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buildhergender's review against another edition
5.0
Great book, even it the title got the King of Pain song stuck in my head.
Good action without making it feel like the hero is a one man army who could take anything including a small nuke.
It does a good job of setting up a followup novel while closing some plot lines.
Good action without making it feel like the hero is a one man army who could take anything including a small nuke.
It does a good job of setting up a followup novel while closing some plot lines.
zade's review against another edition
5.0
It takes considerable talent to bring back a villain from a previous novel and yet have a completely fresh story. Maberry succeeds at this challenge in King of Plagues, which revives Sebastian Gault from Patient Zero. The threat this time is not zombies, but rather a string of attacks that appear to be terrorist in origin, but really serve to further the economic interests of the Seven Kings--a group that wears the mystique of a secret society to hide its rather more mundane goals. All the usual draws of the Joe Ledger series are here--complex characters who defy action-novel conventions, real science pushed beyond its (present-day) limits, and graphic, bloody violence that defines both the baddies and the heroes. Never boring, sometimes thought-provoking, always snarky and fun.
charshorrorcorner's review against another edition
5.0
4.5/5 stars!
This is my favorite of the series so far. There were lots of surprises here, a few gains and some substantial losses. All the things that keep this reader interested in continuing.
I've been listening on audio and I love Ray Porter's voicing of Joe Ledger. In fact, he is the reason I've continued on with this series. I'm looking forward to the next book!
Highly recommended as long as you've read the previous books in the series.
*Thanks to my local library for the free audio download. Libraries RULE!*
This is my favorite of the series so far. There were lots of surprises here, a few gains and some substantial losses. All the things that keep this reader interested in continuing.
I've been listening on audio and I love Ray Porter's voicing of Joe Ledger. In fact, he is the reason I've continued on with this series. I'm looking forward to the next book!
Highly recommended as long as you've read the previous books in the series.
*Thanks to my local library for the free audio download. Libraries RULE!*
saphirablue's review against another edition
2.0
I liked it but, boy, do I wish that we wouldn't spend so much time in/with the POV of the bad guys. :/ I read such books for the good guys and spending sooo much time with the bad ones? Made it difficult for me to keep reading. :/
I liked the story in general - fast paced action thriller.
I like the characters - especially Joe, Rudy and Ghost. I like Circe too but we'll have to see how that plays out (and, I did see it coming from the beginning.)
I'll give this series another chance with the next book, but if it's the same re: POV bad guys...?
I liked the story in general - fast paced action thriller.
I like the characters - especially Joe, Rudy and Ghost. I like Circe too but we'll have to see how that plays out (and, I did see it coming from the beginning.)
I'll give this series another chance with the next book, but if it's the same re: POV bad guys...?
ctgt's review against another edition
4.0
Good action/thriller story with a conspiracy theory angle.
Not sure how I feel about the narration......I read the first two in print and enjoyed them. There was more of snarky vibe for Ledger than in my own head when I read the previous books. Might go back to print for the next installment.
7/10
Not sure how I feel about the narration......I read the first two in print and enjoyed them. There was more of snarky vibe for Ledger than in my own head when I read the previous books. Might go back to print for the next installment.
7/10
vailynst's review against another edition
4.0
10/2/20 Notes:
- Audiobook re-read was great.
- Adding to Favorites
- Cersei is pretty cool & still sad about Grace.
- Sallie is a wanker & awesome. =)
- Audiobook re-read was great.
- Adding to Favorites
- Cersei is pretty cool & still sad about Grace.
- Sallie is a wanker & awesome. =)
malkav11's review
4.0
Another solid thriller starring the heroic Joe Ledger, and generally superior to its immediate predecessor. I appreciated that the secret society that represents the core threat in this book is not, in fact, ancient and eternal, but merely very good at representing itself as such. And I appreciated that certain plot threads from the first book were taken up once again, and that the soul-searching period Joe went through after the events of the second book was mercifully elided.
vkemp's review
4.0
Doomsday terrorist organization, check. Mutating virus, check. Insane scientists, check. Total non-stop action, check. Whhooo, baby, this book was a thrill a minute to read. My first Joe Ledger book and now I must track down the first and second. Joe is a former Baltimore cop, recruited to join the Department of Military Science (DMS), the guys Homeland Security turn to when they can't get it done. Joe's day in London starts out with the bombing of "The London," the famous historic hospital which is completely destroyed, over 4,000 people dead. Then, the DMS receives word a madman is holed up inside the medical lab on Fair Isle in Scotland, home of every incurable disease known to man. Soon, the DMS is on the trail of "The Seven Kings," a secret organization devoted to creating chaos in the world; the King of Plagues is just one of the seven. Joe and his dog, Ghost, are the superheroes we all wish we could call up when the boogey-man comes calling. More action follows.
pingthevile's review
4.0
Really good, but not the best of the Joe Ledger books. Started out a bit slow, but picked up nicely as it went along. Good ending.
reanne's review
2.0
I have mixed feelings about this series. I keep thinking I'll stop listening, and then the books have just enough going for them to keep me going. After a disappointing book 2, I listened to this one because I saw that Toys was back, and I found him to be a really interesting character. His parts of the book did not disappoint. I also thought that the new character Circe was somewhat interesting, and I'm curious to see where her storyline goes.
I wish there was more character development with the characters we already knew. We got a bit more with Church in this one, and that was nice. But there isn't really any development going on with Rudy or Hu or Bunny or Top... They're just kind of there, doing the same thing they always do, and we're not even getting to know them any better than we did in the first book. Even Joe doesn't really seem to be really developing as a character. He goes through traumatic things, but he pretty much remains the same. I don't know; I just don't feel very drawn to the characters. I think it's because they read kind of flat to me. With the occasional exception, we're not really learning more about them or getting new insight into them or seeing them change and develop. Meh.
Like others have said, this book has a crazy amount of name-dropping. It got annoying. It was so much, it was actually kind of sad. There's a major character that's described as looking exactly like Whoopi Goldberg (as if Maberry desperately hopes she'll play her in the show). Joe has tea with Bono. And there's an endless string of name-dropping of authors, musicians, actors, and such. Not to mention the more significant characters who aren't named but bear very striking resemblance to real-life people (like the Saudi "king" and the president who's a democrat and came after Bush and has two daughters). I always find it a bit icky when authors put real people in their stories, particularly recent or still-living people. I know it's a normal thing that has been done in fiction for centuries or more, but it still rubs me wrong. Just seems creepy, like the author's putting words in their mouths and making them into people they're demonstrably not. It's the same creepy feeling I get from real-person fanfic (which this basically is).
I also don't care for the political elements of these books; that is, when the author's political views seem to be invading the story. And I don't particularly like how the characters had kind of a desperate need to explain the Biblical plagues of Egypt as natural occurrences. Like, if you believe the Bible enough to believe the plagues happened, what's wrong with also believing that God caused them, as the Bible says? Seems like a weird place to draw the skeptic line.
So I'll probably keep going with this series a bit longer. I'd thought, with the zombies in the first one, that there'd be a lot more fantasy/horror elements than it turns out there are in the rest of the series, which is disappointing. But I'll give it a bit more and see how it goes.
Really, I think the main reason I'm still listening is the narrator. I just love Ray Porter as a narrator, and he does a great job with these books.
I wish there was more character development with the characters we already knew. We got a bit more with Church in this one, and that was nice. But there isn't really any development going on with Rudy or Hu or Bunny or Top... They're just kind of there, doing the same thing they always do, and we're not even getting to know them any better than we did in the first book. Even Joe doesn't really seem to be really developing as a character. He goes through traumatic things, but he pretty much remains the same. I don't know; I just don't feel very drawn to the characters. I think it's because they read kind of flat to me. With the occasional exception, we're not really learning more about them or getting new insight into them or seeing them change and develop. Meh.
Like others have said, this book has a crazy amount of name-dropping. It got annoying. It was so much, it was actually kind of sad. There's a major character that's described as looking exactly like Whoopi Goldberg (as if Maberry desperately hopes she'll play her in the show). Joe has tea with Bono. And there's an endless string of name-dropping of authors, musicians, actors, and such. Not to mention the more significant characters who aren't named but bear very striking resemblance to real-life people (like the Saudi "king" and the president who's a democrat and came after Bush and has two daughters). I always find it a bit icky when authors put real people in their stories, particularly recent or still-living people. I know it's a normal thing that has been done in fiction for centuries or more, but it still rubs me wrong. Just seems creepy, like the author's putting words in their mouths and making them into people they're demonstrably not. It's the same creepy feeling I get from real-person fanfic (which this basically is).
I also don't care for the political elements of these books; that is, when the author's political views seem to be invading the story. And I don't particularly like how the characters had kind of a desperate need to explain the Biblical plagues of Egypt as natural occurrences. Like, if you believe the Bible enough to believe the plagues happened, what's wrong with also believing that God caused them, as the Bible says? Seems like a weird place to draw the skeptic line.
So I'll probably keep going with this series a bit longer. I'd thought, with the zombies in the first one, that there'd be a lot more fantasy/horror elements than it turns out there are in the rest of the series, which is disappointing. But I'll give it a bit more and see how it goes.
Really, I think the main reason I'm still listening is the narrator. I just love Ray Porter as a narrator, and he does a great job with these books.