First Horseman / John Case 325 p.

In 1918, the Spanish flu killed millions of people world-wide.  In North Korea, an entire village all but decimated by a plague then exterminated by soldiers.  The sole survivor reports that it was due to a Spanish woman (aka the Spanish Lady = the Spanish flu).  Fearing a return, a scientific expedition is funded to retrieve specimens from victims preserved deep in the Arctic ice.  For Washington Post reporter Frank Daly, it's a story he wants to cover; but a brutal storm keeps him from joining the expedition.  When he meets the returning ship, no one is willing to talk.  That is like waving a red flag at Daly, so he pursues the story.  He discovers that the bodies were gone by the time the ship got there.  And this science fiction thriller is off and running.  The fast action part of discovering the who behind the plot to become the "First Horseman" bearing the plague and stopping him was good.  However, the setup, for me was the best gripping part.