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Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of Fraser Valley Regional Library.
Nov 10, 2011Sevly rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Beautiful. Absorbing. Compelling. Dramatic. A triumph of both medical and political thrillers with black-and-grey morality that forces the heroes to make difficult decisions under difficult circumstances with sometimes questionable results. The novel feels somewhat removed from the typical pandemic scenario, specifically because the outbreak is so quickly and so efficiently contained, and instead focuses on the politics behind the struggle to obtain a cure when the cost is the lives of 700 people and, sadly more importantly in the eyes of the antagonist, the leadership of the free world *ahem* the United States. In this novel, power may lead you to deceive, but it is the desire for power that is truly corrupting. My one criticism: the identities and motivations of the terrorist group behind it all, Genesis, are simply explained to us at the end by the omnipresent narrator. This takes all the fun out of having one of the protagonists figure it out piece by piece. And given that one of the main characters is a news reporter, it could have been a nice piece of journalistic investigation to complement the main plotline. As it stands, the reader has few clues to figure out the solution to this part of the puzzle themselves, and the solution. Also, the goal presented as the motivation for the terrorist attacks seems somewhat weak--while one should never underestimate human greed, I suppose, the setup just isn't there to make it believable to the reader. The resolution of other elements in the plot, however, is mostly satisfying. I have another complaint about Ursalla Ellis, but to speak on that would be to ruin a major plot twist. And so, I will conclude by noting that the book succeeds much more often than it fails, and is accordingly all the things I said at the beginning: beautiful, absorbing, compelling, dramatic, and well worth the effort.