The Ames Strain: The Mystery Behind America's Most Deadly Bioterror Attack

"A mystery story about murder committed on the national stage . . . we have a twisted villain whose secret life is laid utterly bare. Unlike most mysteries, this one is literally true, carefully documented and skillfully told by one of America's finest investigative journalists."—John S. Carroll, Los Angeles Times

In the dark days that followed September 11, America faced its first major bioterror attack that led to five deaths, seventeen infections, and a seven-year hunt for the culprit. The Ames Strain is an engrossing and unsparing portrait of Bruce Edwards Ivins, the deeply troubled US Army scientist that the United States Department of Justice concluded to be the sole perpetrator of the anthrax attacks. David Willman uncovers the struggle for control within the FBI's anthrax investigation, the missteps of an overzealous press, and how a cadre of government officials disregarded scientific evidence in order to spin the attacks into a basis for war with Iraq.

With bioweapons continuing to make the news, the lessons from the Ivins case and Willman's thorough investigation are more relevant than ever.

David Willman is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist whose work has prompted major public health reforms. His reporting for the Los Angeles Times brought to light the pivotal developments surrounding the 2001 anthrax letter attacks. Willman's groundbreaking reporting in 2008 on the investigation of the deadly anthrax mailings was cited by the Scripps Howard Foundation as the year's best Washington-based coverage.