''Whiteout'' (2004) is a thriller novel written by British author

Ken Follett Kenneth Martin Follett, (born 5 June 1949) is a British author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 160 million copies of his works. Many of his books have achieved high ranking on best seller lists. For example, in the ...

about the theft of a deadly virus from a lab in snow-covered Scotland.

Plot summary

Ken Follett with his book Eisfieber (English-'Whiteout')

Toni Gallo, head of security, knows she has failed when a test

rabbit Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...

for research on a more dangerous form of the

Ebola Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after becom ...

virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1 ...

is stolen from a lab in Scotland. But things are soon much worse when the virus itself is also stolen to be used in a

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

attack, with inside assistance. Through a Christmas Eve blizzard, and with little help from the local police, Toni has to chase the thieves to recover the virus and save the future of the lab as well as prevent a dangerous outbreak. Meanwhile, she is falling in love with her boss, who is having the family over for Christmas at his nearby mansion. Note: 1st edition novels are misprinted, pages 185-216 are replaced with the repeated pages of 153-184.

German TV Adaption

In 2010, it was adapted for the

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

channel as a 2 part two-part television film called '. Directed by

Peter Keglevic Peter Keglevic (born 1950) is an Austrian film director and screenwriter. He has directed 30 films since 1976. His film ''Bella Donna (1983 film), Bella Donna'' was screened at the 1983 Cannes Film Festival. Selected filmography * ''Tatort: Be ...

, and starring

Heiner Lauterbach Heiner Lauterbach (; born 10 April 1953) is a German actor. Life and work Heiner Lauterbach was married to German actress Katja Flint who is the mother of his son Oscar (*1988). Later he had a relationship with Jenny Elvers. Since 7 Septem ...

Isabella Ferrari Isabella Ferrari (born 31 March 1964), better known by her stage name of Isabella Fogliazza, is an Italian actress of television, theatre and the cinema. She is best known as the protagonist, ''Commissioner Giovanna Scalise'' in the police dram ...

Tom Schilling Tom Schilling (born 10 February 1982) is a German film and television actor. Life and acting career Schilling grew up in the formerly East German borough of Berlin Mitte. He was discovered at the age of 12 by stage director Thomas Heise, and ...

Matthias Brandt Matthias Brandt (born 7 October 1961) is a German actor and audiobook narrator. He has appeared in more than seventy films since 1989. Early life Brandt was born in West Berlin. He is the youngest of the three sons of the former German Chancel ...

Sophie von Kessel Sophie von Kessel (born October 12, 1968 in Mexico City) is a German actress, best known for her roles in '' Schloß Hohenstein'' (1992–1995), '' The Dragon Ring'' (1994), ''Alles außer Mord'' (1994), and ''Der letzte Zeuge ''Der letzte Z ...

Katharina Wackernagel Katharina is a feminine given name. It is a German form of Katherine. It may refer to: In television and film: *Katharina Bellowitsch, Austrian radio and TV presenter *Katharina Mückstein, Austrian film director *Katharina Thalbach, German actre ...

and

Anneke Kim Sarnau Anneke Kim Sarnau (born 1972) is a German theater and movie actress living in Berlin. Life Anneke Kim Sarnau, who comes from Klein Offenseth-Sparrieshoop, graduated from the Bismarckschule in Elmshorn and then began studying philosophy and Eng ...

. The German-Italian prestige production cost 7 million euros to make. Although the reviews were poor, "Wooden dialogues, lousy acting performances". Thorsten Dörting of

Spiegel Online ''Der Spiegel (online)'' is a German news website. Before the renaming in January 2020, the website's name was ''Spiegel Online'' (short ''SPON''). It was founded in 1994 as the online offshoot of the German news magazine, ''Der Spiegel'', wit ...

stated in 2010 "Ms. Pilcher now has the plague".

References

External links

Ken Follett's ''Whiteout'' - official site
Novels by Ken Follett 2004 British novels British thriller novels Novels set in Scotland Macmillan Publishers books {{2000s-thriller-novel-stub