Nelson DeMille - Plum Island

Author's Note

Concerning the United States Department of Agriculture Animal Disease Center at Plum Island, I took a small amount of literary license regarding the island and the work done there.

Oklahoma (by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II) Copyright [H17015] 1943 by WILLIAMSON MUSIC. Copyright Renewed. International Copyright Secured. Reprinted by Permission. All Rights Reserved.

A Wonderful Guy (by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II) Copyright [H17015] 1949 by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Copyright Renewed. WILLIAMSON MUSIC owner of publication and allied rights throughout the world. International Copyright Secured. Reprinted by Permission. All Rights Reserved.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright 1997 by Nelson DeMille

All rights reserved.

Warner Books, Inc.

Hachette Book Group

237 Park Avenue

New York, NY 10017

Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com.

First eBook Edition: June 2003

ISBN: 978-0-7595-2833-8

THIS BRILLIANT STORYTELLER DOES IT AGAIN, GIVING A TERRIFIC READ. THIS GEM WILL MAKE A TERRIFIC MOVIE.

Los Angeles Features Syndicate

A FINE SUSPENSE NOVEL.

Associated Press

THRILLING TOLD WITH PANACHE AND A SARDONIC SENSE OF HUMOR. Deftly juggles several plots while delivering a cast of fully realized characters.

Denver Rocky Mountain News

SATISFYING.

Detroit Free Press

ROLLICKING DEMILLE HANDLES THE STORY DEFTLY sharp, amusing, and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny.

Cleveland Plain Dealer

AN INGENIOUS THRILLER. YOULL BE REWARDED WITH A CLIMAX AS FUNNY AS IT IS TENSE.

Time Out New York

DEMILLE IS IN TOP FORM. A RICH TALE YOU CANT PUT DOWN a snappy read from start to finish warm, funny, and immensely entertaining.

Orange County Register

A JAUNTY, HIGH-SPIRITED DIVERSION.

Chicago Tribune

A THRILL RIDE YOUD BE WISE TO JUMP ABOARD PURE ADVENTURE/MYSTERY. DEMille is an expert at seamless narrative. A ripsnorting good read.

Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel

AN ARRAY OF SURPRISES AND FINE WRITING BEFORE REACHING A SATISFYING CONCLUSION.

Orlando Sentinel

NELSON DEMILLE IS BACK IN FULL FORCE. MORE THAN A PLUM OF A NOVEL, IT IS A WHOLE BUSHEL OF FRUIT. The story line is excellent, and the lead protagonists are real and charming. A rare reading experience.

Midwest Book Review

A WONDERFUL STORYTELLER EXCITING, WELL-WRITTEN, AND DOWNRIGHT FUN TO READ, certain to be one of the fun books of leisurely summer reading. Grab some pieces of eight and pick up a copy today.

Newport News Daily Press (VA)

DEMILLES TURF: SUSPENSE, TECHNOCRATIC THRILLS, WRY HUMOR.

Hartford Courant

SUCKS YOU RIGHT IN.

St. Louis Post Dispatch

CHILLING. THAT RARE BREED OF SUSPENSE NOVEL THAT KEEPS YOU SITTING ON THE EDGE OF YOUR BEACH CHAIR EVEN WHILE YOURE LAUGHING OUT LOUD.

Newsday

FASCINATING EXPERTLY MELDS MEDICAL MYSTERY, POLICE PROCEDURAL, AND NAUTICAL ADVENTURE. Acquires its own storm force as it moves toward a catastrophic denouement. A smooth job from an old pro.

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

THRILLING, ENTERTAINING.

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

A CHUCKLE-PROVOKING WINNER CLEVERLY COMBINES BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS AND SHIVER-ME-TIMBERS PIRATE LEGENDS entertaining.

Booklist

ONE OF THIS COUNTRYS BEST YARN SPINNERS HAS TOLD ONE OF HIS MOST ENTERTAINING STORIES.

Toledo Blade

CAPTIVATING NELSON DEMILLE IS A BRILLIANT STORYTELLER.

Bookman News

A MASTER STORYTELLER plumb good reading in the mold of the page-turner, and will be savored by connoisseurs of the murder mystery.

East Hampton Star

Available from Warner Books

BY THE RIVERS OF BABYLON

CATHEDRAL

THE TALBOT ODYSSEY

WORD OF HONOR

THE CHARM SCHOOL

THE GOLD COAST

THE GENERALS DAUGHTER

SPENCERVILLE

PLUM ISLAND

THE LIONS GAME

With Thomas Block

MAYDAY

To Larry Kirshbaum,
friend, editor,
and gambling partner.

I am grateful to the following individuals for sharing their special knowledge with me. Any errors or omissions in the story are mine and mine alone. Also, I have taken a small measure of literary license here and there, but for the most part, I have tried to stay true to the information and advice provided to me by these men and women:

First and foremost, thanks to Detective Lieutenant John Kennedy of the Nassau County Police Department, the man who did almost as much work as I did on this novel. John Kennedy is a dedicated police officer, an honest lawyer, an expert sailor, a good husband to Carol, a good friend to the DeMilles, and a tough literary critic. Many, many thanks for your time and expertise.

I would like to thank again Dan Starer of Research for Writers, NYC, for his diligent work.

I would also like to thank Bob and Linda Scalia of Southold for their help with local lore and customs.

My thanks to Martin Bowe and Laura Flanagan of the Garden City Public Library for their excellent research assistance.

Many thanks to Howard Polskin of CNN, and Janet Alshouse, Cindi Younker, and Mike DelGiudice of News 12 Long Island, for making available their video reporting on Plum Island.

Thanks again to Bob Whiting, of Banfi Vintners, for sharing with me his knowledge of and passion for wine.

My thanks to Dr. Alfonso Torres, Director of the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, for his time and patience, and my admiration for him and his staff for the important and selfless work they do.

Thanks and gratitude to my assistant, Dianne Francis, for hundreds of hours of arduous and dedicated work.

My penultimate thanks to my agent and friend, Nick Ellison, and his staff, Christina Harcar and Faye Bender. An author couldnt have better representation or better colleagues.

Last, but certainly not least, thanks again to Ginny DeMillethis is her seventh book and she still edits with love and enthusiasm.

Three may keep a secret, if two of them are dead.

Benjamin Franklin,

Poor Richards Almanac (1735)

T hrough my binoculars, I could see this nice forty-something-foot cabin cruiser anchored a few hundred yards offshore. There were two thirtyish couples aboard, having a merry old time, sunbathing, banging down brews and whatever. The women had on teensey-weensey little bottoms and no tops, and one of the guys was standing on the bow, and he slipped off his trunks and stood there a minute hanging hog, then jumped in the bay and swam around the boat. What a great country. I put down my binoculars and popped a Budweiser.