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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
See my other reviews at Never Enough Books
In a time where diseases and epidemics seem to be an almost daily occurrence, a new virus begins to sweep the country. Those who become infected become paranoid and eventually turn in to raving murderers, inflicting brutal damage to those around them and finally themselves.
While the CIA and the CDC try to find out who or what is behind this strange new illness, ex-football star Perry Dawsey has developed odd welts all over his body. Perry is infected and as his sickness progresses he soon begins to think and act strangely and to hear voices that no one else can hear. What's worse is what the little voices want from Perry...
Is is rare, dear readers, for a book to grab my attention from the first paragraph and not let go until the final page. Infected did just that. So much so that I finished the book in just under two days. If it weren't for my regular job and other necessities like eating and sleeping, I'm fairly sure I would have finished Infected in one day - it was just that good.
The narrative of Infected moves between two separate voices - one being the CIA/CDC tasked to find just what exactly this new virus is; the other being Perry Dawsey, one of the infected. We see Dawsey's slow descent in to madness as the virus grows, just as we see the CDC's struggle to identify just what the virus is and where it possibly could have come from.
Sigler does an excellent job of handling both story lines, weaving them together for the climactic finish.
Some passages were truly disturbing and yet I found that I could not look away; I had to read the next paragraph, read the next page, to find out what happens next.
This book is definitely not for the squeamish. Horror and thriller fans however will quite likely love this book, I certainly did.
In a time where diseases and epidemics seem to be an almost daily occurrence, a new virus begins to sweep the country. Those who become infected become paranoid and eventually turn in to raving murderers, inflicting brutal damage to those around them and finally themselves.
While the CIA and the CDC try to find out who or what is behind this strange new illness, ex-football star Perry Dawsey has developed odd welts all over his body. Perry is infected and as his sickness progresses he soon begins to think and act strangely and to hear voices that no one else can hear. What's worse is what the little voices want from Perry...
Is is rare, dear readers, for a book to grab my attention from the first paragraph and not let go until the final page. Infected did just that. So much so that I finished the book in just under two days. If it weren't for my regular job and other necessities like eating and sleeping, I'm fairly sure I would have finished Infected in one day - it was just that good.
The narrative of Infected moves between two separate voices - one being the CIA/CDC tasked to find just what exactly this new virus is; the other being Perry Dawsey, one of the infected. We see Dawsey's slow descent in to madness as the virus grows, just as we see the CDC's struggle to identify just what the virus is and where it possibly could have come from.
Sigler does an excellent job of handling both story lines, weaving them together for the climactic finish.
Some passages were truly disturbing and yet I found that I could not look away; I had to read the next paragraph, read the next page, to find out what happens next.
This book is definitely not for the squeamish. Horror and thriller fans however will quite likely love this book, I certainly did.
If you're tempted to read something about infectious diseases that turn humans into murderous psychopaths (like every good fictitious disease does) and you see this title come your way: don't. You're better off re-reading something in that literary category than trudging through this mess.
I saw this listed on Penguin/Random House's Scary Book Bracket this past October and instantly added it to my list. If it's in a battle with 15 other books, two of which included Stephen King, it had to be good. Right?
I did some research, heard it was a podcast book (great idea!), and started listening.
I don't know what I noticed first: the atrociously read prose (read by the author himself...) or the exorbitant amount of swearing.
I get it. I'm not bothered by it. People swear, ESPECIALLY when they're in life threatening situations caused by some kind of psychopathic parasite living under their skin. Who wouldn't? But what excuse does the third-party narrator have to use vulgar expressions when describing people, body parts, or events? It's written like a teenager who discovered cursing for the first time and is allowed to use them without anyone guiding their usage.
Save your time. Save your reading dignity. Pass this one by.
I saw this listed on Penguin/Random House's Scary Book Bracket this past October and instantly added it to my list. If it's in a battle with 15 other books, two of which included Stephen King, it had to be good. Right?
I did some research, heard it was a podcast book (great idea!), and started listening.
I don't know what I noticed first: the atrociously read prose (read by the author himself...) or the exorbitant amount of swearing.
I get it. I'm not bothered by it. People swear, ESPECIALLY when they're in life threatening situations caused by some kind of psychopathic parasite living under their skin. Who wouldn't? But what excuse does the third-party narrator have to use vulgar expressions when describing people, body parts, or events? It's written like a teenager who discovered cursing for the first time and is allowed to use them without anyone guiding their usage.
Save your time. Save your reading dignity. Pass this one by.
I read this when it came out, cementing my place as a Sigler Junkie. Nobody does sci-fi horror like Sigler. Nobody. All I have to hear are the two words ‘chicken scissors’ and I’m immediately transported to the hellscape of Triangles. Bravo, Scott!
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I liked this more than anticipated. I’ve been looking for more investigative sci-fi horror leaning books and this one was right about there. While the book didn’t necessarily get into the science of it all, there were character who worked for the CDC doing an investigative autopsy.
This book is very heavy on the body gore, so if that’s not your vibe, do not pick this up. It gets yucky.
Perry… I don’t even know how I should feel about him. From start to finish he made some very questionable decisions and got me like 😳👀
It did have parts that dragged, but over all it was very fast paced. They were definitely fighting the clock so it all made sense for the story.
Could be convinced to pick up the sequel.
Narration: The narration wasn’t bad. It flowed just fine on 2x speed. The accents were a little rough but otherwise everything flowed well. The authors note at the end was hilarious and the music was surprising. Hated that noise between chapters though. May be less annoying at 1x speed, but at 2 I was like 😑😑
This book is very heavy on the body gore, so if that’s not your vibe, do not pick this up. It gets yucky.
Perry… I don’t even know how I should feel about him. From start to finish he made some very questionable decisions and got me like 😳👀
It did have parts that dragged, but over all it was very fast paced. They were definitely fighting the clock so it all made sense for the story.
Could be convinced to pick up the sequel.
Narration: The narration wasn’t bad. It flowed just fine on 2x speed. The accents were a little rough but otherwise everything flowed well. The authors note at the end was hilarious and the music was surprising. Hated that noise between chapters though. May be less annoying at 1x speed, but at 2 I was like 😑😑
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror
3.5 stars. Gross but fun. Plot-wise, it's something like Stephen King meets Michael Crichton. I've seen some reviews bemoaning the lack of truly likeable characters, but that isn't really an issue for me in a book like this because I'm kind of hoping they all get maimed or murdered. I'm interested enough to read the next one BUT if the shitty people are rewarded for being shitty, then I'm going to be annoyed. Side note: the pop culture references feel pretty dated for something that came out in 2008.
Audiobook note: the author is not a good narrator. He has a note at the end where he apologizes and says he's doing his best, but there are professional narrators out there for a reason. If a director who couldn't act put out a movie starring himself, I'd tell him good try, but next time hire real actors.
Audiobook note: the author is not a good narrator. He has a note at the end where he apologizes and says he's doing his best, but there are professional narrators out there for a reason. If a director who couldn't act put out a movie starring himself, I'd tell him good try, but next time hire real actors.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's really 1.5 but I will round up because it had a good premise and the story itself isn't that bad. The issues are entirely with the writer. First, there are just stupid mistakes that any editor should have caught such as "could care less" should be "couldn't care less." There are also basic scientific/medical facts that the writer gets wrong. Not only does he get them wrong, but he tries to use them as the actual basis for why his triangles are blue. Your blood is NEVER blue. Your veins APPEAR blue because of the way the light penetrates (or cannot penetrate) through your skin and thus gives it the appearance of being blue veins but your blood is never, ever blue. The whole "blood is blue until it hits oxygen" is a very old myth that science has disproved and the author should be ashamed of himself for using this at all. He also uses incorrect words and since he decided to do the audiobook himself he also mispronounces several words. The most resounding issue, however, is the constant repetition - whether it's back-to-back within a clump of sentences (I get that he's trying to make a point but use this method sparingly, not constantly) or just in an overall pattern throughout the book. (Also, I think he must have a vomit fetish because he repeats this so many times there's really no other explanation other than he must get off on it). WE GET IT!!!! He also goes from just telling us a lot of junk we don't need to know, telling us junk in the most boring way possible, and then just randomly jumps into spewing the most ridiculous metaphors and coming up with sentences like he's trying to write sickeningly sweet prose but then goes right back to otherwise being really mundane. He does get into parts where he brings the reader along for the ride and that's when we can get immersed into the story but then he bounces right back into just trying to fill in gaps (oftentimes needlessly) or jump around the timeline with what's happening presently to suddenly a character "remembering" past things that are just poorly done mega-dumps of exposition. He needs to pick a tone and stick with it.
The story itself is entertaining enough. It has a good premise even if it's a bit convoluted and scientifically inaccurate in the most basic of ways. I think with a little more common sense applied, a little more time correcting the science, and a good thorough going-over from an actual editor a revision of this book could make it from "meh, it's good to kill time with" to "wow, this is a quality story." Also, the audiobook version was interesting and unique with the different effects but, as with some of his writing, certain things were just far too repetitive for absolutely no reason. However, it was a refreshing change from many of the other audiobooks in general.
The story itself is entertaining enough. It has a good premise even if it's a bit convoluted and scientifically inaccurate in the most basic of ways. I think with a little more common sense applied, a little more time correcting the science, and a good thorough going-over from an actual editor a revision of this book could make it from "meh, it's good to kill time with" to "wow, this is a quality story." Also, the audiobook version was interesting and unique with the different effects but, as with some of his writing, certain things were just far too repetitive for absolutely no reason. However, it was a refreshing change from many of the other audiobooks in general.
Not much character development. Ending was awful.