interesting exploration of a post pandemic world
590577
Reasonable well written with interwoven stories of unlikely connections between characters pre and post apocalypse. Characters lack depth though. The only point that I became emotionally involved was a moment of feeling depressed and hopeless about the fragile bedrock of our civilization about 3/4 of the way through.
3768749
Here is a fresh narrative for the post-Apocalypse enthusiasts! The two central characters decide they've had enough of post-Apocalypse Chicago, and begin to head for Walt Disney World. The motivation isn't entirely clear at first, although the reader can begin making some educated guesses along the way. The violence is not what I would consider *overly* graphic for a  'zombie-esque' novel (I think I've gotten queasier from some Stephen King novels), and it comes in fits and spurts as the main characters head south. Smith seems to have carefully considered the various ways that people would seek to either profit in a post-Apocalyptic world, or the ways in which the human brain would 'protect' them against the horrors that now surround them. While the ending felt almost abrupt, and a little soft (wait, they didn't take a ride around 'It's a Small World' or 'Pirates of the Caribbean'?), the book kept me engaged enough to keep reading through to the end.
1578681
A few thoughts on the end-of-days premise: whether its zombies or disease or a natural disaster, authors create these situations to produce an immediate external conflict. One that can divide or unite, one that tests and may change their characters. Authors' purposes for writing in this type of speculative fiction are as varied as the implement, but many times it is to expose man's sins. Granted, I enjoy this genre quite a bit, but sometimes its too easy for authors to write in it but not fully explain their complete analogy. This is not the case with Jason Mott in his new novel, The Crossing.

Twins Virginia and Tommy are stuck in a world that is breaking apart. A disease that first struck the elderly is now creeping to consume a younger and younger demographic. Nations have closed their borders and started to fight one another for what power is left. Seventeen and threatened by the military draft, the siblings have decided to flee their foster father and begin a journey to witness the launch of a probe to Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter. The launch provides the hope that the people of America and the world need, the possibility of a new planet, one that may have the ability to sustain life. Tommy is almost resigned to enlist, but Virginia believes this road trip is necessary.

I filled my notes for this review with remarkable lines from Motts writing. He uses outstanding metaphors that explicate the feelings of the his apocalypse so eloquently, and they do well to counter the helplessness that pervades the characters' lives. He has a knack for creating memorable character, especially the characters the twins meet along their journey. And his play with memory in the two main characters advances a unique series of twists.

The narrative is broken up by the intertwining of two creative threads, short vignettes telling the stories of others plagued by the disease, and letters to the twins from their dead father. This layering creates depth and drives several different story lines at once. I do have to say that at times The Crossing is more of a contemplative read, with current action taking the backseat to the characters' reflections, but it is those questions that create the tension and fuel the impetus for that action to break.

In Jason Motts The Crossing tension is created in the reader's desire for Virginia to find something outside herself and her brother, something tangible or intangible, anything that will create a desire to move forward. She has the hope of a young cynic, the love of her brother, and the dream of a better planet. The premise is utilized with skill and the reader will ultimately get the pay off in the end. This is a deserving read and a solid addition to this genre.

Thank you to NetGalley, Park Row Books, and Jason Mott for the advanced copy for review.
3333238
I love how this book lulls you into nature and landscape descriptions and then jerks you back into the post-apocalyptic nightmare of a post-flu pandemic apocalyptic world.  There are many unexpected surprises at every twist and turn.  The love scenes, unfortunately, seem a bit contrived and may just as well be an afterthought for a bad movie script. Overall a great read and I find myself hoping that my next book will be as much fun!
630712
Best of the pandemic-themed novels that I've read.  Looking forward to the continuation of the series.  I really like these characters!
861061
Bubonic plague of the Medieval Period was the first pandemic, the Spanish Influenza of the early 21st century was the second pandemic, a merger of Chlamydia and strep creates "<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-Third-Pandemic/dp/0671525360/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The Third Pandemic</a>&nbsp;by Pierre Ouellette, a book first published twelve years ago.

Because this new disease has the power to kill half the world's population, it is given the placement of major character in the novel. The writer first describes it in terms of soldiers quiet after a defeat (the antibiotic tetracycline, part of a drug cocktail that kills most infections). When it merges with strep chromosomes, Chlamydia becomes a new entity, one resistant to all antibiotics. This merger takes place when the male human carrier has sex with a woman carrying strep/chlamydia. These viruses also mate to create an unstoppable infection ready to charge as an army and wreak havoc on the world.

Details of epidemiology, computer simulation of a spreading disease, the formula for a vacination against this disease, a health official carrying a split with reality inside his head, an amoral career criminal who rides the wave of lawlessness to create a new identity as superpower leader in the void of effective leadership during the pandemic, a police detective with an abiding moral consciousness, a female doctor whose own moral dictates recognize morality in others--all parts combine to become a unified whole in presenting a what-if apocalyptic world sure to come.

In a world of flesh-eating infections, Mad Cow disease, and SARS, a new concomitant is not surprising. There is a vaccine formula, but not a vaccine. The fact that corruption abounds in mid-level positions, as well as highest levels, the attempt to keep secret the formula for a vaccine, to hold off until monetary gain is bulging with greed, will prevent the making of this life-saving drug. No matter, the disease appears and decimates the population even as these greed-hogs maneuver for their own monetary promotion. Even as this happens, the criminal element is swifter and assumes power to terrorize and manipulate.

The two righteous characters, Detective Paris and Dr. Elaine Wilkes, come together through odd circumstance and in the line of duty, to do what is available to them to fight this pandemic. It takes its toll and wears itself out, as with all diseases. The ending is interesting, but it is the story of people, the journey of courage, the path of the disease that are the essence of the novel. What can be done, who does it, who are the heroes scattered throughout the story? All these questions determine the outcome and success of an apocalyptic novel. Frankly, I wouldn't close the book at night. I kept reading and reading and....
3697882
I really enjoyed this book. Read it during the ebola outbreak and found it an interesting subject  to think about. The author gives the characters and the setting great detail. I think the whole subject of plague and medicine at the time is fascinating. The book gives us an insight into a village coping with the sickness, superstition and relationships.
1983320
Station Eleven takes place in two time periods: Before, and the Aftermath. A flu pandemic swept the world and killed most people off. There are no zombies; there are only human stories -- the people who survived, some a little more broken than others, each clinging to some version of the past they remember; and the people who were born in the new world, ignorant except in stories of their elders.

It's a simple book; there are no great arcs of one man versus the world, saving it from certain destruction. Every story told in the novel is uniquely human. One of the main themes of the novel -- "survival is insufficient" -- is explored in depth by following the members of a troupe that travels the world, performing various plays, including Shakespeare. Station Eleven is a meditation on the necessity, burden, and joy of friendship, art, and family. It's a story of finding -- or making -- a place in a world you no longer recognize.

Started: November 7, 2014
Finished: November 16, 2014

Rating: 9.5/10
2765783
The book was a good account of a family trying to cope with a devastating pandemic.  It was interesting enough to finish, but not enough to highly recommend.  Found the prose stiff and repetitive.  The author tends to over remind the reader of certain facts...like how many doses of a flu vaccine the family had.
4159666
This is subtler than most dystopian novels, which tend to scold the world for present-day failings. The plague (a flu) that dismantles the world happens for no human-made reason except the reality of globalism. It's hard to imagine any defense against an airborne virus which is near-100% lethal  and spreads by air travel before anyone is aware of the threat. (One of the primary conflicts is between the "prophet," who preaches that everything happens for a reason, and most survivors, who know it was just a mutated virus and only luck separates the living from the dead.)  The book's strongest metaphor is the Orchestra which travels between  survivor outposts and plays Shakespeare and music.  I hadn't thought about how Shakespeare's life and plays were shadowed by the plague, which restricted travel in Elizabethan times and banished theater to the countryside. The book is nowhere near as harrowing as "The Road," where I was often scared to turn the page, but the details of deprivation and improvisation, and the nostalgia for our present,  are similarly fascinating. I like that the book revolves around an unpublished graphic novel, and that its motto isn't from Shakespeare but from Star Trek. I like that none of the characters is truly evil and that everyone's humanity is acknowledged, including that of the sinister prophet.  The style is completely different, and the book is rarely funny, but the closest writer in spirit might be Kurt Vonnegut.
4905608
"During my career I've found leaders a scarce commodity. The world is full of managers and directors, but they're not leaders." - Colonel Nathan Zinsky, M.D.

A young man is brought into the ER at University Community Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky suffering from what appears to be a particularly nasty case of the flu. Upon learning that the man is employed at a poultry farm, Infectious Disease specialist Dr. Mercato Marcus is the first to recognize there is something much more serious going on. Suspecting a case of H5N1 avian influenza ("bird flu"), Dr. Marcus sounds the alarm to the Centers for Disease Control. Her bosses, however, are more concerned with the hospital's image should a panic ensue and it turns out that Dr. Marcus was wrong... she is not.

Unfortunately, the virus's point of origin being a poultry farm allows for its lightening fast spread: migrant workers, infected but not yet symptomatic, disperse home for the holidays; long haul truckers who truck out the season's last shipments unwittingly spread the virus at every stop along their routes; a group of global investors looking to acquire the farm are exposed during a tour of the facilities and take the virus back to their home countries with them.

The President tries to control the situation on the domestic front by quarantining several counties surrounding the hospital, but he is met with resistance from the Governor of Kentucky who sees the crisis as a chance to make a show of power for his constituents. So much time is lost to the posturing and playing of politics that by the time Colonel Nathan Zinsky, M.D. from the Centers for Disease Control finally arrives in Louisville University Community Hospital has become ground zero for a global pandemic, the worst since the "Spanish Flu" pandemic of 1918.

Author D.W. Hardin's unique background in both emergency medicine and law enforcement lends Hidden and Imminent Dangers an unmistakable aura of legitimacy. Every action taken by the medical personnel and police officers rings true, and nowhere is that more apparent than in the character of Mac MacIntosh, a former medic in the Special Forces currently working as an RN in the ER of University Community Hospital.

Given today's highly mobile society the scenario presented in Hidden and Imminent Dangers is not only entirely possible, it's just a matter of time some experts argue. An immensely enjoyable medical thriller, Hidden and Imminent Dangers will leave even the most levelheaded reader with flashbacks to the recent H1N1 influenza ("Swine Flu") scare and questions as to just how ready we are for the next super-virus that comes along.
81264
As many reviewers have already commented this tale unfolds in the form of one man's blog that is kept in a diary and, while the internet is live, via a web blog. The language is relatively simple, but never preambles. The narrative follows, at times a predictable formula. There is a terrorist attack on a secret military base slash research facility. What follows is a tumbling of the dominoes as secrecy and governmental ineptitude leads to a worldwide pandemic of the un-dead who behave very much like the flesh eating Zombies.

Our protagonist is a lawyer by trade; he is widower who lives alone in Galicia Spain, except for his cat who figures heavily in his life. Through his blog/diary we see how society begins to unravel as the pandemic spreads from a remote zone in the Russian Federation until it reaches Spain and finally his front door. Not wishing to give spoilers, our lawyer and cat are forced to leave their fortress home and embark on journey to find some safe haven. On this `road trip' from hell our hero will meet the best, worst, the racist and profoundly stupid of humanity.

This being the third novel, has been translated from Spanish, and contains his travels and experience's. I just want to clarify I have been listening to the unabridged version and have not read the books, but I am sure they are one in the same. I found the story entertaining, and it was refreshing to have a story mainly based in mainland Europe. Although this is third edition of the series, is based in North America.

This last book will show how a total totalitarian state could survive a Zombie pandemic. A treatment, rather like drugs for HIV - that holds at bay full blown infection. There are other tasters in this concluding novel  there are Zombies with fungal infections, and racists that see the Zombie pandemic as a new beginning for white supremacy. This book is not going to win any literary prizes - but this is not one of those books. Some rather interesting Horror fiction has been coming out of Spain lately and this story is one of them. In summation then this is an interesting and entertaining audio-book, which is cat friendly to boot and I recommend it.
3459062
In the not-too-distant future, the world is in the grips of a deadly cancer pandemic that has left society in shambles. What were once residential streets have now become row upon row of hospices set up to care for the sick and dying. Olivya and her mother run their own hospice, trying to make ends meet after Olivya's father's death years earlier. Olivya has struggled since she was a little girl to cope with a strange gift, the ability to see people's auras. This power is difficult in a world filled with the sick and impoverished, and Olivya tries to keep her Sight suppressed so she can focus on caring for her patients. Everything changes when Olivya meets Mikah. The pair became acquainted in Cyber School where digital projections of themselves go to interact and learn. Olivya and Mikah formed a strong friendship, and, curious to meet one another in the flesh, decide to rendezvous at a nearby abandoned zoo. Neither of them expect the chain of events their meeting sets off, however, as the two learn the truth about the pandemic and their roles in attempting to prevent the impending apocalypse.

A collaboration between real-life couple Suki Michelle and Carlyle Clark, The Apocalypse Gene contains some interesting concepts but ultimately becomes far too muddled and confusing to be enjoyable. Taken out of the context of the novel, several of the plot ideas have potential. The pandemic that is more than just a disease, the Kindred and their mythical back-story, the ability to see auras, all intriguing concepts that could have been expanded on their own to make a successful story. All these ideas and more, however, are essentially crammed into this 230 page novel, and the result is a story so far-fetched it's borderline ridiculous. Unfortunately, not much more can be said than that. Although it received some positive critical reviews, The Apocalypse Gene would be difficult to recommend to any young adult reader, especially when so many other excellent books are available.

I feel like I need to apologize in advance, but, simply put, this was one of the strangest books I've ever read. I just did not get it. I tried really hard as I was reading it to get it, but I never did. There were just too many ideas that the authors tried to stuff into this one story. I also never got the slang the characters used, and was especially confused by the little cyber beings that stepped out of the computers. I don't think that if I tried to explain the entire plot of this novel to someone that I could do it, even though I read it from start to finish. I'm sorry, but this novel just did not resonate with me in any way whatsoever.

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4070554
While most apocalyptic themed novels tend to take a global overview of the disaster that drives the genre, The Jakarta Pandemic instead focuses on a single street of residents, most of whom are completely unprepared for the catastrophe rapidly heading their way. Steven Konkoly's characters are all well defined and interesting, and I found myself quickly involved in the every day goings-on of the family at the center of his story. The novel builds tension slowly but inexorably, layering levels right up until the thoroughly exciting climax.

I held out for the newly edited version of the novel and, while there are a smattering of errors still (no more than I've seen in similar sized print books), the problems other readers have mentioned are all but non-existent in this latest edition. When one considers the fact that the author not only wrote, edited, marketed and promoted the novel himself, without any of the resources available to legacy-publishing authors, the effort that has been poured into this book (it is easily 100,000+ words) becomes all the more apparent.

Kudos to  Steven Konkoly and I highly recommended, The Jakarta Pandemic.
3070931
Containing beautiful imagery and clarity of insight into the human condition, Station 11 delivers us to a post plague world. The authors moves us forwards and backwards in time as we witness events through eyes of five different characters whose lives are intertwined on a variety of levels. The book raises interesting questions about modern life and the things we hold most dear.
709816
Tom Calen finished his Pandemic Sequence with a huge battle and intense subterfuge. This while series is well worth the read.
4264237
Well written edited. Story flows with out crunchy language, grammar or logic bumps. Recommended.&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/The-China-Pandemic-A-Post-Apocalyptic-Medical-Thriller-Graham-s-Resolution-Book-1/dp/B00H06NGFS/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">The China Pandemic: A Post Apocalyptic Medical Thriller (Graham's Resolution Book 1)</a>