Sleeper Cell

by Jeffrey Anderson

When people start dying of unexplainable symptoms in Los Angeles, the government turns to Biodefense, a top-secret agency against bioterrorism. For the five members of the team, what they thought could never happen has come to pass: a nanotechnological weapon of mass destruction has been set loose. And one thing becomes all too clear to Biodefense's Alan Thorpe: the virus was developed and spread here--by a sleeper cell within our own borders--and no one knows how to stop it.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, Mystery

336 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 5, 2005

About the author

Jeffrey Anderson, MD PhD studied abstract mathematics and neuroscience at Northwestern University before completing residency and fellowship in neuroradiology at the University of Utah. Dr. Anderson is Director of Functional Imaging at the University of Utah, and runs the Brain Network Laboratory. He is author of 2 national bestselling science thrillers, and has unsuccessfully tried for years to explain to his four children why he doesn’t do something cool like crew for the Jonas Brothers.

Reviews

[Hannah Mathews]

Middle of the book review: The story is good in theory, but man is it obvious that this book was written by a white man in 2005. Not very creative to have an Islamic threat so close to 9/11, and definitely not helping the major marginalization of the group to this day. And while I appreciate the acknowledgment of how useless and corrupt the government and its pissing battles are in these situations, I think the use of an Islamic, American immigrant is damaging, not to mention easy. Don't even get me started on the fact that he feels the need to mention that women always notice when their shirts are looked down when they're wearing "revealing" shirts. Bro, if you have the power to point out that the woman knows, why not address the POV of the man? This whole, "she noticed" acts as if it's my job to notice and say something, rather than a man's responsibility to stop being a perv. I guess it could be seen as a way to show men they're not slick and should stop looking at women's breasts, but I still think that if that was the point, he should've addressed it as a problem and not as a fact of life.
End of the book update: The plot was good and it made the book hard to put down. This has earned it three stars, but -2 for uncreative and harmful stereotypes of Islamic Americans and immigrants.

[Larry]

A chilling, fast action thriller dealing with a terrorist attack on the U.S. involving germ warfare and computer viruses. To say the least, the scenario presented was very believable. This novel was written only a few years after 9-11 and one can only hope that our government is in a better position to combat threats of this type today.

[Daniel Brown]

I'd lean towards a 3.5.
Written in 2005, the idea of a novel around a world-wide plague was a pretty good idea. I think the problem though is that being written by a doctor, the medical lingo was too deep and it put less attention on what little action occurred.

[Wendy Harney]

Really interesting to read during COVID 19. Love the pharmacist nod 💊

[Jana]

Abgebrochen aus S. 178/412.

[Rachel Sang]

Entertaining, face paced, a quick read. Minimal character development; I was cheering for the good guys though I barely knew them.

[Becky]

Pretty decent medical thriller. It is actually kinda creepy especially in the fact that it could easily happen in the times that we live in. A terrorist sleeper cell develops a biological weapon in the form of a very resistant, very deadly superbug and it is the job of a group of medical scientists to try and come up with a way of treating it before it is too late. There are other side plots that are interesting as well. Overall it kept me entertained. Parts were a little unbelievable but still entertaining nonetheless.

[Jaclynn (JackieReadsAlot)]

I got it a thrift store, 2 books for $1, so I more than got my moneys worth! Haha. It's an interesting, though not very well-developed story but it's what we call a good "airplane read". I wouldn't normally even have bothered to pick it up, but when one simply needs some distraction without really having to pay any attention to a plot line or the characters (no problem here, zero character development!) this will do. Not poorly written but just lacked depth.

[Jeff]

This one made me stop and think. Very scary yet entertaining at the same time. I love the word choice Dr. Anderson is an excellent author he draws you in and then the book speeds up. I was able to read this inside a week loving every minute of say 50 pages in a sitting. Truely a pleasureable reading experience handed down from my dad.

[Trixi]

Oh G for garbage. The book started out good, but became something that came right out of a Fox news headline.

Not everyone is an Islamic Terrorist nor is every terrorist act something from the Middle East.

A few days I will never get back.

[Cody]

It was interesting, but nothing too new. A good read to pass the time with. One of those airport books, maybe. What I learned from this book... the flu can be engineered into a ricin-inducing mega-virus and kill you through massive internal hemorrhaging. Moral: wash yo' damn hands.

[Colleen]

A little hoaky, but part of my "lets-read-books-with-Sleeper-in-the-title" week. Parts were outlandish and be interesting to get a medical professional's take on this book. But pretty good for the genre.

[Sarah]

The book definitely picked up halfway through.
This genre isn't one I typically read, but considering that I thought the story was good.
The author clearly had a lot of homework to do, which was impressive.

[Kirby]

The science seemed pretty sound and I think the idea had potential to be very thrilling, but it never did really hook me. I think maybe the characters weren't developed enough and the pacing seemed a bit off. I still enjoyed it though.

[Ira]

crazy to think how vulnerable we are

[Aimee]

This was entertaining not outstanding or too suspenseful for me. But a good read.

[Jeff]

Just found this might have to buy it with money from christmas or my next paycheck. WOW He wrote another book.!!

[Holly Haeger]

What can I say?.....I'm fascinated with biowarfare

[Tennille]

I am mostly sure I read this! But can't say!

[Mary]

This is a great thriller about a biological attack against the U.S. It was written by a colleague of Uncle Dennis. It was a fun read. I would recommend it to all of you (adults, probably).

[Mark Cichonski]

Great story, scary.

[Hildegart]

I don't remember much from this book other than that I enjoyed it. I'm thinking if I were to reread it I would give it 4 stars...

[Maysa]

If only it wasn't called Sleeper Cell...

[Mitchell Easter]

/

[Bunnhi]

Definitely an intense read at the end. Slow build up with an edge gripping ending!

[Joselyn Moreno]

It was super cool, it got me wandering and devouring pages.

the theme was super interesting and gt me on edge at all times.

[Kiara]

Eh, It ended too fast... I felt like there was no real conclusion at all.

[Lauren]

Horrifying because it could actually happen.

[Flicka]

Quick scary read. Very little character development, which made it difficult to keep 'main people' separated.

[Jillian Russell]

Great! I was suprised.