The Devil's Workshop

by Stephen J. Cannell

Stacy Richardson is a feisty microbiology graduate student at the University of Southern California. In the middle of her final exams, she receives tragic news that her husband, who is also head of the microbiology department, has committed suicide while on sabbatical at a super-secret bio-weapons program in Fort Detrick, Maryland. Known by insiders as "The Devil's Workshop," the program is run by the fierce Admiral James G. Zoll. Meanwhile, hobos Lucky Cunningham and Hollywood Mike are passing through Vanishing Lake, Texas, where, unbeknownst to them, Admiral Zoll is using the nearby prison as a testing ground for the latest bio-weapons capable of targeting specific ethnic groups from the inside--through the victim's DNA. As a bio-accident turns Vanishing Lake into a living hell and threatens to land the bio-weapons into the hands of a band of white supremacists, The Devil's Workshop unfolds via a uniquely entertaining narrative Stacy, Lucky, and Hollywood Mike's tinseltown mogul father, Buddy Brazil. Combining classic elements of science gone awry with a cast of characters that firmly fuses America's dust bowl past with its sensational present, The Devil's Workshop is a thrilling race against a racially charged doomsday.

Genres: Thriller, Fiction, Suspense, Mystery, Science Fiction, Crime, Adult Fiction

432 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Stephen J. Cannell was an American television producer, writer, novelist, and occasional actor, and the founder of Cannell Entertainment (formerly Stephen J. Cannell Productions) and the Cannell Studios.

Cannell created or co-created several successful TV series from the 1970s to the 1990s. Creations included The Rockford Files, The A-Team, The Greatest American Hero, 21 Jump Street, and The Commish. He was an Emmy winner and was awarded The Eye - Lifetime Achievement Award by the Private Eye Writers of America.

Reviews

[Tamera · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had this in my TBR pile for a long time. The author is well know for creating a ton of popular TV series such as Rockford Files, Greatest American Hero and 21 Jump Street - not to mention his cameo appearances on Castle! It was time to give him a try... For me, this was ok. It moved quickly, the writing style was easy and he weaved together multiple characters into an involved story involving crazy extreme militarists, a crazy cultistist leader of lethal hobos, and the shattered lives of a military hero, an up and coming biologist, and a burned out producer. Beautiful Stacy Richardson doesn't believe the offical conclusion of suicide by her husband who recently began working for the government on a shady project involving prions manipulated to target and kill specific genetic populations for use as a bioweapon. Ex military, alcoholic and now hobo, Cris is shattered by his believed role in his young daughter's death from a disease brought home from the Gulf War. He is struggling to survive as a bum riding the railroads and accidently gets drawn into the action when his friend is killed due to accidental chemical leak. These two charactors unite with an alcoholic druggie producer to try and stop an out of control general, then a crazed hobo cult leader from manufacturing and releasing the virus on the public to "cleanse"the population. The story reminded me of the medical "what ifs" by Robin Cook, Michael Crichton, and Douglas Preston's stand along title Mount Dragon. A quick read up until the last hundred pages or so, then I lost my interest. Too many different threads, everything was wrapped up quickly, and I had trouble with the romance.

[William Bentrim · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Devil’s Workshop by Stephen J. Cannell
This is really not the best time to be reading a book that deals with bio-terrorism. Covid-19 may not have been a weapon but it is changing our world. Cannell postulates a scenario where the federal government is running a black program to create genetically targeted bio-weapons.
Stacy, a USC grad student, finds herself searching for the cause of her husband’s alleged suicide. She doesn’t believe for a minute that he committed suicide.
Cris, Lucky, is a down and out hobo, riding the rails and drinking himself into insensibility and oblivion. The loss of his child has fueled his self-destructiveness.
These two unlikely candidates find themselves partnering with Buddy Brazil, a flamboyant and enormously insecure Hollywood producer to stop a white supremist group from making a bio-terror attack.
Gripping comes to mind as, perhaps, the most descriptive term for this book. Some of our current events made it difficult to put this book down.
I recommend it.

[Veronika Vočadlová · Rating 2 out of 5]

Obálka: 1*
Pod obálkou: 3*
Hlavní postavy: 3*
Děj: 2*

Ke knize jsem se dostala díky knižní štafetě u @renulka16 - Renčo moc děkuju za možnost účastnit se štafety.

Kniha stojí na často oblíbeném námětu, kdy americká strana vytváří biologickou zbraň, kterou chce použít ve válce.

Jak tomu bývá, nic nejde podle jejich plánu a hlavní postava se snaží vše zastavit a udržet světový mír.

I když jde o otřepané téma, kniha nutí se zamyslet, co vše se možná odehrává v pozadí, tajnosti za našimi zády. Je možné, aby nějaká země vypustila smrtící virus mezi obyvatelstvo, mezi nevinné lidi a děti?

Z počátku mě kniha pohltila. Krátké kapitoly a děj, který běžel. Stále se něco dělo, žádná hluchá místa. Spolu s hlavní ženskou postavou jsem chtěla hájit čest jejího muže. Jenže pak přišel zlom. Ve chvíli, kdy děj zamrzl v popisu nelegálního cestování prostřednictvím vlakových souprav. Ve chvíli, kdy autor začal nesmyslně vraždit každého na potkáni a mrzačit přeživší mě kniha začínala rozčilovat a nudit.

V závěru autor přidá úplně zbytečně lovestory, která do jinak ponuré knihy absolutně nezapadá a tím kompletně zabije potenciál, který kniha měla.

Mě prvotní nadšení tak vystřídalo zklamání.

Celkové hodnocení: 2*

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a huge microbiology nerd. Any book with experimentation on microbes should've been a shoo-in for me. I wanted DESPERATELY to love this book, especially because it's the only "whoops, there's been an accident in the lab" sci-fi book I'm aware of that deals with prions as its subject. But one of the main characters, Stacy, is a borderline "Mary Sue" character, and the way she is depicted is sleazy beyond words. The rest of the main characters were also weirdly written, and only one (Cris) was interesting or believable.

Looking up Stephen J. Cannell tells me he's less novelist and more television writer, and this book really shows that. This book is probably *someone's* cup of tea, but it wasn't really mine.

I bet I would've loved this book if Hideaki Sena wrote it instead, lol.

[Drake Tungsten · Rating 2 out of 5]

The way this story unfolds, you can definitely see it as a screenplay or TV movie.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminded me of a Robin Cook novel. I really liked the characters and the change of pace involving hobos. I thought it also had a very good ending.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

fast paced thriller, keeps you turning pages.

[Gilbert G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this but would suggest that under the current climate of The Corona Virus, you might want to wait to read this book until we are cleared from the dangers that come with Covid 19.

[Jackie Lyon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good thriller! Lots of good characters.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A highly entertaining thriller that is all too plausible. Suspenseful, well-written, and fast-paced.

[Space · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel is one of my favorites by this author so far. You could tell he really did his research about train lines and hobos and their intricate system of communicating through symbols on bridges and whatnot. It poses a very interesting look into the life of a hobo riding the rails for a living.

The protag learns her father, who works at a secret bio-weapons site in Maryland, has committed suicide. She takes matters and the investigation into her own hands, and teams up with two hobos somehow - I can't really recall how - to help her with the investigation.

I do plan to read this one again, as I retain so little from a single reading of a book. I'd like to get back in touch with this one because of the extensive use of the rails in the plot. I love reading about subcultures and societies that we don't typically hear about in our everyday lives. I also remember the characters being interesting and deep. If you can take this horrible, shallow review of the book and use it for anything, just take away the knowledge that I do remember really liking this book - right up there next to or more than King Con. And I'd definitely recommend it to Cannell fans and seekers of good fiction alike.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cannell is obviously a TV writer. The book starts out with a lot of promise. A deadly disease on the loose, a dead virologist, a grieving and very angry wife, evil army conspirators, and hobos on a mission, a selfish movie mogul seeking swalvation. Lots of different stories to tell, but as the book winds its way along, Cannell begins to let major plots and characters fall along the way.
The tie in between Max, the dead virologist and husband of Stacy and the bad guys drops away as does the tie in between the University professor and the evil biomedical plot. Interesting characters like Hollywood Mike start dropping like fies (or in this case mosquitos :).
In the end, the story degenerates into a love story between Stacy, and Chris (super marine/Lucky the hobo), with the fate of the major conspirators (Admiral Zoll, Colonel Chittum) in what could have been a global catastrophe left up in the air.
A great made-for-TV-movie ending. But dissapoibnting in light of what it could have been.
Some interesting ideas and characters. I especially liked the glimpse into the lifestyles of the poor and railroad bound hobos.
But overall a dissapointing ending.

[Elias Zamarron]

The Devil's Workshop consist of 3 main characters, Stacy Richardson the widow looking for evidence disproving her husbands suicide, Lucky a hobo with drinking problems and just barely making it by, and Dr. Dexter DeMille a suicidal confused scientist and one main protagonist the Admiral Zoll along with his Captains that follow his every order and although none of the main characters have met each other they have all had problems because of the protagonist's and his twisted plot. Conspiracy, secret illegal military experiments and a small town of people that have to suffer because of one accident.
Some of the characters went looking for the problems while many other just happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
No comparisons to any movie that i remember.
I had to read several chapters before actually wanting to finish this book.

[Lori Shafer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Devil's Workshop begins with a young woman nervously awaiting the verbal exam to receive her doctoral degree. In one moment her world is shattered. Her beloved husband is dead. The government claims he committed suicide, but she knows better. When she starts to look into his death, her professional life is destroyed.

What she doesn't know ... the government will do anything to cover their tracks. They have been making dangerous experiments. They are creating biological weapons which can be targeted at specific races. If the weapons fall into the wrong hands...?

I enjoyed the suspense, storyline and characters. The concept of biological warfare is just frightening and Cannell used that fear to draw the reader in. I enjoyed reading the book, but I doubt I will want to read it again. It just is a little too disturbing how close to reality the book seems.

[Gerry Durisin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cannell combines frightening science -- proteins called prions being used as biological weapons capable of targeting specific ethnic or racial groups -- with exciting suspense, as a microbiology student widowed when her new husband was killed because he learned too much about the illegal research, and a Gulf-War vet - turned hobo who lost his only child to a terrible illness caused by just such weapons race against time and those who would prefer that the Devil’s Workshop remain a secret, to prevent catastrophe.

[Collin Starks]

The Devil's Workshop is a book that I am currently reading at a snail's pace, in which a Mosquito carried pathogen escapes and threatens the world. And during all of this, a woman's husband (who was inadvertently helping to make the deadly prions), "kills himself," investigates his death and is convinced that it was not suicide. And there are crazy rebels in the mountains next to the testing site that want to have a revolution in the American government.

[Ari · Rating 2 out of 5]

apart from the character of Stacy (mentioning another gender issues here :D ) that I like, this book was taking a long time to finish.. mainly because of the plot. Three stories intertwined to one. Though it must be noted that Cannel has assured that terrorism through religion does not happen only in Islam (big laugh.. that is). So that is one good point.

[Davehk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Comparing this to "Three Shirt Deal" shows exactly how a person's writing skills can grow over a decade.

Like Vince Flynn in his most recent book, this guy is trying to exorcise some demons. Like Vince Flynn in his most recent book, this guy fails.

Good story but, ultimately, clumsy and unbalanced.

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought it was a very good story from start to finish. I do wish the ending was somewhat different. I don't remember it that well cause I finished it a while back but I feel like thier could of been more.

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Stephen J. Cannell to pieces. But I just couldn't get into the story. The main character, Stacy, annoyed me, and all the sciencey stuff just went right over my head.
It's like Angels and Demons all over again -_-
And I feel so stupid for not understanding it. Blahh.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

Microbiologist Stacy Richardson and hobo 'Lucky' Cunningham join forces to exact revenge on Admiral Zoll for the deaths of their loved ones. Zoll is conducting biological warfare experimentation. A gang of white supremacists adds spice to the mix.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a new author for me, and I really liked the book. The story involves the military, hobo's, trains and a movie star. It was an amazing book to read; right from the start, it hooked me. Very well written.

[Annika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was put off by the fact that the author prentiously named the little girl 'Kennidi' instead of 'Kennedy', but it was intriguing enough to keep going. Ended up with a more-than-a-little-odd story that lost its sparkle in the middle. The characters were fun though.

[Vicki Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking!

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Devil's Workshop: A Novel by Stephen J. Cannell (2000)

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was pretty good. I'd say three and a half stars. Fast moving in general, although there were a few slow spots. Characters were pretty good, although none really stood out for you to get to know.

[Karen Patin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good action and I liked the science element. A good choice for some quick reading.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

sort of a weak ending, but good

[Carol]

Read this years ago. Won't waste my time...

[Dianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

good but hard to follow and rambled a bit.