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moobys157's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
merrinish's review
3.0
I liked this book, because I think the author is interesting and the character of Avery Cates is pretty cool, and this one definitely had a lot more interest from the very beginning than the first one did. With an attempt to not spoil anyone who hasn't read it yet, I'm just INCREDIBLY annoyed at the outcome for all the peripheral characters we got to know in the first book.
I'm going to read the next one, I've already checked it out from the store, I'm just kind of disappointed. Avery isn't an awesome enough character to keep me coming back for long.
I'm going to read the next one, I've already checked it out from the store, I'm just kind of disappointed. Avery isn't an awesome enough character to keep me coming back for long.
catbonanza's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
chloecaprice's review
4.0
The Digital Plague was very good – I’m still in love with Avery Cates but getting frustrated that no one he’s attracted to ever manages to live (or at least stay human) to the end of a book. I mean if anyone ever deserved some romance it’s Mr. Cates, but alas Somers seems determined to work the universe against him. Every new thing that went horribly wrong I kept thinking of that line from The Little Rascals where Alfalfa loses all hope and goes: “And the sky opened up and God said, ‘I hate you Alfalfa.’” So despite the mind-boggling number of fatalities, the book is funny in a totally twisted sort of way.
pussreboots's review
3.0
One of the difficulties with checking out books from the library is following series. Either they don't have all of them or the old ones and the new ones are shelved in different places. Take for instance, The Digital Plague by Jeff Somers. It's the second book of a four part (as of 2009 / 2010) series featuring Avery Cates. My library happens to have books one, The Electric Church and two, The Digital Plague. Unfortunately they are shelved halfway across the library from each other as one is in the "new acquisitions" and the other is shelved with the older books.
Although The Digital Plague is a fast paced dystopian romp through a futuristic New York City, it manages to stand well enough on its own. There are points of reference to The Electric Church to clue the clueless so that one can follow along as Avery runs, jumps and shoots his way through the book.
The Digital Plague reminds me most of the opening chapters to The Stainless Rat Gets Drafted. Like The Digital Plague I began the Stainless Steel Rat series out of order, although chronologically it comes before the earlier books. I remember being immediately swept into the action and that's what happened here too. I didn't care that I wasn't entire sure what was going on or who all the characters were because I was racing alongside Avery.
The basic plot is that a plague of nanobots has been let loose in New York. Everyone exposed dies within a fixed timeline. Avery is patient zero except he's not dying. He's now being chased down to contain the disease but he doesn't know who he can trust and who he can't. He's not even sure he wants to trust those who can help.
Nanobots aren't anything new but Avery's New York is enough wrapping to make this version of the story worth the read. I've now checked out the first book in the series, The Electric Church and I will post a review when I'm finished. Then I'll decide if I want to read books three and four.
Avery Cates series: (Click on a title to read reviews).
* The Electric Church (2007) (review coming)
* The Digital Plague (2008)
* The Eternal Prison (2009)
* The Terminal State (2010)
Although The Digital Plague is a fast paced dystopian romp through a futuristic New York City, it manages to stand well enough on its own. There are points of reference to The Electric Church to clue the clueless so that one can follow along as Avery runs, jumps and shoots his way through the book.
The Digital Plague reminds me most of the opening chapters to The Stainless Rat Gets Drafted. Like The Digital Plague I began the Stainless Steel Rat series out of order, although chronologically it comes before the earlier books. I remember being immediately swept into the action and that's what happened here too. I didn't care that I wasn't entire sure what was going on or who all the characters were because I was racing alongside Avery.
The basic plot is that a plague of nanobots has been let loose in New York. Everyone exposed dies within a fixed timeline. Avery is patient zero except he's not dying. He's now being chased down to contain the disease but he doesn't know who he can trust and who he can't. He's not even sure he wants to trust those who can help.
Nanobots aren't anything new but Avery's New York is enough wrapping to make this version of the story worth the read. I've now checked out the first book in the series, The Electric Church and I will post a review when I'm finished. Then I'll decide if I want to read books three and four.
Avery Cates series: (Click on a title to read reviews).
* The Electric Church (2007) (review coming)
* The Digital Plague (2008)
* The Eternal Prison (2009)
* The Terminal State (2010)
tdeshler's review
4.0
This book had it all - the potential extinction of the human race, the pending zombification of same, and enough gunfire to start WWIII. Not too much character development, but it was a fun ride.
albatrossonhalfpointe's review
3.0
Book 2 in Somers' Avery Cates series, and I enjoyed it about as much as I enjoyed the first one. It's still not my usual taste, but I can appreciate the way it's written. Mostly. His gunfight scenes (and there are many) really are exquisitely written. Normally one thinks of a gunfight as something you need to watch, because you couldn't possibly just explain it all in words and have it be exciting. Somers actually manages that. He gives you enough description of both the setting and all the players' moves (as far as Cates is aware of them) that you can visualize it very easily (and I don't always visualize very well), but not so much that he gets bogged down in details and loses the pacing of it. It moves fast, it moves well, and he generally makes reading about them just about as good as watching them. Which I do think is an accomplishment. He also, as I mentioned in book 1, manages to make you like the characters even though they're mostly unlikable. I still don't get how he does that.
Something I'm less fond of is his repetitiousness. I don't recall noticing it so much in the first book, but looking back, there were a lot of references to the Unification riots, and pretty much every new setting was described as having been burned in said Unification riots and never rebuilt. There was more of that in this book, with the addition of repeated references to various things arising from the Monk riots. Also, I swear, for the first half of the book, every other chapter mentioned the fact that the System is being run by the Undersecretaries now that the Joint Council has been proven to be a bunch of computers which are now offline. We. Get. It. Stop telling us, for the love of whatever. He's written it in such a way that you're clearly expected to have read the first book, but he still feels the need to remind you repeatedly of what happened in it. So. Annoying. Eventually, that improved, but it really did bug, especially for the first half of the book.
The plague itself was well executed, with the clues building, until you understand the situation. And then the situation is revealed to be even worse, with everyone turning into techno-zombies. That was pretty freaky and gross. Gotta say though, anyone with an impressionable mind at all should probably keep their plague reading to the summer months, because hearing the near-constant nose-blowing and coughing of winter can make one a little nervous when reading about a virulent killer plague.
I did call (or at least suspect) the twist about Hense fairly early on, but it opens up some more interesting possibilities for future books, so we'll see if that goes anywhere. I was kind of happy about it, too, since I did rather like that character. I was pretty disappointed with Glee's death, though. We didn't really know her too well before she died, but she seemed like there was stuff you could do with her, so it's too bad she had to bite it. I think maybe Somers is nervous about trying to write engaging, human female characters, and that's why he didn't want to keep this one going too long. Well, that and the fact that her death is fairly crucial to various aspects of the story.
Generally, though, it was a fun, pulpy romp through a dystopic universe, that I look forward to returning to in the next installment.
Note that those who are offended by swearing will probably want to avoid this series.
Something I'm less fond of is his repetitiousness. I don't recall noticing it so much in the first book, but looking back, there were a lot of references to the Unification riots, and pretty much every new setting was described as having been burned in said Unification riots and never rebuilt. There was more of that in this book, with the addition of repeated references to various things arising from the Monk riots. Also, I swear, for the first half of the book, every other chapter mentioned the fact that the System is being run by the Undersecretaries now that the Joint Council has been proven to be a bunch of computers which are now offline. We. Get. It. Stop telling us, for the love of whatever. He's written it in such a way that you're clearly expected to have read the first book, but he still feels the need to remind you repeatedly of what happened in it. So. Annoying. Eventually, that improved, but it really did bug, especially for the first half of the book.
The plague itself was well executed, with the clues building, until you understand the situation. And then the situation is revealed to be even worse, with everyone turning into techno-zombies. That was pretty freaky and gross. Gotta say though, anyone with an impressionable mind at all should probably keep their plague reading to the summer months, because hearing the near-constant nose-blowing and coughing of winter can make one a little nervous when reading about a virulent killer plague.
I did call (or at least suspect) the twist about Hense fairly early on, but it opens up some more interesting possibilities for future books, so we'll see if that goes anywhere. I was kind of happy about it, too, since I did rather like that character. I was pretty disappointed with Glee's death, though. We didn't really know her too well before she died, but she seemed like there was stuff you could do with her, so it's too bad she had to bite it. I think maybe Somers is nervous about trying to write engaging, human female characters, and that's why he didn't want to keep this one going too long. Well, that and the fact that her death is fairly crucial to various aspects of the story.
Generally, though, it was a fun, pulpy romp through a dystopic universe, that I look forward to returning to in the next installment.
Note that those who are offended by swearing will probably want to avoid this series.
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