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hirvimaki's review against another edition
3.0
I started reading the Joe Ledger books because of zombies. This book doesn't have any zombies. And that is just fine. Plenty of action and suspense and good old no-one-is-better-than-Joe Joe. My only complaint is that the end felt rushed.
heathercottledillon's review against another edition
4.0
In "Patient Zero," Joe Ledger and the Department of Military Sciences (DMS) saved the world from a plot to unleash a zombie virus upon the United States. Now Ledger and his colleagues are back, and this time they're up against two competing groups of genetic scientists. The first group is mixing genetic material to make dangerous mercenary armies. The second has an even more evil purpose: to use modern technology to fulfill the Nazi mission of wiping all non-white groups from the face of the earth. The clock is ticking, and the stakes have never been higher.
Maberry delivers another exciting thriller with this one. It took me a little longer to get into it than "Patient Zero," but I'm not sure if that's because of the story itself or because I've been particularly ADHD lately (Oh, is that something shiny over there?!? No? Okay, where was I?). Nevertheless, once I got about a third of the way through I couldn't put it down. Joe Ledger is a really interesting character. There's almost a Wild-West feel to his personal moral code. He has strong convictions and he'll fight to the death for them. This particular story is not only thrilling but also quite thought-provoking. The Nazi psycho-scientists demonstrate how dangerous a few extremists can be when they come into some power and money, and they show how racism and prejudice are hazardous for everyone. It's like the Martin Luther King Jr quote "None of us is free until all of us are free" but in reverse: None of us are safe when there are crazies who want to eliminate certain groups of people. Not to mention the fact that these plans are just plain evil. This story also got me thinking about the idea that history repeats itself. The value of understanding what's happened in the past is that it helps us learn from our ancestors' mistakes and prevent atrocities from happening again, if possible. It's not fun to think about, but it's good to be aware of the bad things that people have done to each other in order to stop them from reoccurring. And if you can be entertained at the same time, as with this novel, then all the better.
Maberry delivers another exciting thriller with this one. It took me a little longer to get into it than "Patient Zero," but I'm not sure if that's because of the story itself or because I've been particularly ADHD lately (Oh, is that something shiny over there?!? No? Okay, where was I?). Nevertheless, once I got about a third of the way through I couldn't put it down. Joe Ledger is a really interesting character. There's almost a Wild-West feel to his personal moral code. He has strong convictions and he'll fight to the death for them. This particular story is not only thrilling but also quite thought-provoking. The Nazi psycho-scientists demonstrate how dangerous a few extremists can be when they come into some power and money, and they show how racism and prejudice are hazardous for everyone. It's like the Martin Luther King Jr quote "None of us is free until all of us are free" but in reverse: None of us are safe when there are crazies who want to eliminate certain groups of people. Not to mention the fact that these plans are just plain evil. This story also got me thinking about the idea that history repeats itself. The value of understanding what's happened in the past is that it helps us learn from our ancestors' mistakes and prevent atrocities from happening again, if possible. It's not fun to think about, but it's good to be aware of the bad things that people have done to each other in order to stop them from reoccurring. And if you can be entertained at the same time, as with this novel, then all the better.
stepriot's review against another edition
3.0
You ever read something and not have any idea why? That's me with this one. I don't know how many times I said, "oh he's (Maberry) not going do that!" just to have him turn around and do it. I really enjoy the amount of insanity, "just go with it" events, but I cringe almost more than I laugh. I'll give it one more book and see if it evens out. I really do love monsters so I hope it does.
badseedgirl's review against another edition
4.0
Full of action, this book takes the ideas of [b:The Boys from Brazil|99894|The Boys from Brazil|Ira Levin|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328882615s/99894.jpg|815712] and turns it up to a thousand. I do have one complaint, I really hate the books written with 300 two page chapters. I blame James Patterson.
hectaizani's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoying this series very much. Biomedical thrillers, last time there was almost a zombie outbreak, this time Nazi's are intending to make the world safe for the master race. Each time Joe Ledger and his team stop the bad guys just in the nick of time. The third one in the series is on the way from Amazon because surprisingly the library didn't have a copy. I say surprisingly because they have the other novels in the series. Must have been lost or stolen and not replaced.
birdloveranne's review against another edition
5.0
Maberry is an amazing author. And the guy that narrated the audio book did a fantastic job!
f3lik5's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
col_sev's review against another edition
4.0
Good story - took a little while to get going, but once it did, it was very fast paced and inventive. Such a good series from one of my favorite authors.
hotsake's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
I've got to be honest I was very disappointed with this book, I enjoyed the first book quite a bit but this was surprisingly bad.
The writing isn't that good and the dialogue felt like it was written by a 13-year-old. Take the basic outline of the old Destroyer series, add in the writing style of the Dresden book, and add the 'Stony Man' or 'A-Team' style invisible team and you get this.
Now don't get me wrong, I actually enjoy all of the series I mentioned but they were each better at doing their own thing. The Dresden books were usually well-written with better-than-average dialogue, The Destroyer series had ridiculous plots and snarky characters but each book was streamlined and usually clocked in at less than 250 pages, and Stony Man knew what it was and didn't spend dozens of pages moralizing and preaching to the reader, it was too busy trying to entertain.
This brings me to the three biggest problems I had with this book. There was way to much bad Soap Opera level dialogue, especially the romantic/heartfelt passages. There was also way too much preaching, pages and pages of hamfisted, repeated passages about how EVIL the villains were and how Righteous (self-righteous) the good guys were.
But both of those were just minor issues to what really bugged me and that was that the book was way, way, too long. The story would been better as a lean, tension-filled 300 pages instead of the extremely bloated 672-page tome I had to wade through.
I will read the next adventure and hope that the series regains its footing and reigns in its excesses a bit.
The writing isn't that good and the dialogue felt like it was written by a 13-year-old. Take the basic outline of the old Destroyer series, add in the writing style of the Dresden book, and add the 'Stony Man' or 'A-Team' style invisible team and you get this.
Now don't get me wrong, I actually enjoy all of the series I mentioned but they were each better at doing their own thing. The Dresden books were usually well-written with better-than-average dialogue, The Destroyer series had ridiculous plots and snarky characters but each book was streamlined and usually clocked in at less than 250 pages, and Stony Man knew what it was and didn't spend dozens of pages moralizing and preaching to the reader, it was too busy trying to entertain.
This brings me to the three biggest problems I had with this book. There was way to much bad Soap Opera level dialogue, especially the romantic/heartfelt passages. There was also way too much preaching, pages and pages of hamfisted, repeated passages about how EVIL the villains were and how Righteous (self-righteous) the good guys were.
But both of those were just minor issues to what really bugged me and that was that the book was way, way, too long. The story would been better as a lean, tension-filled 300 pages instead of the extremely bloated 672-page tome I had to wade through.
I will read the next adventure and hope that the series regains its footing and reigns in its excesses a bit.
carriethis's review against another edition
1.0
This is the best WORST book ever. Never has over-the-top been so under-the-whelming. Tell me please how all of this can be boring: genetically engineered diabolical sexpot albino twins; secret scientific research base in the Sonoran desert; Unicorns; expert military team of heroic badasses ready to kick ass against eeeevil Nazi clones and an immortal Josef Mengele - and that's really all of the convoluted crazyballs I can remember because This Book Was Ridiculous [Unicorns] and in desperate need of a weedwhacker - I mean, editor. Don't even get me started on Joe Ledger, The Ultimate Friggin' Epitome of Awesome Manly Fighting Power Who Cannot Be Defeated Ever.
Plus - I listened to the audiobook, which takes the redonk up to a whole new level. "Ray Porter" narrates, but he sure sounds like some kind of collaborative pseudonym for Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks and Keanu Reeves to indulge in talentless hack work. "Ray Porter" has to do about a half-dozen accents here, and fails at almost all of them except American Joe. Where exactly in Britain is Grace Cortland from - can't tell from her Ray Porter accent. Oh who cares,
Also - Drinking Game (desperately needed because this book is three times as long as it should be):
Every time Dr. Rudy Sanchez says "Dios Mio" - drink.
Every time Joe Ledger mentions that the horror/violence/gore was "indescribable" and then proceeds to describe it: drink.
Every time "Ray Porter" tries to perform Otto or Cyrus' accents, and flubs: drink.
NO MORE MABERRY BOOKS FOR ME. NO MORE.
Plus - I listened to the audiobook, which takes the redonk up to a whole new level. "Ray Porter" narrates, but he sure sounds like some kind of collaborative pseudonym for Alec Baldwin, Tom Hanks and Keanu Reeves to indulge in talentless hack work. "Ray Porter" has to do about a half-dozen accents here, and fails at almost all of them except American Joe. Where exactly in Britain is Grace Cortland from - can't tell from her Ray Porter accent. Oh who cares,
Spoiler
she gets fridged in the last act anyway - POINTLESSLY - other than to allow Joe Ledger some manly grief and potential next-book revenge.Also - Drinking Game (desperately needed because this book is three times as long as it should be):
Every time Dr. Rudy Sanchez says "Dios Mio" - drink.
Every time Joe Ledger mentions that the horror/violence/gore was "indescribable" and then proceeds to describe it: drink.
Every time "Ray Porter" tries to perform Otto or Cyrus' accents, and flubs: drink.
NO MORE MABERRY BOOKS FOR ME. NO MORE.