I really miss Michael Crichton. I'm on a hunt for similar writers, and recently, I found Michael Palmer's A Heartbeat Away. It's a good scientific/medical thriller. A bioterrorist group, Genesis, unleashes a deadly virus at the State of the Union, and chaos ensues. There are rifts in the government, murder, and mayhem as fear about the attack spreads across the 700+ attendees at the Capitol.

It turns out that the virus was originally government-sponsored. One of the researchers, Dr. Griffin Rhodes, was accused of stealing samples. In this emergency, he is freed from solitary confinement to help President James Allaire find an antidote before chaos takes over in the streets. Dr. Rhodes, angry about being falsely accused as a terrorist, negotiates to have Washington Post journalist, Angela Fletcher, present to document his attempt at finding a cure. He neglects to mention that he and Angie had a fling earlier in their careers. While the crisis is going on, Angie and Griffin dig for clues separately that lead to Chinatown in New York and to global security firms. While all of that is going on, the members of the President's cabinet and Congress are vying for power, even if it means murder.

The novel is slow going at first, but the pace picks up at the end. Stick with it; the ending is exciting.