I just finished Infected and I'm left with: "I need to find the next book!". It's science fiction (somewhat) as it's taken place in present day with scientific theories and studies. However there's not a lot of science to make you go "Huh?" and a little bit of technical terminology but nothing that will make you feel as if you have to be a rocket scientist to read the book. (Added bonus there's no physics! har har). When I first picked up this book I thought it was going to be a zombie novel but I was far wrong. It's totally different and I think I'm going to leave it up to you to pick it up and read. Yes, it has something to do with disease and some medical issues but that's where it stops and the insanity starts. There's plenty of action in this book, and it actually starts in the prologue and in the first few chapters so you definitely won't be bored. There is graphic detail, so if you're squeamish or if you're eating dinner it's not recommended. There were parts in there that made me just want to cringe in pain and it went on for several pages and chapters but it's essential to the plot in my opinion. There are elements of comedy (albeit dark comedy) that do make you laugh out loud (at least I did) but it's enough to keep light of the situation but at the same time shows the seriousness of what's going on. (You'll laugh with the incident of Perry and his bare butt with the ruler..don't ask just read it) :D

Character wise, I'd have to like Dew. He's your regular soldier turned CIA guy with a edge for sarcasm and wit. Plus he has a thing for tootsie rolls and throwing the wrappers on the floor wherever he is, I just thought that was a funny quirk of his. It's hard to describe him, I guess he's your tough guy with the one liners but not the cheesy cliche ones. So that makes him cool in my book.

The drawback of this novel? hmmm. Well if you're squeamish I guess it would be that, there is quite a bit of swearing if it bothers you. For me, it would be this stupid "sexual tension" between two characters (who I didn't really like to start with). In the words of a character named Amos: "Why don't you two just fuck and get it over with already?" pretty much sums up those two.

All in all a great read! ( )

Very light spoilers to follow:

“As sharp as the butcher’s knife he’d used to cut into his own leg like some narcissistic cannibal.” This is my favorite sentence in the whole book and I think that it encapsulates everything you’ll find in this book: humour, dark; violence, lots; and metaphors, awesome.

This book literally kept me on the edge of my seat, I was so animated by it that the people on my commute thought I’d finally lost my mind as I kept yelling, quite vocally too, “go to the hospital, go to the damm hospital now.” I could barely breath from the tension that kept my every muscle locked up, only my hands free to turn pages. I almost got run over twice, because I was unwilling to put down the book even while crossing the street.

The book was told from three points of view, Perry Dawsey who is infected with the disease, and two of the people trying to fight it, Margaret Montoya and Agent Dew Phillips. Sigler does such a great job in developing them that Perry had me in tears for much of the story, mostly as I yelled at him to go to the hospital. He also has a spectacularly vivid way of describing everything that will leave you looking at every itch suspiciously, because you could be Infected. ( )

http://blog.tharos-online.de/archives... (german) ( )

The premise: yet another novel in the ever-popular genre of humans getting infected by alien/viruses/parasites, Infected follows the mystery of how seemingly benign Americans suddenly go psycho and start murdering everyone around them. It's a mystery that attracts the attention of the CIA and the CDC, and everyone's trying to find one of these victims ALIVE to figure out what's making them go loco. Enter in Perry Dawsey, former linebacker now desk-jockey, who wakes up with the rash from hell and soon discovers that he's got a battle of his own to fight, because whatever's growing in his body is determined to take over.

My Rating

Wish I'd Borrowed It: this book reads like another one of those fast-paced, thriller SF novels for people who don't really read SF. Despite what the rave reviews are telling me, this is no mash of Chuck Palahniuk and Michael Crichton, at least, not a pleasing enough mash for me to really sit back and enjoy this novel. Sigler does great work with extraordinarily gruesome detail, I'll give him that, but I didn't care about the characters, and really the premise didn't pay off the slightest. It may be the first book in a larger trilogy/series, but I'm not reading any further.

The full review, which only includes very VAGUE spoilers and cover art commentary, may be found in my LJ. As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.

REVIEW: Scott Sigler's INFECTED

Happy Reading! ( )

Some interesting characters. Very gruesome. ( )