Friday, August 24, 2012

Book # 63 - Plague

41H2LCxfXjL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA278_PIkin4,BottomRight,-65,22_AA300_SH20_OU01_Another free one from Amazon, Plague is a Contagion-type thriller. It starts with a tour in South America where one of the people gets sick and dies. The guide flies back to Hawaii and we have some inkling he’s doing to get sick.

The book then jumps to a CDC researcher (Susan) and a USAMRIID worker (Duncan) and we move between them, along with a CIA type agent (Richard) and various people that get sick. The infection spreads rapidly in Honolulu, and it appears to be a black pox (similar to smallpox) variation, but one that rapidly claims people. As the infection grows, the island comes under martial law and you can guess how bad things get.

The thriller part comes near the end as Susan, Duncan and others go to track down the source in South America, only to find out it’s a US plot of some sort. The author wisely doesn’t go into much detail, and ends things suddenly.

Reading this makes me appreciate how much better a writer like Robin Cook is. The characters are light, the writing is easy to read, but not great. Good, but not anything that stands out. Worth a read if you like this style of book.

No comments: