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Plague
A new strain of bubonic plague is diagnosed in London. Before it can be contained it spreads through the population, faster and more deadly than anyone could have imagined. Three weeks is all it takes to decimate the country.Johnny tells Liz not to phone the NHS when their young son starts to show symptoms. But she ignores him and a few hours later the army arrives and boards them into their house.Now Nathan is dying and there is nothing they can do to help him. Hours pass like weeks as their little boy grows weaker and weaker. All Liz wants is that they die with some dignity but the authorities refuse to help. Then the broadband dies and the phones stop working. Cut off from the world and boarded into their house, the family try their best to cope. But there is nothing they can do to stop the plague.
157 pages, Paperback
First published December 22, 2011
16 people are currently reading
893 people want to read
About the author
Lisa C. Hinsley
10 books35 followersLisa C Hinsley’s career has been varied, working as an architectural technician, a pet sitter, a pharmacy supervisor and most recently a carer/companion for elderly ladies, all the while writing when she can. Born in Portsmouth in 1971, Lisa grew up in England, Scotland, and America. She now lives on the Wirral, in northwest England, with her husband, three children, and four cats. Her hope is not to be thought of as the American cat lady, but some things are just inevitable.
Lisa’s best-selling novel The Ultimate Choice won an excellent Publishers Weekly review in the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Her novel What Alice Sees was a runner-up in the 2010 UKA Opening Pages Competition and placed in the May 2011 Best Sellers Charts on Arts Council website YouWriteOn. An earlier novel Coombe’s Wood finished in the semi-finals of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award 2009 and was awarded runner up in the all-genre Book of the Year Awards 2008 on YouWriteOn. Now listed on Amazon Kindle, Coombe’s Wood became an Amazon best-seller in 2011. Lisa’s novel The Crocodile was short-listed in the Undiscovered Authors 2006 competition. Several of Lisa’s short stories and poems have appeared in print publications.
Lisa’s best-selling novel The Ultimate Choice won an excellent Publishers Weekly review in the 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Her novel What Alice Sees was a runner-up in the 2010 UKA Opening Pages Competition and placed in the May 2011 Best Sellers Charts on Arts Council website YouWriteOn. An earlier novel Coombe’s Wood finished in the semi-finals of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award 2009 and was awarded runner up in the all-genre Book of the Year Awards 2008 on YouWriteOn. Now listed on Amazon Kindle, Coombe’s Wood became an Amazon best-seller in 2011. Lisa’s novel The Crocodile was short-listed in the Undiscovered Authors 2006 competition. Several of Lisa’s short stories and poems have appeared in print publications.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
November 12, 2013
I guess I should have expected it, but Plague was a lot more… grossly detailed and harder to read than I expected - and not in a good way. I knew I was in for a heartbreaking read, but this is really nothing but a short story of a family's harsh misfortunes during a plague epidemic. Which, I admit, sounds like it could be a good read, except it was simply too… graphic. Too quick of a disturbing tale and not enough depth to balance it. It's an explicit story of a dying family. Period. We don't ever get out of this boarded up house to see how the world is fairing other than just the knowledge that everyone is dying. The few technical details we do get are fuzzy at best. If the whole world is in the same situation, I doubt a doctor would have time for house visits, let alone bother wrapping up "most" of a house in plastic. Is that supposed to keep the plague from spreading? Should we tell the bacteria that that one open window is off limits?
But really, if you seriously want to see a family die from the plague - and I mean play by plays of diarrhea, vomiting, and maggots eating their baby's face (not effing kidding!), just use Google images, yeah? Yes it will be as gross as this book. Also, you may need professional help. I know I surely want some to get these images out of my head. It's been a week since I finished reading this book and I still get grossed out by some of the mental images that will surely never leave my mind. If you're a parent - though even if you're not - you do not want to read story about a child suffering like this. A child that would rather die than keep being in such agonizing pain. I'm sorry but I just can't deal with that. I wanted to DNF it very badly in several instances but I was also curious at how the author had decided to end this one. I was disappointed by that, too, not surprisingly. For one I had completely seen it coming fairly early on. And secondly it was a tad forced to give us that "ray of hope" or whatever.
As far as everything else. The characters are not exactly realistic nor likeable. The mother spends more time arguing with herself or having sex in the shower instead of being with her dying son - sleeping or not. As a mother I cannot fathom being able to function or think about anything else if I was in that situation. The father was just irritating, plain and simple. The writing was not my favorite, either. I felt it was choppy at times and lacked the emotional depth that this story deserved. So instead of being emotional, I was simply nauseous by the sheer horrifying nature of it all.
...
This book may have traumatized me.
Excuse me while I go hurl.
--
An advance copy was provided by the publisher for review.
For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads
But really, if you seriously want to see a family die from the plague - and I mean play by plays of diarrhea, vomiting, and maggots eating their baby's face (not effing kidding!), just use Google images, yeah? Yes it will be as gross as this book. Also, you may need professional help. I know I surely want some to get these images out of my head. It's been a week since I finished reading this book and I still get grossed out by some of the mental images that will surely never leave my mind. If you're a parent - though even if you're not - you do not want to read story about a child suffering like this. A child that would rather die than keep being in such agonizing pain. I'm sorry but I just can't deal with that. I wanted to DNF it very badly in several instances but I was also curious at how the author had decided to end this one. I was disappointed by that, too, not surprisingly. For one I had completely seen it coming fairly early on. And secondly it was a tad forced to give us that "ray of hope" or whatever.
As far as everything else. The characters are not exactly realistic nor likeable. The mother spends more time arguing with herself or having sex in the shower instead of being with her dying son - sleeping or not. As a mother I cannot fathom being able to function or think about anything else if I was in that situation. The father was just irritating, plain and simple. The writing was not my favorite, either. I felt it was choppy at times and lacked the emotional depth that this story deserved. So instead of being emotional, I was simply nauseous by the sheer horrifying nature of it all.
...
This book may have traumatized me.
Excuse me while I go hurl.
--
An advance copy was provided by the publisher for review.
For more of my reviews, visit my blog at Xpresso Reads
February 5, 2013
This book is not for the light hearted and it is probably one of the most harrowing reads I've undertaken in a while. The author gives a brutal insight to one family whose four year old son is contaminated with the bubonic plague. Once the child has been diagnosed, the military seal the family in their house, what unfolds is a story of a family who must accept the fate bestowed up on them. There are moments where the descriptions are incredibly graphic, so if you don't have a strong stomach I would avoid reading this book.
A couple of moments in the book brought tears to my eyes and despite the subject matter there's an underlying theme of hope. Once I started I couldn't put it down and managed to read it in less than day, it's well written, has plenty of shock factor and will leave you asking 'what if?' The only reason I couldn't give it a full five stars was because I felt that the ending was a little cheesy (this just didn't work after all the moments of desperation in the book) and I felt the ending was rushed a little bit.
HOWEVER it is great book, very harrowing and worth checking out if you're after a book that you want to read in a day.
A couple of moments in the book brought tears to my eyes and despite the subject matter there's an underlying theme of hope. Once I started I couldn't put it down and managed to read it in less than day, it's well written, has plenty of shock factor and will leave you asking 'what if?' The only reason I couldn't give it a full five stars was because I felt that the ending was a little cheesy (this just didn't work after all the moments of desperation in the book) and I felt the ending was rushed a little bit.
HOWEVER it is great book, very harrowing and worth checking out if you're after a book that you want to read in a day.
December 1, 2013
Plague by Lisa Hinsley is a novella with a huge impact. Johnny and Liz know their son Nathan is sick, they also realize that it is a new strain of the bubonic plague. Authorities are telling people that the outbreak isn't spreading but clearly, as seen in their neighborhood, the authorities are lying. Liz, Johnny and Nathan find themselves trapped in their home which has been literally boarded up tight to keep them inside. A government watcher is supposed to help them should they need anything - and also shoot them if they try to escape their home/prison. Soon it becomes clear that everything is much worse than anyone has said.
Hinsley accurately describes the symptoms of the plague and how it would affect the infected person. For those who know, the symptoms aren't pretty and Hinsley is graphic in her descriptions. The chapters are presented as days so you can get a feel for how quickly the plague ravages the victim. Hinsley describes this as a horror novel, and rightly so. The real effects of the Bubonic Plague on a person would be horrendous and the descriptions make that quite clear.
Since this is a novella it is just a slice of an ordinary family's battle with the plague. It is one family's struggle to survive a horrific event. There is no huge backstory on how or why it started or who set a new strain of the plague loose. Currently people can't spread Bubonic plague but they can pneumonic plague. What makes Hinsley's story even more frightening is that this time the plague can spread from person to person.
Those who follow this sort of thing (um, me) know that the plague (Yersinia pestis) exists right now, among us, in various populations of animals (prairie dogs, black footed ferrets, chipmunks, squirrels, marmots, rodents, coyotes) and yes, it can jump to human hosts through a flea bite. The Bubonic plague does show up from time to time today. This knowledge makes Plague even more frightening.
Very Highly Recommended - Certainly worth the price of $1.99!
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of of the publisher for review purposes.
Hinsley accurately describes the symptoms of the plague and how it would affect the infected person. For those who know, the symptoms aren't pretty and Hinsley is graphic in her descriptions. The chapters are presented as days so you can get a feel for how quickly the plague ravages the victim. Hinsley describes this as a horror novel, and rightly so. The real effects of the Bubonic Plague on a person would be horrendous and the descriptions make that quite clear.
Since this is a novella it is just a slice of an ordinary family's battle with the plague. It is one family's struggle to survive a horrific event. There is no huge backstory on how or why it started or who set a new strain of the plague loose. Currently people can't spread Bubonic plague but they can pneumonic plague. What makes Hinsley's story even more frightening is that this time the plague can spread from person to person.
Those who follow this sort of thing (um, me) know that the plague (Yersinia pestis) exists right now, among us, in various populations of animals (prairie dogs, black footed ferrets, chipmunks, squirrels, marmots, rodents, coyotes) and yes, it can jump to human hosts through a flea bite. The Bubonic plague does show up from time to time today. This knowledge makes Plague even more frightening.
Very Highly Recommended - Certainly worth the price of $1.99!
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of of the publisher for review purposes.
November 24, 2013
I read up to 60% in this book and just had to stop, life is too short to read bad books. I picked this book because ordinarily I do like books about diseases and catastrophes and how people deal with them. This book is just badly written. At the very beginning, things were moving along as if it were the middle of the book, not the start. There was no building up, no anticipation, no time to develop any sympathy for the characters, no time to get a feel for their situation or how it came to happen. One man, one woman, and their 4 year old son who is infected with a new strain of the bubonic plague. This 4 year old boy, severely sick, but I found it hard to feel any compassion or emotions for them. When they made a decision as to how they would deal with it, I just had to throw my hands in the air and give up.
This story has no substance, no meat to it.
I received this as an ARC from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
This story has no substance, no meat to it.
I received this as an ARC from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
July 8, 2013
Lisa Hinsley has written a gruesome account of what might happen if an incurable and untreatable plague were to rear its ugly head in modern times. A young couple find their four-year-old son has contracted the plague, and the story follows their experiences as they deal with the aftermath. The government seals victims into their homes in an attempt to keep the deadly disease from spreading further. The innocent child suffers as the parents watch the progression of the infection in helpless horror, knowing they cannot save the boy, and also knowing they are next.
The whole drama plays out within the confines of the family home, and Ms Hinsley has expertly used that to help create the feeling of being buried alive. The unimaginable circumstances force the adults to gather their courage and do what must be done, even when there is no hope.
A fascinating story, portraying the everyday heroics of normal people who face dreadful situations. Fabulous job, Ms Hinsley.
The whole drama plays out within the confines of the family home, and Ms Hinsley has expertly used that to help create the feeling of being buried alive. The unimaginable circumstances force the adults to gather their courage and do what must be done, even when there is no hope.
A fascinating story, portraying the everyday heroics of normal people who face dreadful situations. Fabulous job, Ms Hinsley.
November 3, 2013
ARC provided by NetGalley:
Books like this one scare the living daylights out of me. Zombies, vampires, I can handle. Contagious diseases-too real! This story involves Johnny, Liz, and their young son Nathan. A new strain of the bubonic plague has surfaced and Nathan soon begins to show signs. The family is basically on their own as the authorities simply board up their house and post guards to make sure they don't attempt to leave. I enjoyed the story well enough but really felt very little connection between the parents and their son. I would expect to feel more devastation from them considering their only child was dying right before their eyes and they were helpless to save him. It's a relatively short book, and I felt as if the ending was a bit rushed. Not bad if you're interesting in this type of story.
Books like this one scare the living daylights out of me. Zombies, vampires, I can handle. Contagious diseases-too real! This story involves Johnny, Liz, and their young son Nathan. A new strain of the bubonic plague has surfaced and Nathan soon begins to show signs. The family is basically on their own as the authorities simply board up their house and post guards to make sure they don't attempt to leave. I enjoyed the story well enough but really felt very little connection between the parents and their son. I would expect to feel more devastation from them considering their only child was dying right before their eyes and they were helpless to save him. It's a relatively short book, and I felt as if the ending was a bit rushed. Not bad if you're interesting in this type of story.
August 18, 2012
What would you do if a new strain of the black plague surfaced in your town and quickly spread through the country? Barricaded in your home with a sick child, no phone, telly, or internet and no way to get supplies?
That's just the case in this well written and slightly horrifying book by Lisa Hinsley. It is more of a psycholigical type of horror than the amainstream blood guts and gore and that makes it all the more frightening.
It is one of those books you get drawn into quickly and hate to put down. I found myself wondering if I could handle this type of crises with as much strength and the main character and decided I probably wouldn't.
That's just the case in this well written and slightly horrifying book by Lisa Hinsley. It is more of a psycholigical type of horror than the amainstream blood guts and gore and that makes it all the more frightening.
It is one of those books you get drawn into quickly and hate to put down. I found myself wondering if I could handle this type of crises with as much strength and the main character and decided I probably wouldn't.
February 21, 2020
I guess I wanted a bigger book with a wider cast and a greater look at society breaking down but I suppose that's been done before and the parts of that were hinted at in a sinister way which was good.
This is about a single family dealing with the inevitable death, they seem to go through the classic stages of grief, sometimes in a corny way but believable just the same. The narrow focus allows a better look at how individuals and a family and actually cope with knowing what is coming.
It's difficult to say I enjoyed a book so bleak and sad but I felt it was done well especially given it's brevity and I'd read more from Ms Hinsley in the future.
This is about a single family dealing with the inevitable death, they seem to go through the classic stages of grief, sometimes in a corny way but believable just the same. The narrow focus allows a better look at how individuals and a family and actually cope with knowing what is coming.
It's difficult to say I enjoyed a book so bleak and sad but I felt it was done well especially given it's brevity and I'd read more from Ms Hinsley in the future.
May 27, 2021
I’ve had this on my kindle for about 8 years and thought I’d give it a go as it’s short.
I found the author’s writing style easy to read, and the idea behind the book is extremely interesting. I wasn’t keen on the American spellings, especially considering the book is based on the Wirral, but that’s just personal preference.
It is a heart wrenching read. The use of graphic language didn’t bother me, as it did others, in fact I think it added to the story. It’s supposed to be hell and the descriptive words chosen by the author helped to get this across.
For a novella it was a little repetitive in parts but I still enjoyed the read.
I found the author’s writing style easy to read, and the idea behind the book is extremely interesting. I wasn’t keen on the American spellings, especially considering the book is based on the Wirral, but that’s just personal preference.
It is a heart wrenching read. The use of graphic language didn’t bother me, as it did others, in fact I think it added to the story. It’s supposed to be hell and the descriptive words chosen by the author helped to get this across.
For a novella it was a little repetitive in parts but I still enjoyed the read.
April 2, 2014
A very scary and disturbing read about the return of bubonic plague in our current time, and how one family tries to cope with the illness as they are quarantined in their house. This is not for the faint of heart as author Hinsley describes the progression of the disease and the experiences the family faces. With books like this that describe the possiblity of an outbreak of a disease that we all believe must be extinct and yet it isn't - wow - I think I should pay more attention to 'prepper' shows.
July 15, 2012
Allright, I am a parent and I have to give this book 5 stars for making me feel queasy. Not an easy chore. A truly frightening look at how a plague could wipe us out today. YUP diseases adapt to modern meds such as antibiotics. I spent three months in a hospital fighting infections with IV meds and barely survived. The experience is as ugly as the writer discripes and I simply dont want to think of having to endure my kids going thru that. Whew, think I'm gonna go wash my hands.
February 25, 2012
Provide yourself with a hanky and maybe a box of chocolates before you start on this book, as you won't want to stop later on.
This book will put you through an emotional wringer. You will feel that you lived it along with Liz and John and poor little Nathan. At the end is hope. This is an extraordinary book. Ms. Hinsley is to be commended on her skill.
I would like to see a sequel.
This book will put you through an emotional wringer. You will feel that you lived it along with Liz and John and poor little Nathan. At the end is hope. This is an extraordinary book. Ms. Hinsley is to be commended on her skill.
I would like to see a sequel.
January 12, 2014
DNF.
I can't read anymore of this.
What the little boy is going through is horrendous. All the details on the problems he's having with his bodily fluids is disgusting, but the thing that got to me was what his mother just said.
It has made me feel absolutely sick.
I'm going to need to watch or read something funny to get that visual out my head now.
I can't read anymore of this.
What the little boy is going through is horrendous. All the details on the problems he's having with his bodily fluids is disgusting, but the thing that got to me was what his mother just said.
It has made me feel absolutely sick.
I'm going to need to watch or read something funny to get that visual out my head now.
July 20, 2012
A very powerful and descriptive story of a family gripped by a new strain of bubonic plague .Boarded in to their house by a desperate government trying to control an epidemic ,the family has to suffer the horrific consequences!, scarily plausible !
December 30, 2012
Well worth a read
Brilliant book, harrowing, thought provoking, a book that will stay with me for a long while, i dont want to give too much away, but a serious good read...
what would you do in this situation??
get it!!
Brilliant book, harrowing, thought provoking, a book that will stay with me for a long while, i dont want to give too much away, but a serious good read...
what would you do in this situation??
get it!!
October 15, 2012
Enjoyed this book but it was over far too quickly and I want to know what happened next :o)
August 4, 2024
📚 Di London, sebuah wabah pes baru yg sgt mematikan muncul & menyebar dgn cepat, menghancurkan negara dlm waktu 3 minggu. Johnny & Liz terperangkap dlm kekacauan ini ketika anak mereka, Nathan, mulai menunjukkan gejala wabah.
Meskipun Johnny melarang Liz utk menghubungi layanan kesehatan, Liz tetap menelepon. Akibatnya, tentara datang & mengurung keluarga mereka di rumah.
Nathan semakin lemah setiap harinya, Johnny & Liz hanya bisa menyaksikan tanpa bisa berbuat apa². Waktu terasa berjalan lambat, internet & telepon mereka mati, mereka semakin pun terisolasi dari dunia luar.
Dgn segala cara, mereka mencoba bertahan hidup, tp wabah itu tdk bisa dihentikan.
🕵️♀️ Rumah keluarga Johnny & Liz di London yg terisolasi karena wabah terasa mencekam 😔 Diceritakan dari POV tiga terbatas yg berfokus pd Johnny & Liz, aku bisa merasakan ketakutan & kepanikan melalui mata mereka 🙈
Gaya bahasa dlm novel ini sederhana & lugas. Dialog antar tokoh pun terasa nyata & emosional 👍
Alur ceritanya progresif, dimulai dari munculnya wabah hingga klimaks, di mana keluarga ini berusaha bertahan dlm isolasi 💪
Johnny, seorang ayah yg mencoba melindungi keluarganya dgn segala cara, meskipun kadang terkesan keras & bikin deg²an 😔 Liz penuh kasih sayang & rela mengambil risiko demi keselamatan anaknya, meski harus menghadapi konsekuensi berat 😔 Aku ikut sedih melihat Nathan, di mana kondisinya yg semakin memburuk 😭
💌 Untuk itu, pentingnya solidaritas dlm menghadapi bencana. Novel ini jg mengingatkan kita tentang kerapuhan kehidupan manusia & bagaimana kita harus menghargai setiap momen 🙂
Meskipun Johnny melarang Liz utk menghubungi layanan kesehatan, Liz tetap menelepon. Akibatnya, tentara datang & mengurung keluarga mereka di rumah.
Nathan semakin lemah setiap harinya, Johnny & Liz hanya bisa menyaksikan tanpa bisa berbuat apa². Waktu terasa berjalan lambat, internet & telepon mereka mati, mereka semakin pun terisolasi dari dunia luar.
Dgn segala cara, mereka mencoba bertahan hidup, tp wabah itu tdk bisa dihentikan.
🕵️♀️ Rumah keluarga Johnny & Liz di London yg terisolasi karena wabah terasa mencekam 😔 Diceritakan dari POV tiga terbatas yg berfokus pd Johnny & Liz, aku bisa merasakan ketakutan & kepanikan melalui mata mereka 🙈
Gaya bahasa dlm novel ini sederhana & lugas. Dialog antar tokoh pun terasa nyata & emosional 👍
Alur ceritanya progresif, dimulai dari munculnya wabah hingga klimaks, di mana keluarga ini berusaha bertahan dlm isolasi 💪
Johnny, seorang ayah yg mencoba melindungi keluarganya dgn segala cara, meskipun kadang terkesan keras & bikin deg²an 😔 Liz penuh kasih sayang & rela mengambil risiko demi keselamatan anaknya, meski harus menghadapi konsekuensi berat 😔 Aku ikut sedih melihat Nathan, di mana kondisinya yg semakin memburuk 😭
💌 Untuk itu, pentingnya solidaritas dlm menghadapi bencana. Novel ini jg mengingatkan kita tentang kerapuhan kehidupan manusia & bagaimana kita harus menghargai setiap momen 🙂
August 21, 2020
I read this novella the day after reading Graham Masterton's novel PLAGUE. Where the latter is wide-ranging, this story is very insular, focusing in on one family in Northwest England, a devoted mother, father, and four-year-old son. Again, the media and government try to conceal the extent of the plague, and drastic actions occur. Sufferers are boarded up in their homes, "escapees" are shot by the army. There's no medication, no hope. Liz, Johnny, and little Nathan are on their own in their boarded-over home. The story is very detailed and therefore gory, but the resilience and strength of the human spirit and will is truly amazing.
September 20, 2017
Fascinating read! I couldn't put the book down! It was so riveting, I felt as if I were watching a medical drama unfolding right before my eyes.
October 20, 2013
Review Note: This book was approved by NetGalley as an ARC exchanged for an honest review.
Review:
Plague is no zombie book. It reminds me of the novel Hot Zone and other films and movies that deals with some sort of strain, disease, or virus.
History repeats itself once again. The Bubonic Plague finds itself in modern day London. It's faster and deadlier and spreads through London population like wildfire.
No one knows where this plague has come from. All we know is that it's deadly and no one is safe.
Johnny and Liv, with their four year old son, Nathan lives London while the Plague is going on. Devastated that Nathan is sick, he shows and has the symptoms of the Plague.
With a sick son, Johnny and Liv will do anything they can to help their sick son so Liv phones the authorities for help, but only ends up having their house boarded up-- which signifies to everyone that they have been quarantined. But since that happened, things go down hill from there.
There will be no spoilers but I will discuss the important things that I found terrifyingly interesting while reading this book!
Johnny and Liv and Nathan are trapped in their own home with no way to get out. Because if they do, the watcher that's looking over their house has orders to shoot them down if they tried.
With only medicine and limited amount of food, Johnny and Liv try to make the best of everything they have and can to help Nathan, but to soon come to the conclusion that he doesn't have long to live.
The thing that gets to me is the various symptoms an infected/sick/ill person has to go through when they caught the Plague. And Lisa Hinsley doesn't leave and sugar-coat things about the body when it comes to this.
The first thing you will have are swellings on your neck, under your arms and in between your legs. These will grow and grow until maybe into the size of a baseball. Then they'll start to change colors of blue, black, and purple. Soon, it will get hard to breathe until you're left wheezing.
Next, if I can remember, will be that you will start to vomit.
Have terrible diarrhea...
...you'll start to be in extreme pain that it hurts to even be touched. You can feel the pain everywhere. The pain will be too unbearable that you'll start screaming.
...Soon, it doesn't stop because then you'll start to suffer from fevers, rashes, seizures, and delirium...
Imagine if this happened. Today. In our era, with our advanced technology and medicine-- it'd be too late to have a vaccine or have a "cure" because by that time, half of the world's population (if it was international), would be dead. There would be chaos. Quarantines. Military personnel. Death.
If you're quarantined, or someone who is also in your home with the sickness, you wont be able to leave your house no matter what happens.
The plague will continue on until everyone is dead and there is nothing left, or until the plague dies out because there will be no more hosts.
Soon, internet will be cut of. Telephones. Eventually electricity and gas will be shut off. Because this is exactly happens in Plague-- at least some of it.
Liv is the only one alone taking care of her family when her son and eventually Johnny gets sick. Soon, Liv believes after a few episodes of vomiting that she too is getting sick and eventually will share the same fate as her son and husband.
Things that happen within this book can actually happen in real life, and I give Lisa Hinsley praise for that. Everything has a realistic feel to it.
The only question I have about this book was: where did this plague come from? How it began? Has the plague itself died down before springing back up again unexpectedly? It appears from the ending that the book that there should be a sequel. I hope there is a sequel because there are many things left unsaid.
Plague is about survival. Surviving in this hell that you're body is taking until you can't take no more- you want everything to end because it's too horrific and painful and terrifying and you want nothing but for it to stop. But it doesn't. For those who already hadn't been sick, like Liv, will they eventually catch the sickness and come to a terrible fate like everyone else or will they become a special survivor?
Conclusion:
I enjoyed Plague. Lisa Hinsley does a great job at creating, well, re-creating a real-life disease and transporting it into our modern day world. Things that goes on in this book can actually happen in real life.
Like I mentioned before, Plague reminds me of so many books and films that deals with this type of phenomenon that you start to wonder, if at any given time, what will happen when it really does happen? Would we be prepared enough for it? But no one will ever know.
Plague is suspenseful, sort-of-gross, but an intriguing book. If you're into the disease/virus/strain- kind of book then Plague is the right book for you.
I will definetly be looking out for more future books from her.
Review:
Plague is no zombie book. It reminds me of the novel Hot Zone and other films and movies that deals with some sort of strain, disease, or virus.
History repeats itself once again. The Bubonic Plague finds itself in modern day London. It's faster and deadlier and spreads through London population like wildfire.
No one knows where this plague has come from. All we know is that it's deadly and no one is safe.
Johnny and Liv, with their four year old son, Nathan lives London while the Plague is going on. Devastated that Nathan is sick, he shows and has the symptoms of the Plague.
With a sick son, Johnny and Liv will do anything they can to help their sick son so Liv phones the authorities for help, but only ends up having their house boarded up-- which signifies to everyone that they have been quarantined. But since that happened, things go down hill from there.
There will be no spoilers but I will discuss the important things that I found terrifyingly interesting while reading this book!
Johnny and Liv and Nathan are trapped in their own home with no way to get out. Because if they do, the watcher that's looking over their house has orders to shoot them down if they tried.
With only medicine and limited amount of food, Johnny and Liv try to make the best of everything they have and can to help Nathan, but to soon come to the conclusion that he doesn't have long to live.
The thing that gets to me is the various symptoms an infected/sick/ill person has to go through when they caught the Plague. And Lisa Hinsley doesn't leave and sugar-coat things about the body when it comes to this.
The first thing you will have are swellings on your neck, under your arms and in between your legs. These will grow and grow until maybe into the size of a baseball. Then they'll start to change colors of blue, black, and purple. Soon, it will get hard to breathe until you're left wheezing.
Next, if I can remember, will be that you will start to vomit.
Have terrible diarrhea...
...you'll start to be in extreme pain that it hurts to even be touched. You can feel the pain everywhere. The pain will be too unbearable that you'll start screaming.
...Soon, it doesn't stop because then you'll start to suffer from fevers, rashes, seizures, and delirium...
Imagine if this happened. Today. In our era, with our advanced technology and medicine-- it'd be too late to have a vaccine or have a "cure" because by that time, half of the world's population (if it was international), would be dead. There would be chaos. Quarantines. Military personnel. Death.
If you're quarantined, or someone who is also in your home with the sickness, you wont be able to leave your house no matter what happens.
The plague will continue on until everyone is dead and there is nothing left, or until the plague dies out because there will be no more hosts.
Soon, internet will be cut of. Telephones. Eventually electricity and gas will be shut off. Because this is exactly happens in Plague-- at least some of it.
Liv is the only one alone taking care of her family when her son and eventually Johnny gets sick. Soon, Liv believes after a few episodes of vomiting that she too is getting sick and eventually will share the same fate as her son and husband.
Things that happen within this book can actually happen in real life, and I give Lisa Hinsley praise for that. Everything has a realistic feel to it.
The only question I have about this book was: where did this plague come from? How it began? Has the plague itself died down before springing back up again unexpectedly? It appears from the ending that the book that there should be a sequel. I hope there is a sequel because there are many things left unsaid.
Plague is about survival. Surviving in this hell that you're body is taking until you can't take no more- you want everything to end because it's too horrific and painful and terrifying and you want nothing but for it to stop. But it doesn't. For those who already hadn't been sick, like Liv, will they eventually catch the sickness and come to a terrible fate like everyone else or will they become a special survivor?
Conclusion:
I enjoyed Plague. Lisa Hinsley does a great job at creating, well, re-creating a real-life disease and transporting it into our modern day world. Things that goes on in this book can actually happen in real life.
Like I mentioned before, Plague reminds me of so many books and films that deals with this type of phenomenon that you start to wonder, if at any given time, what will happen when it really does happen? Would we be prepared enough for it? But no one will ever know.
Plague is suspenseful, sort-of-gross, but an intriguing book. If you're into the disease/virus/strain- kind of book then Plague is the right book for you.
I will definetly be looking out for more future books from her.
June 27, 2014
I won this book on a Goodreads giveaway and I was totally excited to read it, but it got stuck on the shelf while I finished several books ahead of it in the reading queue. The copy that I received was signed by Lisa Hinsley, the author, which was nice.
After reading this book, I would give it 2.5 stars - I wasn't reading it because I was totally engrossed in the story progression but I didn't totally hate it. I found that I was somewhat indifferent to what was happening or that I didn't get as emotionally invested in the characters as I should have been. I like the idea behind the story and Lisa Hinsley laid out the action in an interesting way; I did really like that she broke the book down into the separate days as the bubonic plague was affecting the household. It was short enough to read in one sitting (I read it while I was waiting to get my driver's license renewed at the DMV). I can certainly see the appeal of the idea of writing about a highly contagious disease that has been around for hundreds of years but would devastate us globally even with all of our advancements in modern science and medicine. I may give this book a second read to make sure that I wasn't unfair in my judgement, and will revisit my rating after that happens.
**SPOILER ALERT -- SPOILERS AHEAD!!!**
I think that part of my issue was that I found the story to be too predictable. It didn't surprise me at all when both Nathan and Johnny got sick with the plague but Liz didn't, nor was I completely shocked when Johnny performed a mercy-killing on Nathan before he died naturally to save him from the pain. I did think that maybe they would have overdosed him on something as opposed to Johnny smothering him, but I guess they were trying to save their few painkillers for when they both got ill (as they were certain that they would both catch it). I was, however, somewhat surprised when Liz found out that she was pregnant after vomiting, not coming down with the plague, as I thought maybe she was just overwhelmed with the stress of how sick her family was.
I think I would have liked for the story to have had more of a shred of hope at the end after Liz managed to escape from her house. Instead of wandering around totally alone, I think I would have preferred that she had found another survivor or something. If not a "silver lining" ending, maybe it would have been equally interesting to have had an epilogue where we could see the worldwide effects of the bubonic plague epidemic, as the outbreak certainly would not have been contained to just England with the amount of global travel in the modern world. I guess I wanted it to either have more of a "happy ending" or for it to be apocalyptic!
The beginning of the book, where Nathan finds the dead cat (who clearly died of the plague), makes me think of the movie Contagion - the pig that was bitten by the bat was the cause of all of the global devastation caused by this crazy new disease.
After reading this book, I would give it 2.5 stars - I wasn't reading it because I was totally engrossed in the story progression but I didn't totally hate it. I found that I was somewhat indifferent to what was happening or that I didn't get as emotionally invested in the characters as I should have been. I like the idea behind the story and Lisa Hinsley laid out the action in an interesting way; I did really like that she broke the book down into the separate days as the bubonic plague was affecting the household. It was short enough to read in one sitting (I read it while I was waiting to get my driver's license renewed at the DMV). I can certainly see the appeal of the idea of writing about a highly contagious disease that has been around for hundreds of years but would devastate us globally even with all of our advancements in modern science and medicine. I may give this book a second read to make sure that I wasn't unfair in my judgement, and will revisit my rating after that happens.
**SPOILER ALERT -- SPOILERS AHEAD!!!**
I think that part of my issue was that I found the story to be too predictable. It didn't surprise me at all when both Nathan and Johnny got sick with the plague but Liz didn't, nor was I completely shocked when Johnny performed a mercy-killing on Nathan before he died naturally to save him from the pain. I did think that maybe they would have overdosed him on something as opposed to Johnny smothering him, but I guess they were trying to save their few painkillers for when they both got ill (as they were certain that they would both catch it). I was, however, somewhat surprised when Liz found out that she was pregnant after vomiting, not coming down with the plague, as I thought maybe she was just overwhelmed with the stress of how sick her family was.
I think I would have liked for the story to have had more of a shred of hope at the end after Liz managed to escape from her house. Instead of wandering around totally alone, I think I would have preferred that she had found another survivor or something. If not a "silver lining" ending, maybe it would have been equally interesting to have had an epilogue where we could see the worldwide effects of the bubonic plague epidemic, as the outbreak certainly would not have been contained to just England with the amount of global travel in the modern world. I guess I wanted it to either have more of a "happy ending" or for it to be apocalyptic!
The beginning of the book, where Nathan finds the dead cat (who clearly died of the plague), makes me think of the movie Contagion - the pig that was bitten by the bat was the cause of all of the global devastation caused by this crazy new disease.
December 9, 2013
Liz and Johnny thought that they were safe–for the moment–from the new strain of the bubonic plague that the government said was confined to the south. But then their son begins to show symptoms of the plague. A call to the government health hotline leads to their home being boarded up and quarantined. Liz is forced to sit by helplessly as her son grows weaker, the other houses on her street are boarded up, and their connection to the outside world is severed. The only option for her family is to cope the best that they can with the epidemic.
The premise of this novella really drew me to the story. Locked room type thrillers set the reader on edge before they even start, and the use of the bubonic plague allows for a great bad guy without having to delve too much into the symptoms or results of a new plague. That part of the story, and the stress it puts on the family, is really effective for the number of pages.
With stories set in a single location like a house, the world outside it doesn’t matter as much and therefore doesn’t need as much detail to describe it. However Plague lacked much description of the setting both inside and out. There wasn’t much to help me picture the inside of the rooms apart from a few small details like the location of a chair at the window or creaky stairs. Likewise, the tension in the world outside the house is missing. Even when they are initially quarantined, Liz and Johnny have access to the internet. I think the author missed an opportunity to show online news articles or social media posts to fully engulf the reader in the world.
I also had a hard time connecting to the characters. Plague opens up with Nathan–Liz and Johnny’s son–showing the first symptoms of the plague. There are no flashbacks that show the uniqueness of their lives or their personalities. Liz is a worried mom and wife. Johnny is a worried father and husband. There isn’t much more to them than that. While I sympathized with them in their plight, I didn’t have any emotional ties to them.
This is a short novella, about 125 pages, so I think that may have played a role in the characters lacking depth. That also meant there were a few loose ends during the final pages that I think should have been addressed. The whole story felt two-dimensional.
This book would be a good read for someone looking for a quick, light read within the thriller genre.
Rating: two of five stars
Plague by Lisa Hinsley will be published as an eBook by Pocket Star and will be available for download on December 9, 2013.
*I received an advanced copy of this book in return for an unbiased review.
The premise of this novella really drew me to the story. Locked room type thrillers set the reader on edge before they even start, and the use of the bubonic plague allows for a great bad guy without having to delve too much into the symptoms or results of a new plague. That part of the story, and the stress it puts on the family, is really effective for the number of pages.
With stories set in a single location like a house, the world outside it doesn’t matter as much and therefore doesn’t need as much detail to describe it. However Plague lacked much description of the setting both inside and out. There wasn’t much to help me picture the inside of the rooms apart from a few small details like the location of a chair at the window or creaky stairs. Likewise, the tension in the world outside the house is missing. Even when they are initially quarantined, Liz and Johnny have access to the internet. I think the author missed an opportunity to show online news articles or social media posts to fully engulf the reader in the world.
I also had a hard time connecting to the characters. Plague opens up with Nathan–Liz and Johnny’s son–showing the first symptoms of the plague. There are no flashbacks that show the uniqueness of their lives or their personalities. Liz is a worried mom and wife. Johnny is a worried father and husband. There isn’t much more to them than that. While I sympathized with them in their plight, I didn’t have any emotional ties to them.
This is a short novella, about 125 pages, so I think that may have played a role in the characters lacking depth. That also meant there were a few loose ends during the final pages that I think should have been addressed. The whole story felt two-dimensional.
This book would be a good read for someone looking for a quick, light read within the thriller genre.
Rating: two of five stars
Plague by Lisa Hinsley will be published as an eBook by Pocket Star and will be available for download on December 9, 2013.
*I received an advanced copy of this book in return for an unbiased review.
November 10, 2013
Ooooh boy, grab your popcorn boys and girls because this review will definitely be filled with rants.I was admittedly SO excited when I was approved for this title. That excitement did not last long once I started this book.
First of all, where the HELL were the quotation marks? Hell-o, they are kind of important so I know where the dialogue is and who is talking.Not having them is really not acceptable. For me that was a huge deal. Unfortunately that was not the biggest issue I had with the book.
I haven't met two more unlikable characters in a very long time. Liz struck me as obnoxiously clingy. I know we only got a 9 day glimpse into their lives but oh gracious I was highly annoyed with her. Johnny was an asshole and there was no excuse for it. My opinion of these two did not change at all as the book progressed. Nathan was absolutely adorable and he was easily my favorite character in the book.
Overall, though I had no emotional connection to the characters. To be totally honest I wanted Liz and Johnny dead because they were so unlikable.Nathan was the best part of the book but I still didn't have any sort of emotional connection to him.
Now let's get to the biggest issue for me.
This book was filled with information or facts about the bubonic plague that if the author had totally researched it, she would have realized the conflicts.First of all it's supposed to be a virus but you cannot treat viruses with antibiotics.Yet it's supposed to be a strain of bubonic plague which is a bacteria.
Next the people Liz spoke to are not medical professionals and it is illegal to disperse medical advice unless you are a medical professional.Why didn't a doctor appear on the phone instead of this Pete guy?
When two people show up to examine the boy why is one person in full on hazmat gear and the other one simply wearing a gas mask? It needs to be all or nothing.Why did they board up the house and everything but leave one window alone so it can be opened to get air? I'm pretty sure that if the plague can get out of the house, it can come into the house too.
So this book will be getting one star. Poor writing, uninteresting and unlikable characters and most notably, really sloppy research job.I think this book had great potential but unfortunately it did not reach its potential.
First of all, where the HELL were the quotation marks? Hell-o, they are kind of important so I know where the dialogue is and who is talking.Not having them is really not acceptable. For me that was a huge deal. Unfortunately that was not the biggest issue I had with the book.
I haven't met two more unlikable characters in a very long time. Liz struck me as obnoxiously clingy. I know we only got a 9 day glimpse into their lives but oh gracious I was highly annoyed with her. Johnny was an asshole and there was no excuse for it. My opinion of these two did not change at all as the book progressed. Nathan was absolutely adorable and he was easily my favorite character in the book.
Overall, though I had no emotional connection to the characters. To be totally honest I wanted Liz and Johnny dead because they were so unlikable.Nathan was the best part of the book but I still didn't have any sort of emotional connection to him.
Now let's get to the biggest issue for me.
This book was filled with information or facts about the bubonic plague that if the author had totally researched it, she would have realized the conflicts.First of all it's supposed to be a virus but you cannot treat viruses with antibiotics.Yet it's supposed to be a strain of bubonic plague which is a bacteria.
Next the people Liz spoke to are not medical professionals and it is illegal to disperse medical advice unless you are a medical professional.Why didn't a doctor appear on the phone instead of this Pete guy?
When two people show up to examine the boy why is one person in full on hazmat gear and the other one simply wearing a gas mask? It needs to be all or nothing.Why did they board up the house and everything but leave one window alone so it can be opened to get air? I'm pretty sure that if the plague can get out of the house, it can come into the house too.
So this book will be getting one star. Poor writing, uninteresting and unlikable characters and most notably, really sloppy research job.I think this book had great potential but unfortunately it did not reach its potential.
Read
December 8, 2013Plague 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.
November 26, 2013
Its reality and it was horrific to read but yet I was drawn to the pages like the flies were drawn inside the house of Liz and Johnny as their house becomes a living hell. It was the flies that had me squirming just like the flies from the Amityville Horror movie that buzzed inside their house in the middle of winter, these flies had me swatting and scratching in the middle of the night as I read and then tried to go to sleep. Four-year old Nathan contacted the disease first. Bubonic plague, the plague that had no cure and was sweeping across England. Quarantine yourself, lock yourself away and hope you have enough supplies to last. Last for what? That is the question his parents are wondering as they notice around the neighborhood the steel paneling going up on windows and plastic sheeting being wrapped around all the homes. It’s like a living tomb and for how long can they hold up. As a parent, you try to remain positive as your child looks to you for help but inside you spirit is crumbling. Inside the home, the parents start to show signs of the sickness and they know the inevitable is likely. This cannot be happening, can it? Put on your seatbelt as you are in for the ride of your life.
It was not a very positive book but it really made you think about reality. Liz and Johnny thought they were immune to the disease, the disease that was not supposed to be their community. They didn’t even have time to even prepare themselves, they just had to react and come together as a family immediately. Who could do that? Do you have enough supplies on hand to last months in your house? Could you last months with your family in a house without going crazy? I have to commend the author for all the details that were included in the book, as the plot deepened I thought how much more can they endure? I think I would have hidden in the closet for a couple hours just to regain my sanity. Johnny and Liz’s love for one another and for Nathan makes what is happening to their family an emotional roller-coaster. I love creepy book and books that make me think and this book did both for me.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for an honest review.
It was not a very positive book but it really made you think about reality. Liz and Johnny thought they were immune to the disease, the disease that was not supposed to be their community. They didn’t even have time to even prepare themselves, they just had to react and come together as a family immediately. Who could do that? Do you have enough supplies on hand to last months in your house? Could you last months with your family in a house without going crazy? I have to commend the author for all the details that were included in the book, as the plot deepened I thought how much more can they endure? I think I would have hidden in the closet for a couple hours just to regain my sanity. Johnny and Liz’s love for one another and for Nathan makes what is happening to their family an emotional roller-coaster. I love creepy book and books that make me think and this book did both for me.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for an honest review.
January 9, 2014
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!
May 5, 2013
The bubonic plague has reared its ugly head again but with a new strain. Liz lives with her husband Johnny and 4 year old son Nathan in a small suburban neighborhood. Liz watches as some of her neighbor's homes are boarded up by the army and wonders what is going on. She hears about the plague on the news and is given a number to call if anyone in the household becomes sick.
When Nathan starts getting sick Liz wants to call the number but Johnny tells her not to. But Liz is only thinking about her son calls the number. After calling the number the army comes in and boards up their house with them inside. A doctor is sent to their house to diagnosis Nathan through the plexus glass that was put on the front door. They are given antibiotics and some meds for pain to try and make Nathan more comfortable.
Liz has to watch her child suffer through this awful disease and then she has to watch her husband go through the same thing. Liz starts getting sick herself and running to the bathroom. But she doesn't tell Johnny because she doesn't want him to worry with him being so sick. She knows that neither one of them is going to ever leave their home again.
Liz is one tough lady to watch her child and her husband go through all that the plague put them through with being sick herself. She is definitely not a selfish lady. She loved her family very much. Plague is a very sad book to read and you will probably need a box or two of tissue sitting close by while reading it. But don't let that stop you from reading it because it is one awesome story. Liz is one courageous woman.
I will give you that Plague is a very sad story with Liz having to go through what she did and putting her husband and son before herself. But I still loved reading it. My wish is that all or any mother that if ever had to go through what she did would do and feel the same as she did. Hopefully no one will ever have to experience the plague. But it is very possible that we may have to go through the same thing. It may not be the plague but some other disease.
When Nathan starts getting sick Liz wants to call the number but Johnny tells her not to. But Liz is only thinking about her son calls the number. After calling the number the army comes in and boards up their house with them inside. A doctor is sent to their house to diagnosis Nathan through the plexus glass that was put on the front door. They are given antibiotics and some meds for pain to try and make Nathan more comfortable.
Liz has to watch her child suffer through this awful disease and then she has to watch her husband go through the same thing. Liz starts getting sick herself and running to the bathroom. But she doesn't tell Johnny because she doesn't want him to worry with him being so sick. She knows that neither one of them is going to ever leave their home again.
Liz is one tough lady to watch her child and her husband go through all that the plague put them through with being sick herself. She is definitely not a selfish lady. She loved her family very much. Plague is a very sad book to read and you will probably need a box or two of tissue sitting close by while reading it. But don't let that stop you from reading it because it is one awesome story. Liz is one courageous woman.
I will give you that Plague is a very sad story with Liz having to go through what she did and putting her husband and son before herself. But I still loved reading it. My wish is that all or any mother that if ever had to go through what she did would do and feel the same as she did. Hopefully no one will ever have to experience the plague. But it is very possible that we may have to go through the same thing. It may not be the plague but some other disease.
Read
August 10, 2012This book was good but then it was boring. It tells the story of what might happen if an incurable plague were to break out. In the beginning the little boy decides to touch a dead cat. This is what starts the spread of it to other kids and to his dad. They saw a white van pull up at their neighbors and board the house up. They did not know why they were doing that. The reason was that anybody who had the plague and everyone in that house were to be boarded up and die inside. This happens to this family when the mom calls the authorites. She gets told not to but she does. They come to the house boarding it up and then a doctors looks through the plexiglass and says the boy has the plague. The next few days are horrible. All he does is scream and cry that he is in pain. He is dying so fast that there are flies all in his room. The dad ends up killing him to put his misery to rest. Then the next day the dad starts getting the plague. The mom tries calling people but they disconnected the phone lines and internet. They do not want them contacting anyone. She still thinks her son is alive so she covers him in blankets to keep him safe. When her husband gets the plague she goes insane. She see's rats running around the streets like wild dogs. She still has yet to show signs of the plague. There is no food in the house for her and she is starving. She is still taking care of her dying husband but she hatches a plan before he dies. She decides to leave the house and go where the plague has not hit yet. So when he dies she leaves. She goes to an island where she takes food and then sets out on her journey.
November 19, 2013
First of all I would not recommend that mamas of babies read this. Also if you're very sensitive or have a weak stomach, skim skim skim or skip this one.
That said, I guess I am morbid and perverse because I just could not stop reading. This was really short but very descriptive account of a terrifying 'what if'-- what if there was another outbreak of The Plague, but in these modern times? What if your government turned its back on you? What if they abandoned you and left you to die?
Lisa Hinsley immediately dumps her readers into this world by introducing her son, young Nathan, who has been sick for a few days. No worries though, because while there is an outbreak, it's contained to the southern part of the country.... isn't it?
Too late, the residents of this small, close-knit village find that not only has the plague spread beyond the south, but it is nowhere near contained. And there is no cure.
I saw a few other reviews that longed for more depth of character in Liz and I have to agree. We only see these characters during the worst times of their lives. They never get out of that hot, fly-infested, stinking house. Her husband Johnny is never more than a raging, angry man in severe denial until the end. Her mother is never more than a delusional screaming banshee. And Nathin is never well. Only sick.
I didn't realize this was a novella and the thing I always realize about novellas is that they're never enough. I feel like I didn't get enough of the story. I got actions and reactions and emotions but no deep digging story telling, which I would have welcomed.
That aside, this was a quick, gripping, graphic read that I really enjoyed.
That said, I guess I am morbid and perverse because I just could not stop reading. This was really short but very descriptive account of a terrifying 'what if'-- what if there was another outbreak of The Plague, but in these modern times? What if your government turned its back on you? What if they abandoned you and left you to die?
Lisa Hinsley immediately dumps her readers into this world by introducing her son, young Nathan, who has been sick for a few days. No worries though, because while there is an outbreak, it's contained to the southern part of the country.... isn't it?
Too late, the residents of this small, close-knit village find that not only has the plague spread beyond the south, but it is nowhere near contained. And there is no cure.
I saw a few other reviews that longed for more depth of character in Liz and I have to agree. We only see these characters during the worst times of their lives. They never get out of that hot, fly-infested, stinking house. Her husband Johnny is never more than a raging, angry man in severe denial until the end. Her mother is never more than a delusional screaming banshee. And Nathin is never well. Only sick.
I didn't realize this was a novella and the thing I always realize about novellas is that they're never enough. I feel like I didn't get enough of the story. I got actions and reactions and emotions but no deep digging story telling, which I would have welcomed.
That aside, this was a quick, gripping, graphic read that I really enjoyed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 6, 2013
This book went from seeing into a somewhat average families life, to awfully frightening in a matter of chapters. Some of the things that happened in this book brought me to tears and you feel so awful for the suffering that the adult characters have to face, its shocking. The two parents and their 4 year old son are intentionally trapped in their little home as the young boy, Nathan, has supposedly caught the bubonic plague. Their house gets boarded up, as do many others in their street. They are told they will be shot if they somehow manage to escape and there are soldiers arming the street. From early on you sort of catch on that not only has Nathan been left to die, but so have the parents, even though they are not sick yet. And considering almost the whole of the book is set inside this house, you begin to feel as cramped and as claustrophobic as the characters do. It is the height of summer and they barely have any daylight seeping into their home, let alone any fresh air. Alongside the struggle of looking after their deteriorating son, without any outside help, Liz and Johnny start to believe that they have caught the plague too. They have to live in their own stink of sickness, and they try everything to keep the flies away. It is such a sad awful story and you really get to the point where you see no way out for them. I truly do not know what I would do if I were in their situation. Some of the things they have to do are so grotesque, I am a tad relieved that this was a book and not a film!!! x
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