Lesser Prophets

by Kelly Sinclair

Debra Shanrahan, a veterinarian in New South Wales, Australia, anticipates a typical day of treating hogs and other livestock. The first hog she treats seems to be suffering from an unusually bad bout of bronchitis. Hardly cause for alarm-until the hog's owner and others who were on the farm turn up dead from suspected pneumonia. Within days, people all over the world are falling suddenly, terminally ill with a virulent strain of flu. Governments either overreact or fail to take any action, but all too soon it becomes undeniably apparent that the unthinkable has happened: the Australian hog's illness has jumped from the swine species to the human species, and there's no known treatment, no cure, and no way to contain it. The pandemic decimates the population in every corner of the globe. But oddly, some people are resisting the virus, even if directly exposed to carriers. Who are these hardy survivors? They are, for the most part, a group that was previously despised, mostly unloved, and only fitfully tolerated. They are the gays and lesbians. Men and women who were once marginalized in many societies are now elevated to be leaders and redeemers who must find their way in a world where the old rules no longer apply. God, or Fate, or the Omniscient Divine has intervened and forever changed the hierarchy. Follow the riveting stories of Debra and others who survive, in their struggle to triumph over biological Armageddon and create a new world.

Genres: Lesbian

195 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 7, 2010

About the author

Kelly Sinclair lives in Temple, Texas, but is a transplant from the South Plains. She has been a reporter, a rock singer-songwriter, and is currently a librarian. One of her poems appeared in the Texas Observer political magazine, and her computer-derived prints are featured in art galleries. Sinclair has worked with an experimental art-rock ensemble, written country songs for such Texas acts as the Maines Brothers, and sung backup for funk bands and bluegrass performers. In her writing, she follows a similar path of exploring her creative boundaries, writing scripts, plays, and musical song-cycles. (from the publisher's website)

Reviews

[Jem · Rating 3 out of 5]

A SARS-like virus jumps from swine to humans, and millions die as the mortality is 90%. Except that some people are literally immune--even when they work in close contact with infected folks. The 'immune' ones just happen to be gays and lesbians. These people who used to be ostracized or marginalized are now the only ones left to run the country. There's a lot of resentment from the remaining un-gay population. There is also the fact that people who aren't openly gay are being outed by their immunity.

The author gives a plausible scenario of the kind of civilization that survives after such a catastrophic event, and how various people cope with the horrific challenges involved--the massive deaths, the widespread panic, and the desperate struggles of the remnants of government to maintain order amidst the chaos.

The entire book is told from the POV of several characters. There is one major problem a a result of this author's choice of storytelling device. The characters are totally unrelated. And their lives do not intersect. The author cycles through the character's individual stories alternately...totally confusing the reader (I had to keep flipping back to where the previous character's chapter to even remember who they were and whats their story). As a result, there isn't enough character development to care about any of the characters. There was just too much going on. I can't help but compare this book to another end-of-the-world apocalyse tale, 'The Growing' by Suzanne Beck. Instead of the virus, the culprit in that book was androids taking over the world. That book had me reading all night. It was around 800 pages long (i think) but that is how it should be. This book was just too short...with too many things going on...and had too many characters. There is an incredible story to tell, and the author maybe should have created a series of books, rather than lump all the couples in 1 book. IMHO.

[Aeren · Rating 2 out of 5]

A plague of human invention descends upon the earth killing 90% of the world's population. The twist in this book is that gays can carry the virus but don't seem to be affected by it and making them modern day "Typhoid Marys." The backlash is predictable.

The story itself is told through the eyes of five protagonists and that's the problem I have with it. By trying to make it a broad cross-section of stories about gays dealing with the plague and pushing all the remaining straights to quarantine areas "for their safety". The story is one sided and jumpy. I found I didn't really care for any character because just as I'm about to get interested I'm pulled away to another one.