was recommended to read John Case because of the particular genre of books that take my fancy. I was not let down by the story line. Read more
Published on 11 May 2009 by Mr. Phillip Hollings
Horse sense..
My opinion is about same as the other reviewers.Ive read all of John Case's books,and some are better than others,most of the others are better than this one. Read more
Published on 5 July 2008 by Lawrence Graves
Excellent plot, very topical given fear of diseases today
Perhaps not as mind-blowing and thought provoking as The Genesis Code but a very topical book with good twists and turns in the plot. Read more
Published on 20 Dec 2000
Pick it up, read it, forget it and move on!
Very disappointing. After reading the brilliant 'The Genesis Code' my expectations of this novel were high. Sadly, I was let down albeit gently. Read more
Published on 29 Sep 1999
Good solid entertainment
Not one of the best books I have read, but far from the worst. Case intertwines real events with fiction to provide a good solid story. Read more
Published on 24 Sep 1999
A fantastic follow up to his brilliant first novel.
Despite a slowish start, I was soon eager to find out 'just where this was all leading'. Certainly not the predicatble novel that it could have been. Read more
Published on 10 Jun 1999
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