Bacterium: An End of the World Thriller

What if you could get rid of everyone who bugged you? Teased you? Made your life miserable? What if YOU could own Earth and everything left on it? Tempting? I’d say so! This is the plan of Andre Ferguson and friends. Frenemies might be a better word, actually. Andre has developed the best chemical ever: an anthrax mutation linked to a flesh-dissolving bead which will not only kill you but get your body out of the way in a day or so.
Andre wants to be THE GUY. And he is for awhile. One small problem – not everyone on Earth died. Oh, he’d made sure some people lived to act as “gatherers” for himself and friend Jim but that was all. Except…..he hadn’t exposed everyone. Derek Silverman and wife Sveta somehow missed getting show more infected. Their baby daughter was and she died, but they were left to mourn and try to figure out what had happened.
When Andre finds that Derek and Sveta are alive he sends several groups out to kill them. After all, Earth isn’t his unless Derek and wife die, now is it? Unfortunately, Derek has no plans to dies. He somehow finds ways outfox everyone Andre sends until Sveta, injured and on a table resting accidentally sets her foot on a corpse and catches the disease as well.
This story will not only entertain you but scare the hell out of you. I cannot imagine a scarier thought than everyone in the world dying! It’s brought to life right here in Bacterium and in fine fashion. This is a must-read for all you end-of-the-worlders and anyone who is interested in chemistry at its deadliest. show less

Ok,I'm very tired,stayed up till 230 am reading this book!
It was very intense,gritty,suspenseful, and i couldnt wait to see what would come next.
I found myself rooting for the two innocent people left,because Nathan made them very realistic,frail,ordinary,and just like anyone of us!
I wasnt expecting a lot of the twists and turns he made,but who knows how anyone would react , being put in this situation?
The end of the book,i found both unnerving,very good and a bit disappointing(not what i wanted!)
All in all, a great read,one that you wont want to put down until finished!

From the first few words, I was hooked. This story has sadness, loneliness, a touch of dark humor, and something every end-of-the-world thriller needs: a mystery. I liked the simple sentences. You can tell the other didn't over-think it. There is no long pages about how noxious the dead smelled, or even too much about how the trees were green and tall, but were also so green and so tall (yes Tolkien, I'm talking about you). This book was also very realistic. There was no "Oh, no, our child is dead and these bad men are after us. Help us" melodrama.

***I received this e-book from LibraryThing Early Reviewers in exchange for an honest review***

This book’s title is pretty much truth-in-advertising with the thriller part being more of the story than the science fictional end of the world.

After killing off the President of the United States in the first chapter, we are introduced to the young couple of Sveta and Derek Silverman of Waukesha, Wisconsin. (Pennington carries on the time honored tradition of authors trashing their hometowns in a disaster story.) After a late night run to an emergency room to get help for their very sick baby, they find a hospital full of dead people and others who have just keeled over in their cars.

After their baby dies and no real news to be found on the internet or tv, they think answers and help may be coming from a group in Madison, Wisconsin, show more but, when the hoped for rescuers show up with guns and murderous intent, the hunt is on.

Pennington does a good job organizing and diagramming the jumps in time and space needed to tell his story. We meet the architects of this worldwide genocide, see how they executed their plans and their plans for the Silvermans and the future. Pennington, by and large, does a good job with his action scenes though one scene seems to hinge on a ignorance of firearm mechanics.

The absolutely best part of this story is Pennington’s refusal to adhere to a formula. The fates of several characters, good and bad, surprise; the clichés of action plotting are largely avoided. The ending, though, may be too bleak for some readers. Paradoxically, other readers may find it too hopeful. It’s definitely unanticipated.

The other big problem some may have with this story is the characterization, particularly of the villains. Some may find them too cartoonish or psychologically implausible. Personally, though, I have no trouble believing that a couple of disaffected and clever intellectuals would decide, with the aid of fanatical environmentalists, to wipe out the human race.

There are some problems with the formatting of the text too. Pennington usually opens each chapter with a line giving the setting. I think it would be helpful to italicize or bold those lines. Also, given Pennington’s predilection for very short paragraphs, I think it would be easier on the eyes to open the space more between paragraphs. There are also a few typos.

All in all, though, an interestingly executed plot that is well presented in a disaster setting. show less

I also received this from library thing with a request for an honest review. I was really excited for it. Sadly, while the concept of his novel is excellent, the execution leaves something to be desired.

It's an interesting premise:

What if there was a radically extreme environmentalist group (run by a few extremely insane individuals hellbent on world domination) killed everyone else on the planet? But what if two regular people survived - and as a result, are now the target of this terrorist organization?

It sounded action packed and overall pretty sweet. I really wanted to get into the psychology of it. I wanted to delve into the minds of the sadistic individuals.

But I feel the thoughts behind all the characters are not as drawn out as show more they should be. The most relate-able character for me was Donald. Donald is a sociopath, to the WORST degree, and his sections gave me some horrific "cringe" moments. But Donald's story is a side-story. It isn't the main overarching thing. I wish that those feelings that Nathan evoked in me during Donald's parts were present for the rest of the piece.

I wanted more from each of the characters. More hesitations, more internal thoughts, more reservations, more internal conflict. I wanted more cringe-like description that was present in part of Donald's parts. I want to be in the scenes with the characters. I wanted to be showed, not told, what happened.

While the concept is there, because there were so many other details lacking in this novel, I cannot rightfully give this novel more stars.

There were also several typos in the book, i.e., lung vs lunge. Small things like that, but they were noticeable. show less

I received this book on Librarything in exchange for an honest review.

I really love post-apocalyptic novels. There aren't a lot of post-viral ones currently. That's why I had my hopes high for this novel. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. I never connected with any of these characters. Even the main ones Derek and Sveka (the good guys) were flat. I don't even want to get into the evil characters because their whole plot for world domination doesn't even make any sense. I know a lot of microbiologists and they are extremely smart; these people were enormously stupid. One character that was like this I could explain away. But a whole vast number of people buying into the death of humanity makes no sense to me whatsoever.

The writing show more overall is rather choppy and needs to be heavily edited as it contains many grammatical/spelling errors. I skimmed through the last 60% of the book, which contains mostly just action scenes. A lot of ethical, thoughtful dilemmas could be introduced, but instead were greatly ignored. Try the Passage by Justin Cronin or The Stand by Stephen King. show less

This is a LibraryThing Member Giveaway Review.

When Andre and Jim decide to rid the world of humans, except for about 200 "necessary" people (doctors, engineers, and such). They create a new strain of anthrax combined with a flesh eating bacteria.
Derek and his wife survive the epidemic somehow, which causes Jim and Andre the hunt them down for elimination.

I like the writing style of the author, minus a few typos and grammar errors. The story was gripping and action filled. I felt for Derek and all he was going through to survive. I felt the characters were mostly believable. There were some points that seems not to fit. I thought this book was really good, and I couldn't put it down.