Plague by Dean Koontz

Plague by Graham Masterton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Pages - 384

Publisher - Head of Zeus

Source - Bought

Blurb from Goodreads

-A horrifying story, a deadly prophecy

Oceans are infested, beaches turn black, cities reek with poisonous pollution. The entire eastern seaboard of the United States has been sealed off - all those attempting to flee the contaminated zones will be shot!

As men, women and children murder and loot in a world gone mad, one man and his daughters struggle to survive. The bond of love between them strengthens and grows as they fight desperately to keep their fragile hold on hope - and life.

Father and daughter - caught in a terrifying world ravaged by an unknown, virulent, super-plague. Will an antidote be found... in time?


My Review

Echoes of the stand and a crossover of Covid - despite this being written in the 1970s that is the vibes I was getting. A small child infected, potentially patient zero with what turns out to be highly infectious and huge kill rate. Set in America, kicking off in Miami, when the medics try to warn the government they of course know better and give faff and lip service to the media. By the time they actually pay attention it has spread far and wide, society as we know it has gone to pot and every man is for themselves.

Ooft guys this is a very very dark read and will have multiple triggers for folks to approach with caution. Like I read loads of horror, true crime, dark stuff (in amongst fluffy/light) but I was a bit like God this is rough. I think maybe because we went through (and even now) such a lackadaisical/selfish response/period when the pandemic hit and even now you still see people very me me and not caring about their fellow man. So I think that hit a bit hard for me. You have chaos as society falls apart, folk robbing the dead, lack of care for human life and then the degenerates who use/abuse people they come across. Like there are no morals (well some of the characters do) and there are episodes of abuse/desecration of bodies, SA so just go into it knowing it is dark/dark themes and quite brutal.

Koontz really does create very believable worlds/characters and shows the good and bad sides of humanity. I thought it was well written, kept you hooked with a mixed bag of characters but it was pretty dark, soulless and some will love how it wraps up, some not so much, 3.5/5.

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The Deep by Nick Cutter

The Deep by Nick Cutter
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 5 days

Publisher - Headline

Pages - 394

Blurb from Goodreads

A plague is destroying the world's population. The 'Gets makes people forget. First it's the small things, like where you left your keys ... then the not-so-small things, like how to drive. And finally your body forgets how to live.

But now an unknown substance with extraordinary power to heal has been discovered in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. Nicknamed ambrosia, it might just be the miracle cure the world has been praying for.

A research lab has been established eight miles below the sea's surface, but all contact with the team has been lost. Dr Luke Nelson's brother is down there and as desperation for a cure outweighs common sense, he agrees to descend through the lightless fathoms ... perhaps to face an evil blacker than anything he could have imagined.


My Review

We start with The 'Gets - people are dying and the plague is cruel, people forgetting simple things at first until your body forgets how to function. Luke Nelson knows how it feels to lose someone to it and wants a cure, everyone does. His brother Clayton, a mad scientist, is part of a team working 8 miles under the sea surface on a cure. If anyone can crack this it will be Clayton, but contact with the team has been lost and Luke must descend to find his brother, to face his family demons and hopefully establish if there is a cure. Why lies waiting beneath may be worse than that which Luke has left above.

This is really a sci-FY style story. We have a horrible plague robbing humans of who their are before they eventually die. Then we have a research lab, 8 miles under the surface where Clayton is experimenting trying to find a cure. When Luke finally agrees to head down, memories of his past surface and Luke has to try and deal with that, as well as some of the impossible sights in front of him.

Wonders of the earth, death, madness and destruction are waiting below. This book is quite eerie in the way the atmosphere is build up when Luke descends. The writer has you feeling claustrophobic as the walls close in and the tension builds. However, I felt initially the story was going to be about The 'Gets plague, this was really a precursor for everything that comes when Luke gets below the sea. That is the main focus of the story, that and his childhood and his abusive mother. There is also animal experimentation and cruelty which I found quite hard to read although it was within context for the story. I think this will be a huge hit with many people, for me though I just didn't enjoy it. A lot of jumping around, the animal thing and I would have liked more on The 'Gets, 2/5 for me this time. Thanks so much to BookBridgr for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review. I would read this author again, I just didn't love this particular story.

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The Stand by Stephen King

The Stand by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 5 days

Publisher - New English Library

Pages - 1415

Blurb from Goodreads

When a man crashes his car into a petrol station, he brings with him the foul corpses of his wife and daughter. He dies and it doesn't take long for the plague which killed him to spread across America and the world. From the author of The Tommyknockers, Misery and Pet Sematary.


My Review

A military containment fails and Captain Trips gets out, a flu that wipes out most of humanity. What is left splits into two groups, one heading to Las Vegas to see him, Randal Flagg causer of nitemares or Colorado to Mother Abigail, a beacon of hope doing the Lords work. A whole host of characters, trying to stay alive because in a world where there is only good and evil, there are more scary things than the plague.

I read this years ago as a teenager, King is or was a huge favourite of mine so a perfect choice for Halloween reads. There is a lot to take in as characters and locations change but you soon get settled in and read as the world fall apart. This is the first time I have read the uncut version however it has been so long since I read the normal version I couldn't honestly say whats new and what wasn't.

Some of it is tough going, violence, murder, sexual abuse, evil, good and thats just some of it. I am sure most people are familiar with the tones of Kings work so you know what you are in for. The Stand is a great Apocalyptic type tale with many dimensions, the fall of society, the attempted rise of society, the battle of good and evil, the trials and sacrifices and of course love, betrayal, relationships and lies. 4/5 for me this time, I love King so of course I will be reading him again.

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ARC - MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood

MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 11 days

Publisher - Bloomsbury

Blurb from Goodreads

A man-made plague has swept the earth, but a small group survives, along with the green-eyed Crakers – a gentle species bio-engineered to replace humans. Toby, onetime member of the Gods Gardeners and expert in mushrooms and bees, is still in love with street-smart Zeb, who has an interesting past. The Crakers’ reluctant prophet, Snowman-the-Jimmy, is hallucinating; Amanda is in shock from a Painballer attack; and Ivory Bill yearns for the provocative Swift Fox, who is flirting with Zeb. Meanwhile, giant Pigoons and malevolent Painballers threaten to attack.

Told with wit, dizzying imagination, and dark humour, Booker Prize-winning Margaret Atwood’s unpredictable, chilling and hilarious MaddAddam takes us further into a challenging dystopian world and holds up a skewed mirror to our own possible future.


My Review

Before I put my thoughts I want to express that my issues with this book are a lot to do with not realizing it was part of a trilogy. I would strongly recommend to everyone they should go and read the first two before purchasing or attempting to read this one.

The book deals with the aftermath and current struggling of a small group of survivors after a man made plague has slammed earth. Along with the few survivors is "Crakers" a species created through bio-engeneering, gentle creatures to replace humans. The tale follows Toby, Snowman the Jimmy, Zeb and a few other characters throughout. As they try to survive and get on with "life" as best they can, along side the Crakers and avoiding the painballers who are hell bent on violence and destruction.

The book gives a four page catch up on the previous two books, this is no where near enough for someone who hasn't read anything of the previous story as this book is very much a follow up to them. The book is heavily focused on Toby and Zeb's relationship as well as throw backs to Zeb and his brother Adam's relationship. To be fair to the writer, when it was dealing with Toby and Zeb or going back to everything that happened with Zeb and Adam I could follow it and what was happening, it just seemed almost everything out with this I didn't understand what was going on.

Creatures and a lot of terms mentioned throughout the book I had no idea what they were, although pizzlies and grolars explanation was covered. Mo'Hair herds I assume are cow like creatures, Pigoons I think may have been huge pigs although I am not sure were they bio-engineered or a cross with pigs and something else? I think had there been an appendix with the unknown words and a brief explanation, at the front or back of the book, this would have made such a huge difference to my reading experience and understanding of the tale. Sadly I spent a huge amount of time confused reading the tale and not always sure what was going on or how it came to be. After 200+ pages I felt I understood a bit more of the hows and whys but it was hard going. I think if your a fan of the previous books you will get on well with this as it gives closure on the main characters and where their paths lie. I struggled with the tale, terms and what was going on most of the time although I did enjoy reading about Zeb and Adam so for that reason I am giving this book a 2/5. My thanks to Waterstones for introducing me to a new author and giving me an advance copy to review in exchange for an honest review. This book is available to buy now from all good retailers.

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