Quarantine

by John Brinling

This novel is a science fiction adventure with aliens and mutants and immigrants struggling for survival in East Africa, where deception, savagery and death are an inherent part of daily life. Where the indigenous hatred and unimaginable horrors fuel anarchy and rebellion.The Mbili are the ruling class. The Ine the underclass. In a land populated by these grotesque mutants, one thing is clear. They will never live together in peace. It is not peace the Mbili seek. It is total domination. When Paul Henry, an accountant for an international accounting firm, decides to immigrate to Uhuru, he knows only that he can never return once exposed to the deadly Lassa fever, that Oneida, the love of his life, is scheduled to join him in two weeks, and that his life is pretty damn good. He is disavowed of the latter even before Uhuruan Airways Flight 100 lands in Mombasa, when he sees things out the window of the unmanned Tristar that challenge his sanity.How does an outsider like Paul Henry cope in this environment? He is no ordinary immigrant. He is a survivor. And his every instinct is to fight back. Not only to escape, but to keep his fiancée Oneida from flying down to join him in the Hell that is Uhuru.Unknown to the mutants and immigrants, there is an alien spacecraft circling Earth, which has more than a passing interest in the events unfolding in the Rift Valley. Will these visitors from another planet stop Paul Henry if the Mbili and Ine prove incapable? And what is their plan for the civilized world? Especially Great Britain?Adult content. Strong language. Vivid sex and violence.

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction

525 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 25, 2010

Reviews

[Grace Krispy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was immediately drawn into this book as the general concept was really fascinating. A land ravaged by disease, then rebuilt as a special place to which you might move, but could never leave. A 6-month quarantine to acclimate you to the virus you would then forever carry. That is intriguing enough, but add in the fact that the protagonist quickly realizes that things are not what they seem, and he’s been misled in many ways. Then experience the suspense as, slowly, the pieces of the puzzle start to come together to form a horrific picture Paul could never have imagined. I really wanted to know what would happen next, how it all would end. There were twists and turns that were enthralling at first, but there were so many, it got a little old. Just when I thought we were wrapping it all up, something unexpected happened, and a whole new aspect of the story was introduced. Fascinating, surely, but I think a more succinct and focused storyline would have done this story great justice.

I was somewhat conflicted about the writing style. It’s very wordy, and there is quite a bit of extraneous explanation that takes away from the power of the storyline. We would be in the middle of a pretty interesting and somewhat exciting plot event when suddenly there would be an entire tangent explaining some background that would have been better introduced in a more gradual way. The extra exclamation marks and some oddly-placed question marks were more distracting than I might have though they’d be, and it changed the whole feel of the book. The copy I read was also in need of a thorough editing; there was a number of minor mistakes that were distracting to my reading pleasure.

With a solid editing pass for sentence clarity and appropriate punctuation use, and some serious revising to take out extraneous explanation and tighten the storyline (maybe even taking out a turn or two to make the storyline more solid), this book could easily be a 4 star (or higher) book for me.

3.5 /5 stars- full review at GraceKrispy's MotherLode blog

[John Brinling · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic SciFi adventure. Riveting characters, bone-chilling cruelty, explosively climactic. If you read one SciFi adventure this month, make it Quarantine.

The book is available on Amazon Kindle, Smashwords, Barnes & Noble, Sony, etc.

Https://www.Amazon.com/dp/B003ZSHNUO

[Rex Grigg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two stars. That's it.

Stars removed because the author doesn't know the difference between passed and past.

Stars removed for other spelling/grammar/usage mistakes.

Stars removed for total lack of some subject matter discussed in book.

All in all this book was a painful read for me.

[Elaine Markey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wild premise that was better than expected.

[Steve Chaput · Rating 3 out of 5]

Accountant and former Navy aviator Paul Henry is excited when he gets the opportunity to take a position in the mysterious African nation of Uhuru. The citizens of that country were almost wiped out a a plague and many have changed in ways that those in the outside world do not know. Leaving his fiance behind, Henry is ill-prepared as the truth of the situation begins to become clear. It may be up to one man to escape and bring the truth to the outside world.

Author John Brinling presents an alternate Earth, not all that different, but evironmentally headed down a destructive path. Part thriller, part science-fiction Brinling keeps the reader guessing as secrets are revealed and things change very quickly. On the negative side,I've got to be honest and admit that I had some difficulty initially accepting Paul Henry, since he seems to be a bit on the whiney side for the lead in a thriller like this.

Overall a decent read, although some graphic sexual situations and brutal violence might disturb some readers.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so glad I read this!


Even though I have read and really enjoyed the authors other books, I had held off reading "Quarantine" because I saw in the description the words, science fiction, aliens, and mutants. Sci-Fi is not a genre that I enjoyed, that is until now! I loved this book, in fact this may very well be my favorite book of his! I was hooked within the first few pages, there is so much packed into this book, all of the descriptions of the area, the various characters, etc.. are incredibly vivid, it's like you are right there seeing, hearing and smelling it all. It has been a true page turner, I found it very difficult to stop reading it, my dishes need washed and I told myself just one more page, that one page then turned into 2 pages, then 3 pages. Needless to say, my dishes didn't get done that night! So even if you don't think this is a genre that you will enjoy, give it a try. I think you will be pleasantly surprised like I was. What a gem of a book!

[Richard Denning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quarantine is a very usual books.

A near future world just after a pandemic caused havoc. A large African state with closed borders which accepts immigrants but they have to go through a bizarre decontamination process and can never leave.

The hero of the book experiences this process and in time discovers the real purpose behind it. I am not going to tell it to you because that would spoil the book.

The only comment I would make is the plot got very complex towards the end and perhaps just slightly more than was totally needed. That should not however be a reason not to read and enjoy the book.

Overall I would encourage readers who like different science fiction to give it a ago. This is very good read. The writing is excellent and the story very intriguing.

[Babette · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was shockingly good. Original story with a main character that was easy to relate to... not a loveable person, but you can understand why he does everything he has to do. I would like to have some 'words' with the author about the ending, but I don't want to give anything away. His writing reminds me of Jack McDevitt's better stories.

This book is compelling and... I just cannot say enough about this. I love finding good authors that I have not read before. And I love it even more that Mr. Brinling seems to have a nice selection of other books for me to explore.

I got it for free from Amazon. It did it's job. I will be buying this author's other books and recommending this book to my friends and family.

Thank you Mr. Brinling!

[Clayton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would like to make this 2.5 stars, 2 seems a little too harsh, 3 seems a little to high....

The first half of the book was claustrophobic and repetitive, and I had difficulty connecting with the main character and the writing style. Not my cup of tea. However, the story had me sufficiently curious about how it would all play out to pull me through to the end. It was a near thing around the half-way mark though....

[Jeffrey Newman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. A little long in some parts, but overall it had a good plot. Characters were interesting and the concept was unique. Almost forgot about the prologue as I read the main part of the book. Unique protagonist and lots of irony.

[Dawn Collette]

too Sci Fi

[Lan · Rating 2 out of 5]

i liked the premise of the story but it got pretty repetitive. had it been in the hands of stephen king, it would've been much better.

[Tabetha Stirrett · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not a good book, don't waste your time!