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Morningstar Strain #1
Plague of the Dead
The end begins with a viral outbreak unlike anything mankind has ever encountered before. The infected are subject to delirium, fever, a dramatic increase in violent behavior, and a one-hundred percent mortality rate. Death . But it doesn't end there. The victims return from death to walk the earth. When a massive military operation fails to contain the plague of the living dead it escalates into a global pandemic. In one fell swoop, the necessities of life become much more basic. Gone are petty everyday concerns. Gone are the amenities of civilized life. Yet a single law of nature Live, or die. Kill, or be killed. On one side of the world, a battle-hardened General surveys the remnants of his a young medic, a veteran photographer, a brash Private, and dozens of refugees, all are his responsibility-all thousands of miles from home. Back in the United States, an Army Colonel discovers the darker side of Morningstar virus and begins to collaborate with a well-known journalist to leak the information to the public... The Morningstar Saga has begun.
292 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 395 reviews
October 17, 2012
Thanks to the blue sky I have finished this piece of junk!!! I am so sorry, I just could not like this story as much as I tried; this zombie story fall flat!!! Why are there so many good reviews on this book?
I mean here is the main reason:
1. The characters know that a bite, blood, fluid or scratch would get them infected-but no one thinks to put on leather, extra layers or anything to protect their skin!!! So, they were basically saying- "Look at me zombie; I am a walking fried chicken leg."
2. Sherman doesn’t make good decision, but yet the author has you under the impression that he is a wise guy. Well, he isn’t too smart walking into a silent town; knowing damn well that the outbreak has been spreading at a rapid pace for the last week.
3. The characters language, mostly Brewster is so annoying that I had to stop reading several times to relax my jaw muscle from clenching so hard. This guy is super annoying and should have got killed off soon. He put a lot of people in danger with his stupid ass suggestions to Sherman. And for Sherman to even consider this loser advice is beyond me.
4. The author kills off character that are likable and that you want to live to fight another day.
5. Why keep making body shoots? When all you have to do is make one good head shot!!!
6. The over use of the military terms and military language is a major turn off. Just think about it, if an outbreak really happened; the 1st place to go would be the areas most crowded and therefore the authors logic of the military lasting as long as it has in this book in illogical.
Therefore, this book in one of the waste books I have ever read:-(
I mean here is the main reason:
1. The characters know that a bite, blood, fluid or scratch would get them infected-but no one thinks to put on leather, extra layers or anything to protect their skin!!! So, they were basically saying- "Look at me zombie; I am a walking fried chicken leg."
2. Sherman doesn’t make good decision, but yet the author has you under the impression that he is a wise guy. Well, he isn’t too smart walking into a silent town; knowing damn well that the outbreak has been spreading at a rapid pace for the last week.
3. The characters language, mostly Brewster is so annoying that I had to stop reading several times to relax my jaw muscle from clenching so hard. This guy is super annoying and should have got killed off soon. He put a lot of people in danger with his stupid ass suggestions to Sherman. And for Sherman to even consider this loser advice is beyond me.
4. The author kills off character that are likable and that you want to live to fight another day.
5. Why keep making body shoots? When all you have to do is make one good head shot!!!
6. The over use of the military terms and military language is a major turn off. Just think about it, if an outbreak really happened; the 1st place to go would be the areas most crowded and therefore the authors logic of the military lasting as long as it has in this book in illogical.
Therefore, this book in one of the waste books I have ever read:-(
March 31, 2017
A military-focused view of the zombie apocalypse. While, were this a real apocalypse, I'd arrow straight for the guys with the military grade weapons, it's not my favorite to read. Lots of machismo and "don't you want to touch my shiny guns??" and not a lot else. Meh.
July 10, 2009
OK ... so, it was a nice try. The explanation for why there are fast AND slow zombies was GREAT. But unfortunately, not a whole lot else has great merit. The characters are all cookie-cutter. Every "military" character is the same as the next - and they use A LOT of cheesy jargon like "FUBAR" and "SNAFU" constantly.. making it seem like the author did military research by watching too many movies. Also - some of the pop-culture references seem very out of place such as "it looked like somewhere that rejected props from tim burton movies went to die"
- Yes, i get what that means .. but does it belong in this book?
Also, complicating the issue of under-differentiated characterization is the fact that half of the main characters have very similar-sounding names. Some other things just done mesh either .. while having an NSA agent as a main character using safe houses during the apocalypse is cool .. having an evil agent that is more preoccupied with chasing him down that the millions of undead just seems a bit unrealistic.
And lets not get into under-researched world geography.
Anyway ... could have been good with a bit of research - or maybe even an editor at Permuted Press just doing their job .. but oh well.
- Yes, i get what that means .. but does it belong in this book?
Also, complicating the issue of under-differentiated characterization is the fact that half of the main characters have very similar-sounding names. Some other things just done mesh either .. while having an NSA agent as a main character using safe houses during the apocalypse is cool .. having an evil agent that is more preoccupied with chasing him down that the millions of undead just seems a bit unrealistic.
And lets not get into under-researched world geography.
Anyway ... could have been good with a bit of research - or maybe even an editor at Permuted Press just doing their job .. but oh well.
September 1, 2015
3.5 Stars
Plague of the Dead is such a fun book - if you can call the downfall of mankind fun, which I can as it's just fiction... This book has all the elements I love in zombie fiction; lots of zombies, great characters and an absorbing storyline.
The writing is very smooth - nice and easy to read, great description and imagination. Recht also uses both types of zombie: the fast '28 Days Later' kind, and the shuffling, slow 'Night of the Living Dead' kind. And there are lots of them, thousands in fact all running and shuffling their way through humanity.
There are many characters in this book and it changes point of view numerous times. Normally this would annoy me but I really enjoyed it. It was interesting to see the crumbling world through the eyes of such different people ranging from a soldier and a journalist to a photographer and a doctor.
The other aspect to characterisation I usually have to have is depth, if a character has no back story or substance then I can lose interest pretty quickly, but although the characters in Plague of the Dead weren't written about in any depth, it didn't prevent me from enjoying the book. This is quite unusual, but I felt it was because the story in general is a really fast-paced read and didn't drag. The tension builds as the characters begin to hear snippets of the disease spreading.
I also felt the writing was quite sophisticated compared to other zombie fiction I've read in the past and it was actually very refreshing. There are a lot of the typical tropes found in zombie fiction but Recht was a little different in his approach to his characters, especially the women.
The female protagonists are strong, independent and completely capable of their own survival. At one point they were being tortured for information and one of them refused to give it opting to take the torture instead. I enjoyed reading about them and not once did I roll my eyes in annoyance or frustration.
My only complaint is that as with most horror novels I read I find myself knowing what is about to happen, but I'm like that with movies too, I'm very difficult to surprise. Also, this zombie horror didn't affect me as other books have - there were no nightmares, no skin prickling, but it was still a very good read all the same.
VERDICT:
Plague of the Dead is an enjoyable zombie read - I'm looking forward to reading, Thunder & Ashes, the next, and last, instalment in this series - Amazon 1-click, here I come!
Sadly Z. A. Recht passed away Dec 2009 - a great loss to zombie fiction.
Plague of the Dead is such a fun book - if you can call the downfall of mankind fun, which I can as it's just fiction... This book has all the elements I love in zombie fiction; lots of zombies, great characters and an absorbing storyline.
The writing is very smooth - nice and easy to read, great description and imagination. Recht also uses both types of zombie: the fast '28 Days Later' kind, and the shuffling, slow 'Night of the Living Dead' kind. And there are lots of them, thousands in fact all running and shuffling their way through humanity.
There are many characters in this book and it changes point of view numerous times. Normally this would annoy me but I really enjoyed it. It was interesting to see the crumbling world through the eyes of such different people ranging from a soldier and a journalist to a photographer and a doctor.
The other aspect to characterisation I usually have to have is depth, if a character has no back story or substance then I can lose interest pretty quickly, but although the characters in Plague of the Dead weren't written about in any depth, it didn't prevent me from enjoying the book. This is quite unusual, but I felt it was because the story in general is a really fast-paced read and didn't drag. The tension builds as the characters begin to hear snippets of the disease spreading.
I also felt the writing was quite sophisticated compared to other zombie fiction I've read in the past and it was actually very refreshing. There are a lot of the typical tropes found in zombie fiction but Recht was a little different in his approach to his characters, especially the women.
The female protagonists are strong, independent and completely capable of their own survival. At one point they were being tortured for information and one of them refused to give it opting to take the torture instead. I enjoyed reading about them and not once did I roll my eyes in annoyance or frustration.
My only complaint is that as with most horror novels I read I find myself knowing what is about to happen, but I'm like that with movies too, I'm very difficult to surprise. Also, this zombie horror didn't affect me as other books have - there were no nightmares, no skin prickling, but it was still a very good read all the same.
VERDICT:
Plague of the Dead is an enjoyable zombie read - I'm looking forward to reading, Thunder & Ashes, the next, and last, instalment in this series - Amazon 1-click, here I come!
Sadly Z. A. Recht passed away Dec 2009 - a great loss to zombie fiction.
July 15, 2013
I've said before that Jonathan Maberry is responsible for my zombie obsession, but what I don't think I have spoken about before is that Z.A. Recht's The Morningstar Strain series cemented my love for the undead. As soon as I had finished Maberry's Patient Zero, I went on a hunt for another zombie book, and the first one that I picked up was Plague of the Dead, way back in 2009. In preparation of reading the final book in the series, I decided to go back and read the first two books again, even though re-reading makes me nervous as hell.
Published before every author and his dog had a stab at writing a zombie book, Plague of the Dead captures every single thing about zombie books that I love - it starts with a bang and doesn't let up all the way through.
The plot itself is fairly straightforward, but what I love about this series is the amount of time put into building a plausible cause for the virus - and the fact there are two types of zombies - the carriers who transmit the virus without mercy and the true zombies - those that have died from the virus and re-animated, making for double danger and some pretty gruesome scenes.
There is a huge amount of focus on the collapse of the world - rather than just everything falling apart within a matter of days, the path of the virus is more closely tracked and explained, and although it is a gradual fall, the pace escalates along with the impact.
There are a bunch of varied characters, mostly focused around the military, but some civilians and medicos thrown in for good measure, and in Plague of the Dead, a lot of focus is put on the key characters and all of them are individual and realistic. One thing that I particularly enjoyed is that characters make mistakes that had me almost yelling at the book - all too often in apocalyptic stories the characters are either faultless or just plain stupid, whereas in Plague of the Dead the mistakes they make are driven by emotions which makes them very realistic.
I'm very glad I went back and read Plague of the Dead again - I was worried that time had put this book on a pedestal, but it was just as scary, intense and captivating as I remembered it to be - a book that should be a zombie classic.
Read more of my reviews atThe Aussie Zombie
Published before every author and his dog had a stab at writing a zombie book, Plague of the Dead captures every single thing about zombie books that I love - it starts with a bang and doesn't let up all the way through.
The plot itself is fairly straightforward, but what I love about this series is the amount of time put into building a plausible cause for the virus - and the fact there are two types of zombies - the carriers who transmit the virus without mercy and the true zombies - those that have died from the virus and re-animated, making for double danger and some pretty gruesome scenes.
There is a huge amount of focus on the collapse of the world - rather than just everything falling apart within a matter of days, the path of the virus is more closely tracked and explained, and although it is a gradual fall, the pace escalates along with the impact.
There are a bunch of varied characters, mostly focused around the military, but some civilians and medicos thrown in for good measure, and in Plague of the Dead, a lot of focus is put on the key characters and all of them are individual and realistic. One thing that I particularly enjoyed is that characters make mistakes that had me almost yelling at the book - all too often in apocalyptic stories the characters are either faultless or just plain stupid, whereas in Plague of the Dead the mistakes they make are driven by emotions which makes them very realistic.
I'm very glad I went back and read Plague of the Dead again - I was worried that time had put this book on a pedestal, but it was just as scary, intense and captivating as I remembered it to be - a book that should be a zombie classic.
Read more of my reviews atThe Aussie Zombie
March 30, 2009
I had a discussion with my wife about what constitutes a zombie story. Plague of the Dead seems to be more of a virus story. The strain hits, turns people into mindless, seemingly soulless, infected "carriers", but for all intents and purposes, they are still alive. However, when the "carriers" are killed, they turn into the living dead because they rise and continue on in the attempt to get some food, namely you and me. So I would venture a change of the genre to something like infection novels. A couple of things that Recht does nicely though are these: He distinguishes between the infected and the dead. The characters refer to the infected as "sprinters", because they are still alive and muscles and what not are functionally normally (aside from the fact the attack and try to eat you), and "shamblers" because they are the dead and obviously their muscles have stopped working properly, mostly due to the fact that higher brain functions are obsolete. The other aspect that I really enjoyed was when Stiles had to go into town to seek out equipment from the sporting goods store. That was the most intense scene in the novel. The set up in pretty intriguing and the overall feel of the novel is scary and sort of unnerving as I found myself wondering about the possibilities of something like this really happening. That would freak me out, but I think I could survive. Maybe...
June 29, 2019
I swear, as I was reading this, that I’ve read it before (2007ish?). It’s so familiar!
Anyway...
Zombie book, mostly from the perspective of military personnel. A decent idea, but, not my overall favorite. If I were more interested in military perhaps I’d had been able to get in to the book more. I found myself bored with the military jargon and annoyed with the macho man feel.
The characters were all very basic, the military men were so similar, I couldn’t remember who was who or why I should be remembering them. The dialog was extremely corny and sometimes forced.
My overall impression is that this was a good but an amateur try.
Anyway...
Zombie book, mostly from the perspective of military personnel. A decent idea, but, not my overall favorite. If I were more interested in military perhaps I’d had been able to get in to the book more. I found myself bored with the military jargon and annoyed with the macho man feel.
The characters were all very basic, the military men were so similar, I couldn’t remember who was who or why I should be remembering them. The dialog was extremely corny and sometimes forced.
My overall impression is that this was a good but an amateur try.
November 5, 2010
I am more interested in character development than I am in raw visceral appeal that is related to the horror in horror novels. Give me some folks to root for and I will read with baited breath every last bit of their stories. Sad when they died, thrilled when they live. Don't get me wrong, the raw fear and emotions, the violence and excitement of a zombie tale are what makes them appealing. It is just that without the first element listed above, the story is nothing more than just a gory bloodbath that has little to no meaning to it. This story has a good handle on both areas fortunately and keeps you entertained at every turn.
Z.A. Recht has spun a tale worth reading for both zombie enthusiasts and those who enjoy thrillers in general. Two seperate stories are told here, one of the military troops stationed in Africa and the Middle-East attempting to contain a new strain of virus which has infected millions. The other part of the story is of a government doctor working desperately to try and understand the virus and hopefully find a cure for it. Morningstar is not your simple zombie virus; the dead do walk, for certain, but the living who are infected are also a menace. The virus and its impact is well thought out, plausible, and quite interesting.
Our two main characters, Lt. Colonel Anna Demillio of the US Army Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, and General Frank Sherman who is initially stationed in Africa, begin this story swapping emails about the virus and its spread. We return to their correspondence in the early stages of the book to further develop the tale but much of the book is of their actual experiences. General Sherman must face off against the plague with his troops on land and later at sea, trying desperately to get back home to the U.S. Anna is fighting her own battles with the government as well as the virus in a laboratory environment. The virus is spreading globally but the government wants to keep the public unaware that it has reached our shores or that any of them are in danger.
Both sides of the tale are intriguing and have some good, solid action sequences. Mr. Recht did an excellent job of researching viruses-how they spread, past history with them, etc. He also has a solid understanding of the military and the hardware they use. Even more importantly, he gives us compelling characters in a well written story. This is an excellent first chapter in what I believe will be a trilogy of books on the Morning Star Virus.
This book goes on my list as a "must read" for enthusiasts of Zombie fiction. There are plenty of zombie books out there, ranging from some really bad fan fiction to top quality stuff that matches up with any other horror writing. This is one of those top notch ones that I heartily recommend.
Z.A. Recht has spun a tale worth reading for both zombie enthusiasts and those who enjoy thrillers in general. Two seperate stories are told here, one of the military troops stationed in Africa and the Middle-East attempting to contain a new strain of virus which has infected millions. The other part of the story is of a government doctor working desperately to try and understand the virus and hopefully find a cure for it. Morningstar is not your simple zombie virus; the dead do walk, for certain, but the living who are infected are also a menace. The virus and its impact is well thought out, plausible, and quite interesting.
Our two main characters, Lt. Colonel Anna Demillio of the US Army Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, and General Frank Sherman who is initially stationed in Africa, begin this story swapping emails about the virus and its spread. We return to their correspondence in the early stages of the book to further develop the tale but much of the book is of their actual experiences. General Sherman must face off against the plague with his troops on land and later at sea, trying desperately to get back home to the U.S. Anna is fighting her own battles with the government as well as the virus in a laboratory environment. The virus is spreading globally but the government wants to keep the public unaware that it has reached our shores or that any of them are in danger.
Both sides of the tale are intriguing and have some good, solid action sequences. Mr. Recht did an excellent job of researching viruses-how they spread, past history with them, etc. He also has a solid understanding of the military and the hardware they use. Even more importantly, he gives us compelling characters in a well written story. This is an excellent first chapter in what I believe will be a trilogy of books on the Morning Star Virus.
This book goes on my list as a "must read" for enthusiasts of Zombie fiction. There are plenty of zombie books out there, ranging from some really bad fan fiction to top quality stuff that matches up with any other horror writing. This is one of those top notch ones that I heartily recommend.
September 6, 2010
I watched the trailer for the new AMC series, "The Walking Dead", and couldn't wait until Halloween night to get my zombie on, so I'm on a bit of a bender.
"Monster Island"...uh, NO (see my review for details).
"Feed" - LOVED IT! (see my review for details).
"Forest of Hands and Teeth" - Did not love, but I am still thinking about it(see my review for details).
And now, "Plague of the Dead".
This has the most action since "World War Z". The book starts in Setember 2006 with a few emails from two of the main characters, Anna Demilio, a military virologist, and General Sherman. They converse in hypotheticals about this Morningstar virus, and what it could do, how fast it could spread, etc. In December (about 40 pages in), is the first real world Morningstar case, and the book covers the next 60 days, at which point the world is in smoking, zombie-filled ruins.
If you want good, solid, zombie-killing action - here's your winner. Basic archetype characters, no one to really put on my favorites list, but that's OK. I went in for the zombies anyway.
This book has infected, or carriers, like 28 Days Later - meaning they are fast, and the blood is toxic. They are still alive, but not self aware. They can be killed like any human, but unless you got the head - they reanimate into your classic, shambler, zombie.
I complained to my husband about Morningstar being a stupid name for a zombie virus - then he explained (like he was speaking to a toddler) that a morningstar is a big, pointy mace used for blugeoning a person's brains out.
Oh. Nevermind...
Fast, fun read - and there are more. I could be wrong, but I thought I saw a #7 on the computer screen as I was looking over the shoulder of the gal at the bookstore (this book was in the Lit section, just down the row from Nicholas Sparks, can I get a WTF?).
"Monster Island"...uh, NO (see my review for details).
"Feed" - LOVED IT! (see my review for details).
"Forest of Hands and Teeth" - Did not love, but I am still thinking about it(see my review for details).
And now, "Plague of the Dead".
This has the most action since "World War Z". The book starts in Setember 2006 with a few emails from two of the main characters, Anna Demilio, a military virologist, and General Sherman. They converse in hypotheticals about this Morningstar virus, and what it could do, how fast it could spread, etc. In December (about 40 pages in), is the first real world Morningstar case, and the book covers the next 60 days, at which point the world is in smoking, zombie-filled ruins.
If you want good, solid, zombie-killing action - here's your winner. Basic archetype characters, no one to really put on my favorites list, but that's OK. I went in for the zombies anyway.
This book has infected, or carriers, like 28 Days Later - meaning they are fast, and the blood is toxic. They are still alive, but not self aware. They can be killed like any human, but unless you got the head - they reanimate into your classic, shambler, zombie.
I complained to my husband about Morningstar being a stupid name for a zombie virus - then he explained (like he was speaking to a toddler) that a morningstar is a big, pointy mace used for blugeoning a person's brains out.
Oh. Nevermind...
Fast, fun read - and there are more. I could be wrong, but I thought I saw a #7 on the computer screen as I was looking over the shoulder of the gal at the bookstore (this book was in the Lit section, just down the row from Nicholas Sparks, can I get a WTF?).
June 19, 2015
What a great story! I grabbed this on a whim at the library. I knew nothing about this book at it was my first ever zombie novel. A perfect blend of action and survival with a side-serving of zombie horror.
A new virus strain has been discovered, called Morningstar. While scientists meddle in making new discoveries, a few people are soon infected. While nothing is amiss at first, the virus slowly works through it's victims. The strain is very contagious. A bite or scratch is guaranteed to infect you. They touch your blood and you are screwed. But their blood and bodily fluid touching your skin can be just as bad... This virus will spread through any contact it can.
This book focuses on that spread. How it could travel and effect the whole world. The concept is quite disturbing since it would make sense. Yet when it finally mutates, the infected go a bit attack crazy. Chaos ensues!
One thing I loved in this book was the types of infected. You had carriers who have had contact but are otherwise still normal. Once it has gone through it's incubation period, they go crazy are are on virus steroids or something. These are referred to as 'Sprinters.' they are fast, and loud. They sound the alarms to other zombies and will chase you down! Once an infected dies, they rise again. These are referred to as 'shamblers.' They are slow but quite. Can sneak up right behind you but if spotted at a distance you might be okay. My guess it its the rigor mortis kicking in that slows them down. The problems are you have to kill the infected twice! Also, regardless of speed, they DO NOT tire. They will track and chase you for miles. So being on foot is bad since humans still need sleep and rest.
Then you have the crazies who when the world falls apart, go nuts and destroy things, hurt and kill people, etc. And you have those who want to help and you have the survivalists. This book shares of the crazies but the focal points are from the helpers and survalists.
This story has a heavy military emphasis. The story focuses around mostly them. From trying to control the outbreak, to trying to get away and then figuring out what the hell to do next. It is an interesting ride. We get a lot of different viewpoints and perspectives in this book. From the military, to the scientists, to Red Cross, to a reporter. Each character has various strengths and weaknesses that we get to see, giving the story a very real feel.
some of the characters can get a bit confusing with names and the changing perspectives but about halfway though it does get a lot easier. While I like many of the characters, you do not get attached to them. They are not too deeply created for the most part. But that is a good thing. This is a zombie novel after all. Many will not make it. But there is enough deep and backround to understand and relate to them.
While lots of death occur, it is not grotesque. More action-style but the zombie survival with the feel of 'What if' that this book gives adds the element of horror. This is not for young readers. This is an adult novel. While maybe suitable to older, mature teens can be debatable.
Fast paced, easy to read and lots of action in this first book of The Morningstar Strain trilogy. Almost 4.5 stars!
A new virus strain has been discovered, called Morningstar. While scientists meddle in making new discoveries, a few people are soon infected. While nothing is amiss at first, the virus slowly works through it's victims. The strain is very contagious. A bite or scratch is guaranteed to infect you. They touch your blood and you are screwed. But their blood and bodily fluid touching your skin can be just as bad... This virus will spread through any contact it can.
This book focuses on that spread. How it could travel and effect the whole world. The concept is quite disturbing since it would make sense. Yet when it finally mutates, the infected go a bit attack crazy. Chaos ensues!
One thing I loved in this book was the types of infected. You had carriers who have had contact but are otherwise still normal. Once it has gone through it's incubation period, they go crazy are are on virus steroids or something. These are referred to as 'Sprinters.' they are fast, and loud. They sound the alarms to other zombies and will chase you down! Once an infected dies, they rise again. These are referred to as 'shamblers.' They are slow but quite. Can sneak up right behind you but if spotted at a distance you might be okay. My guess it its the rigor mortis kicking in that slows them down. The problems are you have to kill the infected twice! Also, regardless of speed, they DO NOT tire. They will track and chase you for miles. So being on foot is bad since humans still need sleep and rest.
Then you have the crazies who when the world falls apart, go nuts and destroy things, hurt and kill people, etc. And you have those who want to help and you have the survivalists. This book shares of the crazies but the focal points are from the helpers and survalists.
This story has a heavy military emphasis. The story focuses around mostly them. From trying to control the outbreak, to trying to get away and then figuring out what the hell to do next. It is an interesting ride. We get a lot of different viewpoints and perspectives in this book. From the military, to the scientists, to Red Cross, to a reporter. Each character has various strengths and weaknesses that we get to see, giving the story a very real feel.
some of the characters can get a bit confusing with names and the changing perspectives but about halfway though it does get a lot easier. While I like many of the characters, you do not get attached to them. They are not too deeply created for the most part. But that is a good thing. This is a zombie novel after all. Many will not make it. But there is enough deep and backround to understand and relate to them.
While lots of death occur, it is not grotesque. More action-style but the zombie survival with the feel of 'What if' that this book gives adds the element of horror. This is not for young readers. This is an adult novel. While maybe suitable to older, mature teens can be debatable.
Fast paced, easy to read and lots of action in this first book of The Morningstar Strain trilogy. Almost 4.5 stars!
July 11, 2012
3 Stars
Plague of the Dead is a decent book one in a typical post apocalyptic zombie world. This book has much the same feel that The Autumn series by David Moody, but lacks the emotional impact that is delivered by the characters of that series.
""He's a zombie," breathed Julie.
" I suppose by definition he would be," Anna said. "But we at USAMRIID don't use sci-fi terms. We prefer to call him a
Deceased ambulatory viral host."
Hah even in death we have to be PC!
No explanations to the virus are given other than it happens in Africa, and monkeys may have been involved. This novel plays out like a military book, where planning and coordinating on how to survive, to rescue, and to move forward are the major plot points. The undead zombies are your typical come in two flavors. One, the classic slow moving shambler, and two the fast paced runner. The line splitting the two has an interesting twist. In this book the living when infected will succumb to the virus and become "Carriers", they will be runners, and they will technically still be alive. (That is why they are so much more coordinated and can run.) These carriers can be killed like any normal person, to then only rise again as an undead shuffler.
A fast enjoyable zombie book that is good enough for me to recommend and to also move on to book number two.
Plague of the Dead is a decent book one in a typical post apocalyptic zombie world. This book has much the same feel that The Autumn series by David Moody, but lacks the emotional impact that is delivered by the characters of that series.
""He's a zombie," breathed Julie.
" I suppose by definition he would be," Anna said. "But we at USAMRIID don't use sci-fi terms. We prefer to call him a
Deceased ambulatory viral host."
Hah even in death we have to be PC!
No explanations to the virus are given other than it happens in Africa, and monkeys may have been involved. This novel plays out like a military book, where planning and coordinating on how to survive, to rescue, and to move forward are the major plot points. The undead zombies are your typical come in two flavors. One, the classic slow moving shambler, and two the fast paced runner. The line splitting the two has an interesting twist. In this book the living when infected will succumb to the virus and become "Carriers", they will be runners, and they will technically still be alive. (That is why they are so much more coordinated and can run.) These carriers can be killed like any normal person, to then only rise again as an undead shuffler.
A fast enjoyable zombie book that is good enough for me to recommend and to also move on to book number two.
October 17, 2013
Although not as bad as Joe McKinney's "Mutated" or Simon Clark's "Stranger," this is a dumb, and worse, boring zombie novel. The twist is that the 'infected' start out as 28 Days Later-style running zombies, but if you shoot 'em in the chest, they revive as Romero-style slow zombies; one hard-to-believe plot thread involves the US government trying to conceal the latter fact past the point of absurdity, hunting whistleblowers even after the zombies have already overrun the US.
The writing is weak, and rushes through events: one moment zombies are reviving in a morgue (in a scene totally lacking any tension), 20 pages later all of Africa is overrun, then later the US is overrun with little fanfare or explanation. Characterization, details and worldbuilding are lacking. There is one good scene, with soldiers defending Port Suez from a massive horde of zombies, perhaps given its tension & realism by Z.A. Recht's time in the military. Unfortunately, shortly after that, it's like it becomes a different book, as the action moves to a far more familiar setting, a zombie-overrun America with small groups of survivors. I wish he'd stuck with the large-scale military battles, which were tense and cool and reminded me of the World War Z movie, unlike the rest of the book.
The writing is weak, and rushes through events: one moment zombies are reviving in a morgue (in a scene totally lacking any tension), 20 pages later all of Africa is overrun, then later the US is overrun with little fanfare or explanation. Characterization, details and worldbuilding are lacking. There is one good scene, with soldiers defending Port Suez from a massive horde of zombies, perhaps given its tension & realism by Z.A. Recht's time in the military. Unfortunately, shortly after that, it's like it becomes a different book, as the action moves to a far more familiar setting, a zombie-overrun America with small groups of survivors. I wish he'd stuck with the large-scale military battles, which were tense and cool and reminded me of the World War Z movie, unlike the rest of the book.
November 12, 2009
I am a stone cold sucker for zombie stories. I don't care if they're the old school Romero shufflers or the new breed of 28 Days Later style runners, give me a story about the world being overrun by undead flesh eaters, and it makes me happy. This probably says something very disturbing about me.
This is pretty standard stuff. A virus code named Morningstar breaks out in Africa and *gasp* brings the dead back to life with a taste for the living. Efforts at containment fail and soon the entire planet is being overrun.
The remains of an Army force is trying to get back to the States after failing to hold back the zombies in Africa, and a Army virus expert finds that the U.S. government may be more dangerous than the flesh eaters after she leaks classified info to warn the public about the threat. Hilarity ensues.
Pretty solid zombie story, but there's a lot of overly macho military and spy crap with a lot of B movie cliches. This isn't anywhere close to the class of a World War Z or The Walking Dead graphic novels, but not too shabby as ending the world by zombie apocalypse goes. It was entertaining enough that I'll check out the sequel.
This is pretty standard stuff. A virus code named Morningstar breaks out in Africa and *gasp* brings the dead back to life with a taste for the living. Efforts at containment fail and soon the entire planet is being overrun.
The remains of an Army force is trying to get back to the States after failing to hold back the zombies in Africa, and a Army virus expert finds that the U.S. government may be more dangerous than the flesh eaters after she leaks classified info to warn the public about the threat. Hilarity ensues.
Pretty solid zombie story, but there's a lot of overly macho military and spy crap with a lot of B movie cliches. This isn't anywhere close to the class of a World War Z or The Walking Dead graphic novels, but not too shabby as ending the world by zombie apocalypse goes. It was entertaining enough that I'll check out the sequel.
September 2, 2016
I wanted to like this book, but was never able to like all, or even most, of it. Between a ton of really obnoxious characters, a general lack of knowledge about the military, and horrible dialogue there is a lot that makes this a below average novel. It starts strong, but the middle is a chore to get through.
The characters keep making clueless and stupid choices. No one thinks about saving ammo, or to take heavy equipment with them. They also run around acting like B-grade action movie characters. At one point a character challenges his former partner into a duel, while zombies and a SWAT team are attacking the house. I mean, really?
The military knowledge also seems to come from action movies and Call of Duty. Every single military character is overwrought and un-military. He gets the weapons, jargon, and just about everything else wrong. It kept grating at me all book.
A fairly forgettable book in the slew of zombie books. World War Z or Patient Zero are much better choices than Plague of the Dead.
The characters keep making clueless and stupid choices. No one thinks about saving ammo, or to take heavy equipment with them. They also run around acting like B-grade action movie characters. At one point a character challenges his former partner into a duel, while zombies and a SWAT team are attacking the house. I mean, really?
The military knowledge also seems to come from action movies and Call of Duty. Every single military character is overwrought and un-military. He gets the weapons, jargon, and just about everything else wrong. It kept grating at me all book.
A fairly forgettable book in the slew of zombie books. World War Z or Patient Zero are much better choices than Plague of the Dead.
August 5, 2014
Possibly the worst zombie book in the entire world. The book is written in an extremely annoying style, consisting of a constant narration of what people said and did. "He stood. He said, 'This has to end.' He turned and lifted his hand. He waved. He left the room." This book sucked.
July 1, 2020
Review of Plague of the Dead by Z. A. Recht.
5/5 stars.
Can I just say WOW.
This book had been sitting on my shelf since 2014 and only got around to reading it 6 years later. During a pandemic.
*Ironic much?*
But anyway. I'M SO HAPPY I READ THIS, because... honestly? This is one hell of a zombie book. This is the stuff about zombies I wanna read and I couldn't get enough of it! That's why I'm already soooo looking forward to reading the sequel.
Plague of the Dead will satisfy your need for details: details about the zombies, how they look, how they move, how fast they walk/run, HOW they became zombies in the first place, etc.
And not only that.
If you're anything like me, you're always on the lookout for scientific details and I can't say it enough: your need for all of that is completely fulfilled here. Scientific and military details are *chef kiss*.
Characters-wise, this book isn't that much 'deep', loads of people are introduced during the narration, but don't expect the writer to go full on psychologist: you'll have to retrieve some infos on your own, as a reader should always do. Something that will help you though, is the writing style and how dialogues were constructed. We get to know the people inside the book especially thanks to those, so you wanna keep a close eye on them, trust me.
Another thing I EXTREMELY loved is the journey that takes place in the story and, once again *sorry*, the details about the whereabouts and the timestamps! So much thought went into the making of this book, I'm so so impressed! Plus, the writer was so young when he wrote this, so kudos for that as well.
If you don't know though, Recht died in 2009 at the age of 26, he was involved in a car accident. He completed the first two books in this trilogy on his own, but then the third one had to be completed by Thom Brannan and was published 2 years after his passing.
Zachary, thank you for your service (he was in the military) and also, thank you for providing the world with this amazing book. Can't wait to read the sequels!
5/5 stars.
Can I just say WOW.
This book had been sitting on my shelf since 2014 and only got around to reading it 6 years later. During a pandemic.
*Ironic much?*
But anyway. I'M SO HAPPY I READ THIS, because... honestly? This is one hell of a zombie book. This is the stuff about zombies I wanna read and I couldn't get enough of it! That's why I'm already soooo looking forward to reading the sequel.
Plague of the Dead will satisfy your need for details: details about the zombies, how they look, how they move, how fast they walk/run, HOW they became zombies in the first place, etc.
And not only that.
If you're anything like me, you're always on the lookout for scientific details and I can't say it enough: your need for all of that is completely fulfilled here. Scientific and military details are *chef kiss*.
Characters-wise, this book isn't that much 'deep', loads of people are introduced during the narration, but don't expect the writer to go full on psychologist: you'll have to retrieve some infos on your own, as a reader should always do. Something that will help you though, is the writing style and how dialogues were constructed. We get to know the people inside the book especially thanks to those, so you wanna keep a close eye on them, trust me.
Another thing I EXTREMELY loved is the journey that takes place in the story and, once again *sorry*, the details about the whereabouts and the timestamps! So much thought went into the making of this book, I'm so so impressed! Plus, the writer was so young when he wrote this, so kudos for that as well.
If you don't know though, Recht died in 2009 at the age of 26, he was involved in a car accident. He completed the first two books in this trilogy on his own, but then the third one had to be completed by Thom Brannan and was published 2 years after his passing.
Zachary, thank you for your service (he was in the military) and also, thank you for providing the world with this amazing book. Can't wait to read the sequels!
June 13, 2018
Obsolutely action packed,engagin,weel-written.
November 1, 2014
Though it starts promisingly enough, Z. A. Recht's Plague of the Dead quickly descends into standard zombie apocalyptic territory as the U.S. makes every effort to curtail the spread of a virus on the African continent that turns people into slobbering rage-filled monsters, and then once the hosts are dead, returns them to life as shambling zombies, with both forms programmed to do nothing more than spread the virus. This best of both worlds approach (think George Romero and 28 Days Later) is about the most novel addition Recht makes to the proliferation of zombie literature in the universe at the moment. Everything is else is standard, if inoffensive; predictable, though readable.
Characters are by the numbers, with the narrative boiling down to two separate groups who, by the end of the novel, are aiming to meet one another somewhere in the middle of the fairly large land mass known as North America. This implies one aspect of Plague of the Dead which was less than stellar: It is far from its own self-contained novel. In essence, it reads like Part 1 of a massive zombie tome, and offers nothing approximating a conclusion, instead baiting the reader to continue with the second book in the series ...
Of course, this was Recht's first book and to be fair, as far as first books go, I've read far, far worse. It would have been interesting to chart Recht's progress as an author, but sadly he only wrote one other book - the sequel to this one - before dying at a tragically young age.
Honestly, I'm not sure if I'll bother seeking out the sequel at this stage. I'll have to see if curiosity eventually overwhelms me.
2.5 Non-Sprinting Shamblers for Plague of the Dead.
Characters are by the numbers, with the narrative boiling down to two separate groups who, by the end of the novel, are aiming to meet one another somewhere in the middle of the fairly large land mass known as North America. This implies one aspect of Plague of the Dead which was less than stellar: It is far from its own self-contained novel. In essence, it reads like Part 1 of a massive zombie tome, and offers nothing approximating a conclusion, instead baiting the reader to continue with the second book in the series ...
Of course, this was Recht's first book and to be fair, as far as first books go, I've read far, far worse. It would have been interesting to chart Recht's progress as an author, but sadly he only wrote one other book - the sequel to this one - before dying at a tragically young age.
Honestly, I'm not sure if I'll bother seeking out the sequel at this stage. I'll have to see if curiosity eventually overwhelms me.
2.5 Non-Sprinting Shamblers for Plague of the Dead.
July 3, 2018
Ok, I know I just resolved not to read any more bad zombie books, but a friend had already loaned this one to me, so it doesn't count.
There's a pattern that emerges when an apocalyptic story is told by someone with a military background—at least it has in the books I've read. The mild-mannered ex-soldier, wanting nothing more than to settle down and enjoy his life as a private citizen, is forced to rely on his superior training and personal weaponry when civilization implodes. (Clueless civvies are always totally unprepared for the reckoning.) Sometimes there's character development—like when our hero discovers his dreams of living a "normal" life conflict with his fundamental take-names-and-kick-brains nature—but usually things simply devolve into gun porn.
Recht's story adds something to the zombie genre (I like the distinction between "sprinters" and "shamblers"), but eventually it falls into the same pattern. There are three books in this series (aren't there always?), but I won't be reading the others.
There's a pattern that emerges when an apocalyptic story is told by someone with a military background—at least it has in the books I've read. The mild-mannered ex-soldier, wanting nothing more than to settle down and enjoy his life as a private citizen, is forced to rely on his superior training and personal weaponry when civilization implodes. (Clueless civvies are always totally unprepared for the reckoning.) Sometimes there's character development—like when our hero discovers his dreams of living a "normal" life conflict with his fundamental take-names-and-kick-brains nature—but usually things simply devolve into gun porn.
Recht's story adds something to the zombie genre (I like the distinction between "sprinters" and "shamblers"), but eventually it falls into the same pattern. There are three books in this series (aren't there always?), but I won't be reading the others.
October 31, 2015
Usually, I can pick the survivors in a zombie novel. It's pretty easy. Just find the ones who aren't written like walking snackpacks, and root for them. In the case of Plague of the Dead, however, it becomes more difficult, as Recht focuses all his attentions on a gruelingly dull point-by-point military description of the initial zombie outbreak, leaving no time to flesh out his characters. His disinterest leads directly to the reader's disinterest... or at least my disinterest. Those more interested in the technical military aspects might find this entertaining, but I like my apocalypses with a little more flesh and blood.
April 22, 2015
I think I am done with the Zombie genre forever. This book was an ok read for awhile but eventually fell flat with boring characters. I really find it hard to believe that a horde of zombies is fast enough to chase military vehicles over long distances.
October 21, 2014
The writing style is just terrible and uninspired. The mechanism for character and story development is based entirely on convenience. The plot is laborious.
In summary this book is a perfect example of genre exploitation.
Thumb if you agree.
In summary this book is a perfect example of genre exploitation.
Thumb if you agree.
August 14, 2014
it was a bit like world war z but not as good.
June 7, 2025
Racconto narrato in maniera coinvolgente, manca tuttavia di una credibilità in alcuni dei punti salienti (diverse situazioni potenzialmente risolte semplicemente dal buonsenso, qualità platealmente a tratti assente nei protagonisti).
A questo si aggiungono purtroppo un paio di cliché per la caratterizzazione dei personaggi, che li fa risultare piuttosto scontati e/o già visti.
In extremis segnalerei il colpo di scena più chiamato e scontato che si possa immaginare, nell'ultima parte del racconto.
Insomma, la storia è carina, il ritmo serrato e ci si sente molto partecipi nelle vicende dei personaggi; sovente capita di riuscire ad immedesimarsi nell'angoscia della loro situazione.
Tuttavia i punti di cui sopra sarebbero stati palesemente da evitare.
Comunque consigliato, come da stelline fornite!
A questo si aggiungono purtroppo un paio di cliché per la caratterizzazione dei personaggi, che li fa risultare piuttosto scontati e/o già visti.
In extremis segnalerei il colpo di scena più chiamato e scontato che si possa immaginare, nell'ultima parte del racconto.
Insomma, la storia è carina, il ritmo serrato e ci si sente molto partecipi nelle vicende dei personaggi; sovente capita di riuscire ad immedesimarsi nell'angoscia della loro situazione.
Tuttavia i punti di cui sopra sarebbero stati palesemente da evitare.
Comunque consigliato, come da stelline fornite!
February 23, 2019
Notevole questo romanzo apocalittico di Recht, un autore prematuramente scomparso nel 2009, che ci ha lasciato solo una trilogia di cui questo è il primo volume. Il titolo italiano è fuorviante, dato che l'opera ha il suo punto forte nella "scientificità" e nel "realismo" della storia. Si tratta della narrazione di una pandemia causata da un virus forse artificiale e delle azioni che si mettono in atto per contenerla. Estremamente realistica, molto ben narrata dal punto di vista dell'azione, ho torvato molti punti in comune con un'altra serie di opere sullo stesso tema, realizzate da autori italiani, cioè i testi relativi alla Pandemia Gialla, prodotti da Alessandro Girola e company. Insomma un bel testo, agile e di facile lettura, che non indugia sul facile horror o splatter. Consigliato per gli amanti del genere.
April 17, 2017
This is without doubt one of the top five zombie books that I've ever read. This series along with Glynn James and Michael Stephen Fuchs 'Arisen' series are probably the best zombie series ever. I did not want to put this book down and I read it in one day. Yes it was that good! Who needs to eat or have toilet functions when there are deadly zombies to enjoy...
Anna, a Lt Col. has been studying the Morningstar Strain in animals and is concerned about how deadly an outbreak would be, warning General Sherman of the consequences. It is Sherman's troops who have to make a stand at the Suez Canal when the African outbreak gets out of control and Anna and the General are aware that victims are becoming zombies. The outbreak is now a plague and African quarantine fails, putting the world at threat.
The story follows key groups. First we have General Sherman's group featuring the soldiers under his command and rescued aid workers and civilians who fled with them as the quarantine failed. My favourites apart from the General in this group were Mbutu, the air traffic control guy who witnessed the first attacks at his airport and Denton the photo journalist attached to the soldiers. I liked the different characters of the soldiers that we follow here and you do care what happens to everyone. We also follow Anna who gives the story of the outbreak to a journalist to leak, putting both Anna and Julie in danger as certain government officials are determined to shut them down, led by the psychopath that is Sawyer.
The action is non stop which I love in zombie books! The airport outbreak where we meet survivor Mbutu is where the infection begins, which leads to a 'dead' man from here attacking the coroner and infecting others. The action moves to the troops at Suez trying to blow bridges and block all routes from Africa as a mass of zombies come towards them. The military don't factor in the arrival of a ship full of the infected to give them a war on two fronts. The battle of Suez was tense and exciting, with death and disaster in abundance. The survivors flee north to Sharm el Sheikh, with attacks by the dead as they pass through towns, to seek the safety of their ship. But that becomes a death trap when people hide evidence of bites and an outbreak starts on board. It really is non stop zombie action in this book, with the story being carried along by well developed and interesting characters.
When the people on the ship split into two groups, the journey gets even more dangerous for Sherman's group. They need supplies and spot a small town that looks deserted and you just KNOW that going in there is going to be a very bad idea. Can they find supplies? Are there survivors here? Where are the zombies? This was the very best part of the book for me. The tension levels built so high that I was a nervous wreck just reading it! I felt as if I was in that town with them, my heart in my mouth with every step, and here we break off into different groups amongst our survivors as they get into different types of trouble. Worrying about favourite characters who are missing or in trouble made this a nerve shredding read.
Anna has her own mission-evade the psycho agents trying to capture and kill her, and find her way with her companions to a lab where she can continue to work on a vaccine or cure. She contacts Sherman about the plan and he decides that this is their best chance and decides he is going AWOL to join her along with anyone who wants to leave the ship. The only problem is, those who choose to follow him are going to face a journey across American soil where the undead are now rampaging, along with human criminals and bandits. The story switches between the two main plots which keeps the action fast paced and there is never a dull moment.
I also enjoyed the fact that the author had two different types of zombies-shamblers and sprinters. The sprinters are physically intact and can move at high speed, hence the name, and are deadly monsters trying to kill you. When you shoot these guys, they die and reanimate as shamblers, who look and act like your traditional zombies. Shoot them again and they remain dead. So if you take down a group of sprinters, you have a certain period of time before they reanimate so you better remember to kill them again! This was good, and it led to some very exciting scenes when characters seem to forget these safety rules!
The author did a great job with the action scenes. There was excitement, gore and he had a great way of continually ramping up the tension to unbearable levels. I loved the characters, I loved the zombies, I loved the way he told the story. I searched a long time for a copy of this book years back when it was so hard to get, and it was worth the wait and all the money I had to pay to get it. As soon as I finished I was grabbing the second book to see what happened to everyone.
I recommend this book to those who love fast paced zombie books!
Anna, a Lt Col. has been studying the Morningstar Strain in animals and is concerned about how deadly an outbreak would be, warning General Sherman of the consequences. It is Sherman's troops who have to make a stand at the Suez Canal when the African outbreak gets out of control and Anna and the General are aware that victims are becoming zombies. The outbreak is now a plague and African quarantine fails, putting the world at threat.
The story follows key groups. First we have General Sherman's group featuring the soldiers under his command and rescued aid workers and civilians who fled with them as the quarantine failed. My favourites apart from the General in this group were Mbutu, the air traffic control guy who witnessed the first attacks at his airport and Denton the photo journalist attached to the soldiers. I liked the different characters of the soldiers that we follow here and you do care what happens to everyone. We also follow Anna who gives the story of the outbreak to a journalist to leak, putting both Anna and Julie in danger as certain government officials are determined to shut them down, led by the psychopath that is Sawyer.
The action is non stop which I love in zombie books! The airport outbreak where we meet survivor Mbutu is where the infection begins, which leads to a 'dead' man from here attacking the coroner and infecting others. The action moves to the troops at Suez trying to blow bridges and block all routes from Africa as a mass of zombies come towards them. The military don't factor in the arrival of a ship full of the infected to give them a war on two fronts. The battle of Suez was tense and exciting, with death and disaster in abundance. The survivors flee north to Sharm el Sheikh, with attacks by the dead as they pass through towns, to seek the safety of their ship. But that becomes a death trap when people hide evidence of bites and an outbreak starts on board. It really is non stop zombie action in this book, with the story being carried along by well developed and interesting characters.
When the people on the ship split into two groups, the journey gets even more dangerous for Sherman's group. They need supplies and spot a small town that looks deserted and you just KNOW that going in there is going to be a very bad idea. Can they find supplies? Are there survivors here? Where are the zombies? This was the very best part of the book for me. The tension levels built so high that I was a nervous wreck just reading it! I felt as if I was in that town with them, my heart in my mouth with every step, and here we break off into different groups amongst our survivors as they get into different types of trouble. Worrying about favourite characters who are missing or in trouble made this a nerve shredding read.
Anna has her own mission-evade the psycho agents trying to capture and kill her, and find her way with her companions to a lab where she can continue to work on a vaccine or cure. She contacts Sherman about the plan and he decides that this is their best chance and decides he is going AWOL to join her along with anyone who wants to leave the ship. The only problem is, those who choose to follow him are going to face a journey across American soil where the undead are now rampaging, along with human criminals and bandits. The story switches between the two main plots which keeps the action fast paced and there is never a dull moment.
I also enjoyed the fact that the author had two different types of zombies-shamblers and sprinters. The sprinters are physically intact and can move at high speed, hence the name, and are deadly monsters trying to kill you. When you shoot these guys, they die and reanimate as shamblers, who look and act like your traditional zombies. Shoot them again and they remain dead. So if you take down a group of sprinters, you have a certain period of time before they reanimate so you better remember to kill them again! This was good, and it led to some very exciting scenes when characters seem to forget these safety rules!
The author did a great job with the action scenes. There was excitement, gore and he had a great way of continually ramping up the tension to unbearable levels. I loved the characters, I loved the zombies, I loved the way he told the story. I searched a long time for a copy of this book years back when it was so hard to get, and it was worth the wait and all the money I had to pay to get it. As soon as I finished I was grabbing the second book to see what happened to everyone.
I recommend this book to those who love fast paced zombie books!
May 8, 2021
I've read worse zombie books. This one was tedious at times and there were sections of it I couldn't wait to get through. I liked a few of the characters and was rooting for them! Several other characters were so stupid I just wanted to DiNozzo-slap them!
September 19, 2021
3.5 rounded up to 4.
Was a decent read. Zombie stories inevitably points to societal collapse. This one was no different, though it followed 2 story lines. Might read the second book in the series in some time.
Was a decent read. Zombie stories inevitably points to societal collapse. This one was no different, though it followed 2 story lines. Might read the second book in the series in some time.
October 29, 2024
Standard zombie apocalypse fair. But good story, good characters, etc., worth the read if you like this kind of reading material. Will continue series.
August 24, 2010
Z. A. Recht, The Morningstar Strain: Plague of the Dead (Permuted Press, 2006)
The late Zachary Recht died in December of 2009 at the age of twenty-six, leaving behind roughly half of the final book in the Morningstar Strain trilogy. Word on the street is that it will eventually be fleshed out by another author and released by Permuted, with the blessings of Recht's family. Good news indeed, as the Morningstar Strain books are quite a surprise, if you're not familiar with Permuted stuff. A number of Permuted authors have recently gone, pardon the pun, viral; David Moody was picked up by Thomas Dunne, Kim Paffenroth has published through Baylor University Press, and just before his death, Recht was picked up by Simon and Schuster. As a result of the latter, Plague of the Dead, which had been out of print for a while, got itself a re-release and shelf space in major bookstores.
We start off with a nasty new disease coming out of the African jungles, where so many of these ugly things have started (Ebola, Marburg, supposedly HIV...). If you've seen a few fast-zombie-that-aren't-really-zombie movies (think 28 Days Later...), you've got an idea of the first stage of the disease, known as Morningstar. The trick of it is that carriers who aren't correctly dispatched also rise from the dead, seeming more like Romero-style zombies (shuffling and moaning and all that). Plague of the Dead takes us through the first months of the disease as it spreads from Africa to the rest of the planet through the eyes of a number of people: an Army general, a Red Cross worker, a virologist who's become the greatest living expert on Morningstar, and a number of others. This is an ensemble-cast book, but an ensemble-cast book in the way Dean Koontz does it; they all start out in different places, but you know they'll all wind up together eventually.
At least, you know that after the first few chapters. The introduction of Rebecca (the Red Cross volunteer) threw me for a loop for a good few pages until I figured out what Recht was doing, and then I got back on track well enough. After that one hiccup, everything went smoothly, and I ended up finishing the book in a weekend (taking time out to devote to other books I'm in the middle of as well); Recht has some fine ideas about the zombie apocalypse, and seems to have had enough sense of his own limitations to keep the scenarios he spins on a very small scale (most of the scenes gravitate towards small rooms), looking at one piece of the puzzle rather than trying to give an overall picture—a trap many purveyors of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy fall into all too often.
The book does have its shortcomings, though the majority of them (having to do with proofreading) can be laid at the feet of Pocket/Simon and Schuster, but the typo level is about standard for modern novels, so if you've gotten used to it, no problem. Also, I tend to like my series books to at least have the illusion of being standalones, and the ending of Plague of the Dead leaves no doubt in your mind that there is another book coming. None of this in any way constitutes not recommending the book, however; this is, in the vein of many recent survival-horror novels, less about horror than it is about action (Recht, a vet himself, devotes a number of pages to the military's operations against the undead—your mileage may vary, but the reason I love fantasy novels by authors like Elizabeth Moon and Steven Erikson is exactly this), but there are some passages where things get pretty creepy as well. If you like this kind of mix, then you definitely want to pick this one up. I've already got Thunder and Ashes, the second book, waiting for me on the shelf. *** ½
The late Zachary Recht died in December of 2009 at the age of twenty-six, leaving behind roughly half of the final book in the Morningstar Strain trilogy. Word on the street is that it will eventually be fleshed out by another author and released by Permuted, with the blessings of Recht's family. Good news indeed, as the Morningstar Strain books are quite a surprise, if you're not familiar with Permuted stuff. A number of Permuted authors have recently gone, pardon the pun, viral; David Moody was picked up by Thomas Dunne, Kim Paffenroth has published through Baylor University Press, and just before his death, Recht was picked up by Simon and Schuster. As a result of the latter, Plague of the Dead, which had been out of print for a while, got itself a re-release and shelf space in major bookstores.
We start off with a nasty new disease coming out of the African jungles, where so many of these ugly things have started (Ebola, Marburg, supposedly HIV...). If you've seen a few fast-zombie-that-aren't-really-zombie movies (think 28 Days Later...), you've got an idea of the first stage of the disease, known as Morningstar. The trick of it is that carriers who aren't correctly dispatched also rise from the dead, seeming more like Romero-style zombies (shuffling and moaning and all that). Plague of the Dead takes us through the first months of the disease as it spreads from Africa to the rest of the planet through the eyes of a number of people: an Army general, a Red Cross worker, a virologist who's become the greatest living expert on Morningstar, and a number of others. This is an ensemble-cast book, but an ensemble-cast book in the way Dean Koontz does it; they all start out in different places, but you know they'll all wind up together eventually.
At least, you know that after the first few chapters. The introduction of Rebecca (the Red Cross volunteer) threw me for a loop for a good few pages until I figured out what Recht was doing, and then I got back on track well enough. After that one hiccup, everything went smoothly, and I ended up finishing the book in a weekend (taking time out to devote to other books I'm in the middle of as well); Recht has some fine ideas about the zombie apocalypse, and seems to have had enough sense of his own limitations to keep the scenarios he spins on a very small scale (most of the scenes gravitate towards small rooms), looking at one piece of the puzzle rather than trying to give an overall picture—a trap many purveyors of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy fall into all too often.
The book does have its shortcomings, though the majority of them (having to do with proofreading) can be laid at the feet of Pocket/Simon and Schuster, but the typo level is about standard for modern novels, so if you've gotten used to it, no problem. Also, I tend to like my series books to at least have the illusion of being standalones, and the ending of Plague of the Dead leaves no doubt in your mind that there is another book coming. None of this in any way constitutes not recommending the book, however; this is, in the vein of many recent survival-horror novels, less about horror than it is about action (Recht, a vet himself, devotes a number of pages to the military's operations against the undead—your mileage may vary, but the reason I love fantasy novels by authors like Elizabeth Moon and Steven Erikson is exactly this), but there are some passages where things get pretty creepy as well. If you like this kind of mix, then you definitely want to pick this one up. I've already got Thunder and Ashes, the second book, waiting for me on the shelf. *** ½
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