snorin_sonoran's review
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
beckylej's review
4.0
Last month the folks over at Pocket Star, Simon & Schuster's eBook imprint, released Lisa C. Hinsley's novella PLAGUE. The description called it a thriller in the vein of Contagion... so of course I had to read it!
Maybe not the best book choice while still suffering from an epic cold turned sinus infection but I finally dug it out of the digital TBR pile last night and dove in. And it's a whammy of a read! Brutal both in terms of gory description and heartwrenching emotion, PLAGUE is a terrifying premise.
London has been hit by a deadly new strain of bubonic plague. Antiobiotic resistant, the outbreak has proved to be 100% fatal. At first, authorities are able to keep the outbreak fairly low key by claiming that it's been limited to the southern areas. Certain that it hasn't reached their neighborhood, Liz and Johnny at first believe that their young son, Nathan, is suffering from a cold. When his neck begins to swell, however, Liz can no longer hide from the truth: her son has the plague. Now the family has been forcibly quarantined in their home as they count down their son's final days and wait to catch it themselves.
This is a short read that takes place of the span of just a few days. It really is a scary story especially considering I do live in an area that's still affected by what most consider to be a medieval contagion. And it's true that there are still fatalities due to plague even today, minimal as they may be.
Hinsley very quickly sets the tone and pacing of the book, moving right into the action so to speak. And since the infection progresses so quickly, the pacing is pretty breakneck. But the main focus of the story is the impact this has on the family. Liz and Johnny and Nathan have so little time left together once the infection begins and Hinsley quite impressively portrays the emotions at play. I think it makes Plague an incredibly intense read that definitely makes Hinsley one to watch.
Hinsley's next book, THE ULTIMATE CHOICE, is due out from Pocket Star in February. In the meantime, I have to recommend PLAGUE to anyone in search of a great (nightmarish) night's read!
Maybe not the best book choice while still suffering from an epic cold turned sinus infection but I finally dug it out of the digital TBR pile last night and dove in. And it's a whammy of a read! Brutal both in terms of gory description and heartwrenching emotion, PLAGUE is a terrifying premise.
London has been hit by a deadly new strain of bubonic plague. Antiobiotic resistant, the outbreak has proved to be 100% fatal. At first, authorities are able to keep the outbreak fairly low key by claiming that it's been limited to the southern areas. Certain that it hasn't reached their neighborhood, Liz and Johnny at first believe that their young son, Nathan, is suffering from a cold. When his neck begins to swell, however, Liz can no longer hide from the truth: her son has the plague. Now the family has been forcibly quarantined in their home as they count down their son's final days and wait to catch it themselves.
This is a short read that takes place of the span of just a few days. It really is a scary story especially considering I do live in an area that's still affected by what most consider to be a medieval contagion. And it's true that there are still fatalities due to plague even today, minimal as they may be.
Hinsley very quickly sets the tone and pacing of the book, moving right into the action so to speak. And since the infection progresses so quickly, the pacing is pretty breakneck. But the main focus of the story is the impact this has on the family. Liz and Johnny and Nathan have so little time left together once the infection begins and Hinsley quite impressively portrays the emotions at play. I think it makes Plague an incredibly intense read that definitely makes Hinsley one to watch.
Hinsley's next book, THE ULTIMATE CHOICE, is due out from Pocket Star in February. In the meantime, I have to recommend PLAGUE to anyone in search of a great (nightmarish) night's read!
abookishtype's review
4.0
Lisa Hinsley’s Plague is a powerfully affecting novella. Aside from the very end, every scene takes place within the boarded up confines of a suburban English home. Inside, Liz cares for first her son, then her husband, as they succumb to an extremely virulent form of the resurrected bubonic plague. Hinsley writes in her afterword that she was inspired to write this book when her husband wondered what ever happened to the plague. The bubonic plague was responsible for millions of deaths in several pandemics yet, in the last hundred plus years, it’s a rarely contracted disease. What if it came back? What if it came back with the same force that killed two-thirds of the population again? What if it came back with even more killing power?
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley for review consideration.
whatsheread's review
Plague is a great imagining of the disintegration of society in the wake of a pandemic. Johnny and Liz’s reactions to their son’s illness and to the shrinking world around them are uncomfortable in their accuracy and realism. The power of the story however lies not within their roiling emotions but to the feeling of impotence. Theirs is a situation about which they can do nothing, about which the government can do little, and for which there is almost no hope. As frustrated as Liz and Johnny may become, a reader feels that much worse because s/he recognizes the futility of that frustration. It is not a tyrannical government that boards up their house so much as a desperate government with few options of preventing the spread of the pandemic and even fewer resources. Their actions are the very definition of sacrificing a few for the greater good, regardless of how futile their efforts prove to be in the end.
What makes Plague so scary is not the government’s actions but rather the psychological impact of being cut off from society while facing death. Liz’s feelings are extremely distressing to watch unravel and descend into the depths of despair. Mothers everywhere will ache with Liz’s sense of hopelessness at not being able to help ease the pain holding her loved ones hostage and will envision their own reactions to a similar scenario with shudders and furtive prayers of gratitude that it is just a work of fiction. The idea of having to face everything alone, without the ability to call friends or family for comfort or take a walk to get a bit of a break, is true horror. Liz experiences every mother’s nightmare tenfold given the circumstances in which she finds herself.
As gruesome as Plague is in its depiction of a long-ago disease made modern and the extreme measures people will take to protect their loved ones and as bleak a picture as Ms. Hinsley creates about society’s relatively easy and very quick collapse in the face of a major catastrophe, Plague does end with a sliver of hope. No matter how terrible things may get, humankind will always find some way to survive, and the story of Plague is no different. Humans survive; it is what they do best. It then becomes a matter of not letting the terrible events completely bury one with grief but rather overcoming those terrible events through determination and a refusal to quit hoping.
What makes Plague so scary is not the government’s actions but rather the psychological impact of being cut off from society while facing death. Liz’s feelings are extremely distressing to watch unravel and descend into the depths of despair. Mothers everywhere will ache with Liz’s sense of hopelessness at not being able to help ease the pain holding her loved ones hostage and will envision their own reactions to a similar scenario with shudders and furtive prayers of gratitude that it is just a work of fiction. The idea of having to face everything alone, without the ability to call friends or family for comfort or take a walk to get a bit of a break, is true horror. Liz experiences every mother’s nightmare tenfold given the circumstances in which she finds herself.
As gruesome as Plague is in its depiction of a long-ago disease made modern and the extreme measures people will take to protect their loved ones and as bleak a picture as Ms. Hinsley creates about society’s relatively easy and very quick collapse in the face of a major catastrophe, Plague does end with a sliver of hope. No matter how terrible things may get, humankind will always find some way to survive, and the story of Plague is no different. Humans survive; it is what they do best. It then becomes a matter of not letting the terrible events completely bury one with grief but rather overcoming those terrible events through determination and a refusal to quit hoping.
keyreads's review
5.0
This was so creepy! OMG I'm still itching all over.
This author did a fantastic job with description of all the symptoms of this disease. My heart ached for the families and I felt like I was part of this story. I could not put this book down no matter how hard I tried.
This author did a fantastic job with description of all the symptoms of this disease. My heart ached for the families and I felt like I was part of this story. I could not put this book down no matter how hard I tried.
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