CONTAGION
by Jason Gehlert

published by Stone Garden

ISBN-10: 1600760902

ISBN-13: 978-1600760907

 

reviewed by Mistophiles

08.08.2008

 

 
Sub-Tropical Remote Locations.  Malevolent Viruses and Bacterium.  A
United States Task Force. Terrorism.  Torture.  Benevolent Doctors.  Love Affairs.  Burning Buildings.  Confused Locals.  Rushed Escapes. Guns.  Knives.  IV Poles and Helicopters.  This one's got it all.
 
Initially, this book began as a hang-at-the-edge-of-your-seat internet serial.  The story caught on, fans wanted more, and Contagion was born.
 
Characters and plot both are reminiscent of action packed, over-the-top Soap Operas, so (besides the occasional eye roll) I found myself reading, and reading, and reading some more.  And that's really the point isn't it?  Capture the reader’s attention and KEEP them reading.
 
It's dark, it's different, it's pleasantly sinister.  It's a Withersin 2.5 ravens out of 5
.

 

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reviewed by Adam Armstrong

09.14.2008

 

In the heart of Africa people are turning into monsters and adverbs roam free.

The world renowned doctor Quentin Forsythe has gone on a relief mission in Africa. When he gets there he finds a deadly new virus is spreading at an alarming rate. He tries to stop it before time runs out.

This book has a lot of things wrong with it. Almost every noun is preceded by an adjective. There are way too many adverbs. No one in the book ever just says anything; he said and she said are perfect dialog tags, every one in this book was prompting, barking, snarling, or some other silly thing. And they can’t just prompt, or return, or address, or ejaculate there has to be some kind of goofy action crammed into every line of dialog. Words are being used wrong often enough to make me wonder about heavy thesaurus usage. There is no subtlety, every character announces what they are feeling or thinking to the room whether anyone’s around to hear it or not. This isn’t even touching on the plot, the characters, or the research.

There are some uses for books such as this. Experienced writers can get a giggle or two out of it and writer’s new to the field could learn quite a few things. Writing groups and writing classes should pick up a few copies to dissect.

1 out of 5