Plague Year

I picked up a copy of "Plague Year" as I was in Barnes and Noble in a rush to the hospital- my fiancee was hospitalized at 27 weeks pregnant because she was leaking amniotic fluid, and we were told she would be there for as long as it took for the baby to come. Yikes! So I grabbed a handful of books for her and I to keep ourselves occupied. I saw "Plague Year" as I scanned the shelf and the premise was deeply intriguing; I snapped it up. Settling into the hospital room, I promised myself I would ration by reading so that it would last me as long as possible. On a whim, I read your book first. I think it was about an hour and a half later when the space shuttle was landing in Leadville I decided "Pfft. Screw that." I have a voracious appetite for reading, and I could not put your book down until I was done. Well written and executed, a very compelling story! I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel. I find myself occasionally day dreaming about the premise of the plot and what I could have done differently put in the shoes of various characters, trying to "wargame" my way through the scenarios and plot points you created. Just like what review "emzbox" said; this book gets into your head, man! Enough so I emailed Mr. Carlson to ask him about a few of the details (and he was nice enough to take time out of his busy schedule to discuss them with me). All in all, a great story. Buy it!

Well, as first novels go, this is very good. In fact, Jeff Carlson writes like a veteran who has published many novels already. It all starts off with a few survivors living a subsistence lifestyle in the upper elevations of mountain ranges in Colorado and California. A nano-plague has reduced the population of the planet to a small fraction of what it was previously. Carlson writes in a style which includes much in the way of human interest, and he is great at character development, with a captivating plot. In addition, the science depicted here seems rather sound also. The novel portrays in great detail the struggles of these survivors and how they attempt to beat the odds, with the possible help from astronauts on the ISS. It is gruesome at times. This is a great read of near term hard science fiction, I highly recommend it.

The premise of this story revolves around a post-plaque group of "nano" survivors who struggle with finding a cure for the plague that is literally eating them as they breathe the air around them. "Plague Year" follows the lives of the scientists who have created the "nano" program to fight disease and cure ailments that plague society today, the search for the cure. Unfortunately, the virus escapes due to a rogue scientist and kills millions of innocent literally one bite at a time. By chance those who survive discover that the "nano" plague can not survive at a high altitude. The author, Jeff Carlson, writes descriptively the daily trials and tribulations of those survivors who try to find the daily essentials needed to survive. The characters are gritty and dedicated to their vigilante justice of finding a solution to stopping the plague that continues to kill the men, women, and children in a slow-grotesque painful death. The story itself follows the classic struggle of good versus evil and the struggle of civilization to overcome. This book has a future and will become a classic that I will keep on my shelf and I am sure that I will read once again.

A grim and gritty near future in which a nanite that eats flesh has escaped from a research lab and decimated the world. The very small silver lining on this very dark cloud is that it can't function and breaks down above a certain elevation, so tiny pockets of humanity exist on mountain tops, slowly running out of resources and going through the expected horrors of surviving in isolated communities where hunger and desperation has had a devastating effect on civilized behavior. These few survivors can make quick runs down into this "invisible sea" however, scavenging as quickly as they can before they feel the burning sensation that indicates the nano-plague has found them and started feasting. At which point they have to hightail it back uphill before they loose too many pieces. After a few of these runs, you really start to show it. The novel is gruesome, dramatic, exhilarating, and, would make a great film. Highly recommended.