Whitewash

by Alex Kava

Sabrina Galloway is the top scientist at EcoEnergy, leading the company's research team to a successful breakthrough in the quest for an alternative fuel. The promise of a cleaner tomorrow and the economic impact on world markets could be staggering. Then she makes an alarming discovery: someone has tampered with the production process, resulting in toxic waste leaking into the Florida waterways and the Gulf of Mexico.

Fighting mounting terror fueled by too many accidents and untimely deaths, Sabrina pieces together the grim puzzle. The evidence points to a cover-up orchestrated by the chief executives of EcoEnergy. Now her determination to expose the company's secret has placed her in the crosshairs of a conspiracy that reaches further than she could ever imagine—America's biggest traitors are lurking behind the doors of one of the highest offices in the land.

Desperate, Sabrina flees the company with damning evidence, aware that an enemy with eyes and ears everywhere makes each move a gamble. Running for her life with nowhere to hide and no one to trust, Sabrina knows her next step could be her last….

Genres: Thriller, Mystery, Crime, Fiction, Suspense, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook

432 pages, Hardcover

First published May 29, 2007

About the author

ALEX KAVA IS A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR of the critically acclaimed Maggie O’Dell series and a new series featuring former Marine, Ryder Creed and his K9 dogs. Her stand-alone novel, One False Move, was the 2006 One Book One Nebraska. Published in over thirty countries, Kava’s novels have made the bestseller lists in the UK, Australia, Germany, Japan, Italy and Poland. Her novel Stranded was awarded both a Florida Book Award and the Nebraska Book Award. She is a member of the Nebraska Writers Guild and International Thriller Writers. Kava divides her time between Omaha, Nebraska and Pensacola, Florida.

Reviews

[Marnie (Enchanted Bibliophile) · Rating 1 out of 5]

A good friend of mine suggested to me reading the Maggie O'Dell series by Alex Kava . My brilliant judgment kicked in on one of my many book shopping trips, ending with me purchasing Whitewash. "For anyone reading this review and don’t know me – The brilliant judgment part was sarcastic!"

So kill me now - or send me all the hate mail you want - but this book was tortures!

Overall thought - constantly filling my head - When does the good part start?

First: 2 page chapters (this being long chapters)… Scary! I’m a King fan meaning chapters with-in chapters and not one being less than 2 to 3 pages. But never the less, I'm trying this book.

Second: HELL! Will this book ever become something!

And finally: is there going to be a point where all this characters will eventually merge? Well at least that part did happened, way, way at the end like in the very last 3 (2 page) chapters.

Again I will say! TORTURES! As my first Kava book – NOT GOOD!

I will still give the Maggie O'Dell series a try, just to be fair. (Well the first book at least – not torturing myself like this ever again!!!)

[Arnis · Rating 2 out of 5]

EchoEnergy – multimiljonu vērta enerģētikas kompānija, kuras izstrādātais bioloģisko atkritumu (grāmatā uzsvars likts uz no vistu pārstrādes dažādu blakusproduktu atliekām, piem, galvas un iekšas) pārstrādes veids, izmantojot Thermal Conversion Process (TCP), paver jaunas iespējas enerģētikas izvēles brīvībā. Lai arī no malas varētu šķist, ka patiesība izklausās pārāk laba, lai tik ātri un viegli varētu mainīt līdzšinējo politiku, īpaši attiecībā uz naftas iepirkšanu, tad EchoEnergy kompānijas CEO William Sidel ar pilnu smaidu uz lūpām un pārliecības pilnu balsi apgalvo pretējo. Vara, nauda un ambīcijas iegūt vēl vairāk dominē par jebkurām citām raizēm, kur nu vēl rūpes par citiem.

https://poseidons99.com/2025/10/05/al...

[Lynn Spencer]

This thriller started off interestingly enough. Scientist Sabrina Galloway has what appears to be her dream job working for EchoEnergy in Florida, where she is helping to develop alternative energy sources. However, it appears that something is awry at the plant. Sabrina's boss has mysteriously disappeared and there are hints of sabotage.

Another thread of the story picks up with Jason Brill, chief of staff to a senator with an interest in the EchoEnergy project. As an international energy summit approaches, Jason starts finding things that make him uneasy as well.

Sabrina's story and much of the political intrigue travel along separate tracks - or at least they did for the portions of the book that I read. Presumably, things will come together in the end but I just can't stick with this book. The plot meanders and for a thriller, there's an awful lot of nothing happening. I keep feeling like vast chunks of this book could be cut without inhibiting the story.

The characters don't help much here either. I'm fine with characters not being likable; I just want them to be interesting to read about. However, Sabrina, Jason and most of their compatriots fall into neither category. Jason is particularly awful because in addition to being somewhat dull, being inside his mind exposes one to casual xenophobia, racism and other stereotyping. In this respect, he sounds very much like several Hill staffers I've known from both parties, but that doesn't make him great reading.

Between the unlikable characters and the wandering plot, I just couldn't get very far into this book.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sabrina works for a company trying to revolutionize the world by making oil from chicken guts. It could reduce our dependence on foreign oil and change the political world. When her boss disappears, she has no idea that she is about to uncover horrible secrets and make her a target. Suspenseful and thought provoking.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Far Fetched and Fractured!! Written by Alex Kava, and published by MIRA Publishing in 2007, this book is supposed to be about an attempted terrorist attack on an energy summit in Florida. Oh, wait! I think it is about an attempt to assassinate the President of the United States with a poison mixed in with Parmesan cheese on his food at a banquet. Perhaps, on the other hand, it is about a new technology for recovering oil from chicken guts, but that is releasing dioxins into the river that are poisoning children and bottled water. Maybe it’s really about the profits that are to be made along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico by removing waste and debris left behind by the area’s many hurricanes, and by turning it into oil. Or maybe it’s about a United States Senator who is secretly gay, and who murders his gay boyfriend and blames it on his chief of staff. No . . . That’s not it, either. Oh, wait! I’ve got it! It’s about all of these things! Simultaneously!

Reading the first half of the book is akin to watching paint dry. We are introduced (sketchily) to a number of seemingly-unrelated people in Florida, and in Washington, D.C. What is going on? Who knows?! One presumes that the fractured threads of a plot line will, eventually, come together into a single cord. And it does — kinda. The plot cord does terminate rather abruptly, however, with an unlikely ending to the story.

EchoEnergy is the company that has developed and now controls this new oil extraction technology. The company has built a plant that is in operation in rural Florida. Leon is a hit man hired to kill the chief scientist at the plant, and also the number two scientist, Sabrina. If there is a single protagonist in this story, I guess it would be Sabrina. Parts of the story are told from her perspective. Leon just kind of disappears at the end of the story, as does Sabrina’s generous neighbor, Sadie. Loose ends abound at the end of the novel, which is really not very well written.

The first two attempts to murder Sabrina fail, and she soon becomes suspicious. Who is trying to kill her, and why? Is it William Sidell, the CEO of EchoEnergy? All indications point to him. Is it one of her co-workers? What role does her brother, Eric, play in all this? Who has called the sheriff and blamed Sabrina for the death of her co-worker and competitor to replace missing Chief Scientist Dr. Dwight Lansik? Will the police find Sabrina?

This is not a good story. It is neither realistic nor entertaining. Reading it was painful. You will probably not enjoy reading this novel. I can’t really recommend it. Feel free to skip this one.

[Nicky · Rating 2 out of 5]

Geen slecht boek. Een aardige mix tussen spanning (plot driven) en karakterontwikkeling (character driven). De schrijfstijl was behoorlijk no nonsense, wat in dit boek absoluut niet misstaat.

De personages waren niet heel diepgaand beschreven - dat geldt vooral voor de politici en hun stafleden in het boek. Bij sommige andere personages kreeg ik een goed beeld hoe ze in elkaar staken, bij anderen bleef dat helaas wat achterwege. Ik had liever gehad dat Sabrina nog wat beter werd uitgewerkt.

Het verhaal heeft een prima tempo en goede spanningsopbouw. De climax komt op een goed moment, het had niet veel langer moeten duren. Maar het verhaal is niet langdradig geweest.
Het einde begreep ik niet goed. Ik begreep sowieso niet wat de energietop nou eigenlijk te maken had met de moorden. En ook die Arabische mannen waren op een behoorlijk vreemde manier in het verhaal gestopt, zo van we hebben nog een paar Arabieren nodig, weet je wat, we doen gewoon wel dit. Nou, dat schip strandde niet erg gunstig, want ik snapte er niets van. En wat doet die sluipschutter op het einde ineens? Wie was dat in godsnaam?

Al met al een makkelijk boek voor tussendoor, maar helaas zijn er te veel haken en ogen om het meer dan 2 sterren te geven. Met iets meer aandacht had dit verhaal 3 sterren of misschien zelfs 4 sterren kunnen krijgen.

[Paul]

I enjoyed it. Here's the description. Bestseller Kava takes a break from her Maggie O'Dell FBI profiler series (A Necessary Evil, etc.) with a fine topical thriller involving terrorism, government coverups and toxic waste. Sabrina Galloway, a young Chicago professor, becomes a hands-on scientist in Florida with EcoEnergy, a company that specializes in TCP—a process that converts refuse and other waste material into oil. EcoEnergy's CEO is angling for a $140 million military government contract, but after Sabrina's boss mysteriously disappears and Sabrina discovers a reactor processing something it shouldn't, her life becomes as endangered as Florida's waterways. She hits the road in a '47 Studebaker with Miss Sadie, a gutsy 81-year-old African-American neighbor, to find help, while Middle Eastern terrorists plot a nasty surprise for an upcoming energy summit. Engaging supporting characters include Leon, a funky hit man losing his touch but not his heart, and covert operative Natalie Richards, "a black Emma Peel." Kava lightens the seriousness with some deft touches of humor. Genre fans weary of serial-killer fare will find this a refreshing read.

[Patt · Rating 5 out of 5]

The short chapters in this book make it easy to follow the switches in action between Pensacola, Florida and Washington D.C. Sabrina Galloway is a scientist at Echo Energy, a plant that converts pig guts into energy. Are they really only processing pig guts or is there something sinister happening there. The action is fast moving and there are some gruesome murders that take place. Sabrina flees for her life after she witnesses a murder and with her brother's help is able to solve it.

[Joanne Klepal · Rating 5 out of 5]

A suspenseful and interesting read. Although this was fiction, it seem to intertwine non-fiction events. Was able to relate much more, given that most events took place in the Florida panhandle. I found this an easy read and hard to put down.

[Declan Critchley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not worth it. The book takes an awful long time to get to the point and when the 'big reveal' comes it's not worth it.
And suddenly the book is finished. I still have no idea who some of the characters are or what their role was.
This is utter drivel.

[Mark Muckerman · Rating 1 out of 5]

A disappointing waste of paper and ink.

I wanted to like it. Any decent murder/plot/suspense/thriller that doesn't completely suck has a fair shot at three stars from me just for mindless entertainment value alone. An author really has to work hard to stumble under that forgiving bar.

Whitewash stumbles out of the gate, trips down the track, tangles its feet and then face plants in the dirt halfway through: Specifically at page 202.

The opening is good and the premise is initially solid, but it never really develops into a cohesive plot line of depth or plausibility. The set up offers good teasers of a potentially strong Act II & III, but they never develop.

And then comes page 202, or the start of Chapter 50, which should have been titled "And Here Come the MacGuffins". The ENTIRE back half of the book is an endless stream of convenient plot twists, devices and character introductions that are so transparent they'd make a 6-year old scratch his head with "WTF?".

SPOILER ALERT: Without spoiling the plot (can one spoil rotten meat?), Sabrina meets a steady stream of people who not only have the amalgamation of skills and knowledge needed to bring this story to a forced resolution, but they all coincidentally hang out in the same bar in Pensacola, along with her estranged brother, who (unbeknownst to her) fortunately ALSO happens to be a government agent.

SPOILER ALERT: And let's not even try to unpack subplots B, C & D... The gay senator, the unexplained murder (?) of another staff member, and the ... wait for it... pending terrorist plot to either poison or blow up the president (and THAT subplot gets resolved in 2 pages). W. T. F. ???

Thankfully, this steaming turd of text was only $0.50 in the bargain bin, and if I can get $0.25 back from the used bookstore, that will assuage my bitterness.

And yes, at the end they hit an iceberg and everyone dies.

[Jaroslaw Gralicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tallahassee, Florida

Sabrina Galloway is one of the top scientists at EchoEnergy - a company that has made a successful breakthrough in the quest for an alternative fuel. There is the promise of a cleaner tomorrow, and the economic impact on world markets could be staggering. But in the euphoria of excitement, Sabrina makes an alarming discovery: someone has tampered with the production process, and an eco-disaster of equally staggering proportions is imminent. Toxic waste is leaking into the Florida waterways and the Gulf of Mexico.

Washington, D.C.

Jason Brill, one of the youngest congressional chiefs of staff, prepares for the upcoming International Energy Summit. Working for influential senator John Quincy Allen, Jason is eager to prove himself. Despite his zeal and admiration for his boss, Jason begins to realize Senator Allen�s support of EchoEnergy, as well as his personal friendship with the firm�s CEO, may be more of a liability than an asset.

Sabrina and Jason have never met, but both are unwittingly drawn into a sinister plot that puts corporate greed and corruption above human life. As the energy summit draws near, Sabrina�s determination to expose EchoEnergy�s lethal secret has made her the target of silent, faceless enemies.

And the net is tightening, held in the relentless grip of powerful shadow players whose identities reach Pennsylvania Avenue itself.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not a good book, from an author I usually really like.

I mean it started with an intriguing premise. I've never seen this kind of book tackle an environmental focused plot. There's props for originality I guess.

The main problem was that they had a POV character that was a total douchebag that I could barely stand. He was awful (and his political views were far too reminiscent of what I see in the news these days, which ugh. That's not completely on the author, but it didn't help). This book was full of jerky characters, and I was so done with them all by page 100.

It's too long and takes WAY too much time to get to the point. It goes nowhere for most of the book. Things just happen that are vaguely connected and then don't get to the point of why they're important until the book is over half wat done.

And what was with the random terrorist plot? Like it would pop up every once and awhile, but I'd forget about it in the meantime because it was so separate from the main story. It felt not only tacked on, but it amounted to nothing and should have been it's only book.

[Chris Noel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sabrina Gallows moves to Florida to be near her father, who has dementia. She has a great job with a company that is converting organic waste to oil. Things are too good to be true. Corruption, Washington politics, and hit men all enter the picture. Soon Sabrina is on the run, accused of murdering a coworker. The book shifts among several characters in short chapters. This stand alone book was not as good as the Maggie O'Dell books, but was interesting enough to keep reading.

[Antra · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was decent enough for a one-day thriller read, and compared to the other "thrillers" I've read recently, actually delivered on the thrills. A variety of twists I didn't expect but was pleasantly surprised by, however, there was a certain amount of stereotyping and tropes involved that weren't necessary for the purposes of the story that it could have lived without.

[Andrew Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book that I have read by Alex Kava. While enjoyable, the story bounces around through the pages, while leaving questions unanswered as it progresses to the end.

Compared to the previous book that I have read, this one was a little disappointing, however still quite an enjoyable read.

[Monical · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have been enjoying the Maggie O'Dell and Creed books. Sadly, this book is a hot mess. Too many characters who are poorly developed, too many plot lines, and a very murky main issue (no pun intended!). I was pretty disappointed.

[Claudia · Rating 1 out of 5]

I love Alex Kava as an author but I could not get into this book enough to enjoy it. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. Too many characters and stories to remember who goes with who. Didn't like it at all.

[Jessica Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

The most meh book I've ever read. The first page got me thinking it would be good with a pretty sick death. It ended up having too many characters who really didn't seem to fit in anywhere. And there were "twists" that made no sense or had any bearing on the story. I finished it. Just boring.

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of those "it is what it is" books for me. Not a genre I read particularly often or like, really, but it was engaging enough to keep reading. And the things I didn't like basically come down to "this book was not for me."

[Betty Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still don't like Washington manuvering . . . rather "clean" actions for all their lethality . . . secret good guys . . . movie script ending . . .

[R.W. Lang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good ending.

[Sue Cecchini · Rating 4 out of 5]

On a mission to read the Alex Kava books that I missed...always a good read!

[Linda Klages · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of twists, turns & more turns. Very easy to read as the chapters are short.

[Otis Doss III · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast paced, fun read.

[Marina Mcmaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this author, amazing story teller.

[Sophie Sherriff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great suspense as always!

[Andy Plonka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dirty Politics in Washington but all ends well.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable but not as good as her Maggie O'Dell series.

[Jennifer Cordwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Alex Kava master piece. Love her work.