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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.
booksfromboxes's review
3.0
I would like to give this 4 stars, but the cheese-to-action ratio is just a wee bit too high this time. The name-dropping and the (surprisingly)heavy-handed preaching had me rolling my eyes way too often.
That said, I did enjoy the book. It has everything I look forward to and expect when starting a Maberry book, especially the brilliantly written bad guys.
I recommend the audiobook version, btw. Ray Porter does a pretty fantastic job as a narrator.
That said, I did enjoy the book. It has everything I look forward to and expect when starting a Maberry book, especially the brilliantly written bad guys.
I recommend the audiobook version, btw. Ray Porter does a pretty fantastic job as a narrator.
bookgoonie's review
4.0
I sit here in awe of Maberry's mind & slightly scared. Porter deserves an Academy Award for his ability to give all the characters their due.
aoutrance's review
3.0
I have to say, I really love how the author handles women being in the military and especially in Special Forces. Given the demographic of these types of novels, they're not in the forefront of the story (Major Courtland being the exception), but they are treated with the very same respect that the men are. When 'Circe shoots someone for the first time, Joe does not treat her shock as if she were a delicate flower of a woman - he treats her as if she were a human who just took the life of another. When DeeDee gets slashed by a hostile, it's not because she's a weak woman - it's because the hostile is just that good. He nearly gets the upper hand on the main character, that's how fast he is. We all know that secondary characters rarely have the luck and talents that protagonists do. That's not a sex/gender thing, it's just the way of the literary world. I like that.
leahrosereads's review
5.0
Joe Ledger and the DMS are at it again. Saving the world against freaking monsters. Although, this wasn't my favorite book of the series, I still loved it. Biblical plagues and a Goddess using Twitter to spread the fear and the hate. Awesome plot.
But poor Joe. Always being thrust into situations that could get him killed. He's got so many cat lives, it's insane.
The King of Plagues brought one of my favorite bad guys back in this story (Toys), as well as introducing one of my favorite creepy characters in ANY novel: Nicodemus. I love that toady dude. So creepy. So excellent.
I also really enjoy how Jonathan Maberry allows the readers to see inside the bad guys' heads. It makes for a lot of yelling at the books, because I knew what was happening prior to Joe knowing. And, I just wanted to help him out.
But poor Joe. Always being thrust into situations that could get him killed. He's got so many cat lives, it's insane.
The King of Plagues brought one of my favorite bad guys back in this story (Toys), as well as introducing one of my favorite creepy characters in ANY novel: Nicodemus. I love that toady dude. So creepy. So excellent.
I also really enjoy how Jonathan Maberry allows the readers to see inside the bad guys' heads. It makes for a lot of yelling at the books, because I knew what was happening prior to Joe knowing. And, I just wanted to help him out.
imzadirose's review
3.0
My least favorite so far. Didn't care for all the religious crap throughout it and just the story was slow and boring at times. The end was really good though. Still enjoyable, just not AS enjoyable. Will read more.