Cover image of "I Am Pilgrim ," a thriller about a bioterror attack

Few things pose a greater threat to our peace of mind than the prospect of a terrorist attack with a biological weapon. That theme has powered several high-profile thrillers over recent years, including Richard Preston’s The Cobra Event, Stephen King’s The Stand, and Spasm by Robin Cook. More recently it has yielded Annie Jacobsen’s terrifying scenario, Biological Warfare. But it’s hard to imagine that any work of fiction could be more truly terrifying than I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. With deft and suspenseful plotting, Hayes gives us a story embroiling supersecret US spies, a Saudi terrorist, Greek drug traffickers, a murdered billionaire, an NYPD homicide cop, and the President of the United States. It’s a feast for fans of high-octane suspense fiction.

An unsolvable murder brings a mystery man into the light

At the outset we expect a traditional murder mystery. The story opens in a seedy Manhattan hotel. The victim, a woman, lies dissolved in acid. Her teeth are nowhere to be found. And every other identifiable aspect of her body is missing. The homicide detective has called in for help from a mysterious man who wrote the book on which the murder was obviously modeled. It’s the world’s most detailed and revealing account of the forensics of murder. But the last thing the author wants is to be outed. It appears he has enemies all over the world.

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes (2013) 624 pages ★★★★★

Chart of the official seals of the 17 US intelligence agencies, which would need to defend the USA against a bioterror attack
A chart of the 17th known US intelligence agencies, as represented by their official seals. In I Am Pilgrim, there are others, too secret to surface in the public eye.

His codename is Pilgrim. We don’t know his true name.

Gradually we piece together a picture of the mysterious author. He goes by many names, and in fact we never learn his true identity. As the story unfolds, he adopts the codename Pilgrim. However, it’s clear that as a child Pilgrim had been adopted by an extremely wealthy couple and recruited by the government at an early age. But it’s not long before we come to understand that he had quickly risen to run a supersecret, off-the-books intelligence operation that reported only to the President of the United States. And in that capacity he had prevented a major attack on the country.

Meanwhile, on a parallel track, we learn about a brilliant young Saudi physician who harbors an intense desire to destroy the United States. As a child in Saudi Arabia he saw his father beheaded for dissent. Blaming the USA more than the Saudi government he regards as its puppets, he sets out on a life-long quest for revenge. He trains as a doctor under an assumed name. Goes to war as a jihadist in Afghanistan. And lands a job at a vaccine manufacturer in Germany that makes it possible for him to introduce a weaponized smallpox virus impervious to any vaccine. If the attack is successful, the virus will kill a huge proportion of the American public and forever end American hegemony.

The White House actively enters the picture

When the US government picks up rumors about the terrorist plot, the White House calls Pilgrim back into service. He gives the terrorist the codename Saracen. The two men, spy and terrorist, move ever closer to a face-to-face meeting as Saracen nears the culmination of his lone-wolf plot.

Pilgrim pursues clues to Saracen’s whereabouts all across the world. From Manhattan to Paris, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Saudi Arabia. His investigation comes to a head in the seaside Turkish resort town of Bodrum. There, he learns that the New York murder case and the terrorist plot have intersected. And the story thunders toward an unpredictable conclusion.

About the author

Photo of Terry Hayes, author of this novel about a bioterror attack
Terry Hayes in 2023. Image: Nick Bradshaw – The Irish Times

Terry Hayes is an Anglo-Australian screenwriter, producer, and novelist. He is a former investigative journalist, columnist, and host of a radio show. I Am Pilgrim was the first of his three novels to date, the third of which he coauthored. Most of his writing is for film and television. Hayes has been married since 1999 and has four children.

Check out Spasm (Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery #15) by Robin Cook (Forensic scientists investigate Russian biological warfare in America).

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