This is a plot-driven thriller concerning a deadly influenza. The novel starts with a murder of a couple in New York and then an eradication of a North Korean village where the evidence of existence is completely wiped out. This awful event that happens to North Korea catches the attention of a CIA worker. He gets curious and puts together an investigative team who are determined there was an outbreak of the deadly "Spanish Lady". This Spanish influenza killed 20-30 million people worldwide in 1918. Afraid that the North Koreans may be using the microbe to make a biological weapon, the team realizes the importance of creating a vaccine against the virus. Since the virus undergoes mutation the strains are different and they cannot make an effective vaccine. Two NIH scientists, Anne Adair and Benton Kicklighter, have proposed digging up the bodies of miners buried in permafrost in Spitsbergen, an island in the Arctic Circle owned by Norway, to retrieve lung tissue samples which may contain the influenza virus. Frank Daly, a reporter, is supposed to accompany the team of scientists but is unable to because of weather and such. When their ship docks in Hammerfest, Daly is informed that the dock is closed to everyone. As he sees Anne and Kicklighter enter a vehicle, he recognizes an FBI agent with them. All he is able to learn is that the team had only found a big white horse. No one involved with the project is willing to tell him anything. The white horse represents more than graffiti. They end up discovering a "religious group" has evil plans to get rid of "excessive" humans. Mixed in this thriller is a bit of romance between Daly and Adair. The protagonists were Daly and Adair and the antagonist was the religious group. .