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Plague: Original Cut
An original edition before extensive cuts were made to the story. 12k+ more words of story.
A NEW VIRUS
An unseen traveler lurked within flight 308 to Paris, France. A traveler that infected everyone aboard, and raced across the world while those in charge of its containment denied the real danger.
AN OLD THREAT
Panic spread, gangs roamed wild, and madmen preached religious salvation. Few survived the carnage, fewer left any record. Moss Valley was one of them.
A NEW VIRUS
An unseen traveler lurked within flight 308 to Paris, France. A traveler that infected everyone aboard, and raced across the world while those in charge of its containment denied the real danger.
AN OLD THREAT
Panic spread, gangs roamed wild, and madmen preached religious salvation. Few survived the carnage, fewer left any record. Moss Valley was one of them.
245 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2006
25 people are currently reading
647 people want to read
About the author
Jeremiah Donaldson
43 books72 followersJeremiah Donaldson is a science fiction/horror writer, editor, game designer, free thinker, corporate slave, and overly blunt asshole that grew up in rural Kentucky and lived in Florida for 13 years before moving back in 2008.
When he's not working...whatever, he always works, let's start that over. When he's not playing his part as a cog in the machine for the specified number of hours per week, or doing housework, or planting fruit trees in preparation for the climatic meltdown we're forcing upon the planet, he strings together words for peoples' enjoyment.
When he's not working...whatever, he always works, let's start that over. When he's not playing his part as a cog in the machine for the specified number of hours per week, or doing housework, or planting fruit trees in preparation for the climatic meltdown we're forcing upon the planet, he strings together words for peoples' enjoyment.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 19, 2013
Crappy dialogue, juvenile jokes, shitty characterization and a bad bad need for an editor. I couldn't even finish this.
April 21, 2018
Pretty Good
The author was not happy with the writing in this book. However it was not a major problem for me. It was mainly the set up for future books. I was fed up with the emphasis on marijuana. It seemed to be the main part of the lead character's life. Looking forward to the continuation of this series of books.
The author was not happy with the writing in this book. However it was not a major problem for me. It was mainly the set up for future books. I was fed up with the emphasis on marijuana. It seemed to be the main part of the lead character's life. Looking forward to the continuation of this series of books.
February 1, 2019
Snore
It starts off interesting of a plague possibly turning the country into a massive graveyard then becomes a boring and tedious so much so I skipped towards the end. Zzzzzzzz....
It starts off interesting of a plague possibly turning the country into a massive graveyard then becomes a boring and tedious so much so I skipped towards the end. Zzzzzzzz....
March 17, 2008
Plague starts out with a simple enough premise: a passenger aboard an international flight is infected with a form of Ebola, and before any governments can respond with quarantines, people are dying at pandemic levels. But while the book initially chronicles the spread of the virus, the majority of the story details the aberrant behavior of the survivors.
Told in a first person hand written account, Plague represents the hand written journal of Moss Valley, a slacker and a pothead who works for The Cash Cow, a check cashing service in Tampa Florida. Moss sees little to be concerned by until several days into his accounts, which at times seems almost like willful ignorance on his part.
But as the disease spreads out, Moss' attention turns to the groups of people gathering together under a charismatic cult leader, who has chosen the area in front of Moss' apartment complex to give sermons from. When the preacher moves to take over his building, only then does Moss begin to realize that the cops aren't coming to save the day.
In some ways Moss' denial is infuriating, but it's also realistic. How many people would over look initial news reports because they assume the system cannot fail to protect people? And so even while the system is in the process of breaking down, some people would still be living in denial. Moss is one of them.
The book is marred by only two things. First, the ending is somewhat cliché for the genre, and second, Moss' informal narrative sometimes isn't grammatically correct. But neither bring down the quality of the story that much, and one of the reasons why the ending is cliché is because it's a good obvious answer to the problem of how to avoid a mob.
Overall the story feels like a realistic, if sometimes overly detailed account of a pandemic plague which moves all too quickly in a world which is not so big now thanks to international flights.
***Oh, but one anecdotal complaint: While news broadcasters are declaring the numbers of dead folks in foreign countries, Italy never appears on the list. Either we got lucky and no one from the initial flight showed up, or the Italian government was able to initiate an effective response to the outbreak. Given that the latter is a complete work of fantasy, I'd have to believe we just lucked out and didn't get any passengers.***
Told in a first person hand written account, Plague represents the hand written journal of Moss Valley, a slacker and a pothead who works for The Cash Cow, a check cashing service in Tampa Florida. Moss sees little to be concerned by until several days into his accounts, which at times seems almost like willful ignorance on his part.
But as the disease spreads out, Moss' attention turns to the groups of people gathering together under a charismatic cult leader, who has chosen the area in front of Moss' apartment complex to give sermons from. When the preacher moves to take over his building, only then does Moss begin to realize that the cops aren't coming to save the day.
In some ways Moss' denial is infuriating, but it's also realistic. How many people would over look initial news reports because they assume the system cannot fail to protect people? And so even while the system is in the process of breaking down, some people would still be living in denial. Moss is one of them.
The book is marred by only two things. First, the ending is somewhat cliché for the genre, and second, Moss' informal narrative sometimes isn't grammatically correct. But neither bring down the quality of the story that much, and one of the reasons why the ending is cliché is because it's a good obvious answer to the problem of how to avoid a mob.
Overall the story feels like a realistic, if sometimes overly detailed account of a pandemic plague which moves all too quickly in a world which is not so big now thanks to international flights.
***Oh, but one anecdotal complaint: While news broadcasters are declaring the numbers of dead folks in foreign countries, Italy never appears on the list. Either we got lucky and no one from the initial flight showed up, or the Italian government was able to initiate an effective response to the outbreak. Given that the latter is a complete work of fantasy, I'd have to believe we just lucked out and didn't get any passengers.***
February 14, 2014
I received an advanced copy of this book for free through Goodreads' First Reads giveaways.
I had very mixed feelings about this book after reading it. On the one hand, I found it a unique perspective on the apocalyptic genre as it describes the response and actions of an "everyday" guy with no expertise or training for such a scenario. The protagonist, Moss Valley, is a pot-smoking, 20-something just trying to survive the unpredictable events of an Ebola pandemic. I feel his personality and actions can truly resonate with the current generation of readers who would probably respond in a similar way. I enjoyed this aspect of the narrative and felt it brought some authenticity to the story.
Unfortunately, there were also numerous issues with this book. As noted in other reviews, this book is in need of an editor. There were numerous instances in which I cringed at the word choices as well as tense agreement. It felt as if the author was attempting to use a more genuine, authentic dialogue for the characters, but the result appeared to be more of poor editing/revision or simply not understanding proper grammar. I truly felt this distracted the reader from the story. I also felt some of the motivations of the characters were never really delved into with any detail and made some of their actions difficult to understand. Basically,several portions of the story seemed to be either forced to fit the narrative's story arc or create a dramatic twist. Sadly these "twists" never really panned out due to poor character development. The ending also seemed to be rushed and quite cliche, which definitely clashed with how the story was developing to that point.
Overall, I believe further editing of the story would provide a more compelling narrative, especially the grammatical mistakes. I would also hope to see more development of some of the characters, though I did feel the main character was well-written. I did enjoy the story and would easily upgrade my rating if some of the above suggestions were pursued by the author.
I had very mixed feelings about this book after reading it. On the one hand, I found it a unique perspective on the apocalyptic genre as it describes the response and actions of an "everyday" guy with no expertise or training for such a scenario. The protagonist, Moss Valley, is a pot-smoking, 20-something just trying to survive the unpredictable events of an Ebola pandemic. I feel his personality and actions can truly resonate with the current generation of readers who would probably respond in a similar way. I enjoyed this aspect of the narrative and felt it brought some authenticity to the story.
Unfortunately, there were also numerous issues with this book. As noted in other reviews, this book is in need of an editor. There were numerous instances in which I cringed at the word choices as well as tense agreement. It felt as if the author was attempting to use a more genuine, authentic dialogue for the characters, but the result appeared to be more of poor editing/revision or simply not understanding proper grammar. I truly felt this distracted the reader from the story. I also felt some of the motivations of the characters were never really delved into with any detail and made some of their actions difficult to understand. Basically,several portions of the story seemed to be either forced to fit the narrative's story arc or create a dramatic twist. Sadly these "twists" never really panned out due to poor character development. The ending also seemed to be rushed and quite cliche, which definitely clashed with how the story was developing to that point.
Overall, I believe further editing of the story would provide a more compelling narrative, especially the grammatical mistakes. I would also hope to see more development of some of the characters, though I did feel the main character was well-written. I did enjoy the story and would easily upgrade my rating if some of the above suggestions were pursued by the author.
December 19, 2013
I received a copy of this book for free through Goodreads' First Reads giveaways.
I was a bit surprised by this book and have to admit I have a love-hate relationship with it right now. The main character Moss is quite a guy. While I feel that deep down he is a good guy, he seems to lack the emotions that I would think someone in his position would have. Yet, that is the writer in me speaking and I can not say that Jeremiah didn’t do a great job with character building. It was clearly apparent that a man wrote this book as Amy, the ex-girlfriend, was blessed with it seems every stereotype that a crazy ex-girlfriend could have. However, this worked very well in the story. It was entertaining and even I wanted to slap her at times.
In the front of the book Jeremiah stated that he expected there to be some errors and what not. I did notice a few, however, the story overpowered them and made them almost non-existent to me. Overall, I enjoyed the story and characters and would recommend it to anyone who likes the apocalyptic genre.
I was a bit surprised by this book and have to admit I have a love-hate relationship with it right now. The main character Moss is quite a guy. While I feel that deep down he is a good guy, he seems to lack the emotions that I would think someone in his position would have. Yet, that is the writer in me speaking and I can not say that Jeremiah didn’t do a great job with character building. It was clearly apparent that a man wrote this book as Amy, the ex-girlfriend, was blessed with it seems every stereotype that a crazy ex-girlfriend could have. However, this worked very well in the story. It was entertaining and even I wanted to slap her at times.
In the front of the book Jeremiah stated that he expected there to be some errors and what not. I did notice a few, however, the story overpowered them and made them almost non-existent to me. Overall, I enjoyed the story and characters and would recommend it to anyone who likes the apocalyptic genre.
March 29, 2014
The intro explains the author's desire to put out his unadulterated version of this work. So, the text is rough in some places. But...it's written in first person, so keep in mind this is like hearing someone talk to you, not an English major's dissertation.
I enjoyed the story, tho' it ended too soon. I wanted more of the story. I was rooting for characters and found myself talking to them, such as "what are you nuts?" That's decent character development.
I kept coming back to this to see what was going to happen next. So, the story hooked me. As I said, I was upset it was over. I wanted more.
Donaldson is a decent story teller. And I've seen in his other works that he has the capabilities to please the grammar police. But I'm glad he put this piece out there as I could hear more of his voice in that rough diamond. It let me get to know his characters better. It felt more real and human.
So, one star taken away just in case anyone thinks the manuscript is perfect. But four stars because I really did enjoy reading it. Is there a part 2, Jerry? :)
I enjoyed the story, tho' it ended too soon. I wanted more of the story. I was rooting for characters and found myself talking to them, such as "what are you nuts?" That's decent character development.
I kept coming back to this to see what was going to happen next. So, the story hooked me. As I said, I was upset it was over. I wanted more.
Donaldson is a decent story teller. And I've seen in his other works that he has the capabilities to please the grammar police. But I'm glad he put this piece out there as I could hear more of his voice in that rough diamond. It let me get to know his characters better. It felt more real and human.
So, one star taken away just in case anyone thinks the manuscript is perfect. But four stars because I really did enjoy reading it. Is there a part 2, Jerry? :)
June 8, 2016
Interesting story, with a pretty realistic portrayal of what a world with an airborne form of a deadly pathogen would devolve into - societal chaos! That would be especially the case within a city.
Some of the characters were well developed, many were not well developed.
The ending was a disappointment - it was like it just QUIT. I don't know what happened to the protagonist, or how the world after the pandemic looked. I don't know if he, or anyone survived, or how.
Hopefully, Plague: Aftermath will provide this book with an ending.
Some of the characters were well developed, many were not well developed.
The ending was a disappointment - it was like it just QUIT. I don't know what happened to the protagonist, or how the world after the pandemic looked. I don't know if he, or anyone survived, or how.
Hopefully, Plague: Aftermath will provide this book with an ending.
December 1, 2014
I wanted to like this book since I like medical thrillers. The premise of this story was interesting, but the quality of the writing was very poor - which I found very distracting. The ending was abrupt and unfulfilling - leaving the story unresolved as if the plan was to write a sequel. If that was the author's plan, too bad the first book was so poor - I won't be reading any sequel.
August 17, 2016
Riveting!
Couldn't stop reading! It is like you are right there experiencing all the terror, uncertainty, and fear that Moss and his friends are feeling. I have to give it to Moss though, I'd be damned if i would have given Amy (ex) a second thought after the crap she pulled... Cannot wait to start the next book.
Couldn't stop reading! It is like you are right there experiencing all the terror, uncertainty, and fear that Moss and his friends are feeling. I have to give it to Moss though, I'd be damned if i would have given Amy (ex) a second thought after the crap she pulled... Cannot wait to start the next book.
December 31, 2016
I very much enjoyed the story from the point of view of a regular guy discovering the development of an outbreak as anyone else would. The beginning drew me in and I liked it right away, but I found once the action started, it drew away from the characters and story. Still recommend this as an easy, interesting read, but wish there were more details and character development in the last half.
May 30, 2015
This author has great potential. Just needs a real editor and proofreader who can actually READ and SPELL. lol. As this was his first novel.. I was a bit surprised that he had not written a sequel. The book ended abruptly. It literally just.. stops.
June 1, 2016
What a page turner. This book was well written, exciting and nerve wracking. It will get you. I loved it! Won courtesy of goodreads.com giveaways
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews