Customer Reviews

The Eleventh Plague

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I enjoyed the book, primarily because I am interested in the subject matter (cbw) and seek out books on such topics, whether fiction or not. Having said this much in favour of the book, I would like to linger on the book's weaker points.

EDITING/PROSE The book is very poorly edited for language and consistency. As already suggested by some of the other reviewers, date inconsistencies, grammatical and syntactic errors, poor transliteration and translation from Hebrew, and many other slip-ups can be found in abundence. It's difficult to imagine that this book was edited by anyone other than the authors (and authors, quite naturally, become blind to the faults in their own prose). The poor editing is probably a syndrom of the word processing age: Authors generate camera-ready or near camera-ready manuscripts that are printed as-is or subjected to but the most cursory examination.

TECHNICAL ACCURACY At least one of the authors is an M.D. It's therefore amazing and amusing to notice the many technical inaccuracies that exist in the book; Presumably the authors are writing about topics they have some knowledge of, and since these are technical topics one wouldn't really expect an editor to catch on to them. Perhaps books that deal with scientific issues, even if in the form of fiction, should be passed on for technical peer reviewing. The most gross technical error I found in the book was to classify prions as viruses. Prions do not contain genetic material (dna or rna) and are therefore not viruses. I found other slip-ups throughout the book, and once noticed, they do hurt the basic credibility of the authors; After all, this isn't science fiction they're writing about.

Otherwise, the book was interesting and informative. I don't think it qualifies as great literature, but it was fun weekend reading, and I certainly learned a few things from it. I took some notes as I was reading, and this is a nice basis for learning more about the subject. One reference that's mentioned in the book, and that you DON'T want to miss on is ProMED. There really is such a mailing list, and you can search it online...

The Eleventh Plague deals with the 10 plagues of Exodus. While visiting a zoo, a young boy finds a water pistol and shoots water at a teen girl then he shoots some water into his mouth. Shortly after, both die of a disease thought to be nonexistent in the United States. In Kentucky, thoroughbreds at the Churchill Downs are dying of a virus that cannot be identified, even by the most expert veterinarians. Called in to help is famed virologist Jack Bryne. He soon discovers that the two events are not only connected, they are deliberate acts. Soon Bryne's worldwide medical computer network ProMED is hacked into by the person who is responsible for the recent outbreaks. This unknown person has very dangerous knowledge of toxins and an obsession with biblical retribution. Bryne, now a suspect, must convince the FBI of his innocence and plead with them to help him catch this madman before it's too late.
I've read a lot of books that deal with biological warfare/terrorism and this book has to be one of the best. The Cobra Event by Richard Preston was my favorite but The Eleventh Plague is 10 times better.
Don't read this book when you're eating or about to eat. Some sections of the book were so vivid and repulsive that I thought I would be sick.

Interesting subject matter but the many editorial/writing flaws in the book kept detracting from the story. I got worried when there was a date/time error in the first few pages of the book and the problem continued throughout. I don't mind flashbacks to earlier dates if the characters don't know on that earlier date what they had found out 2 weeks later according to the book's timeline.

There was other incorrect information in there such as the young Jewish boy saying he got hooked up to the Library of Congess to search Grateful Med. Grateful Med is provided by the National Library of Medicine. It made me wonder what other errors I wasn't aware of in some of the scientific/technical aspects of the plagues.

Despite my frustration with the authors/editors not catching some of the inconsistencies, I managed to finish the book because the subject matter interested me. However if you want to read books along this subject line, I'd have to recommend "The Hot Zone" or "The Cobra Event", "And the Band Played On" or several other books (some fiction & nonfiction like those mentioned above)before recommending this one. It was a struggle to stick with it even though the characters were fairly well developed and the concept was intriguing.

Two overworked ideas combine in this exploitation effort: the serial killer (yawn) and the out-of-control disease. In the hands of a talented writer, peopled with believable characters, sprinkled with good, intelligent writing, it might have worked. But it doesn't at all. It comes over as a deeply tired idea trotted out by people who should know better. I've read a number of medical/biotech thrillers in recent years and this would have to be among the worst.

A fascinating story of a madman who recreates the biblical plagues. Frighteningly real scenario, ably delivered but falling short of truly spectacular. The scientific explanations for the biblical plagues themselves are one of the most intruiging parts of the story. Where the book falls short is in the characters and the writing itself. I found it difficult to empathize with the hero and found the characters generally two-dimensional. Discounting that, the premise was excellent, and the scientific background disturbingly plausible. I think the authors show promise and can improve with a little more practice.

PLEASE don't dignify this terrible book with your purchase. A heartless formula book written by two men with no aspiration to craft or skill -- only an abiding lust for cash. (Look up the NYTimes Sunday Magazine piece, its an eye-opener). They read "COMA" and deliberately set out to make piles of dough by using it as a bestseller prototype -- and it shows. The writing is simplistic and stupid, and the story is transparent. If I could give it NO stars, I would. Please, go buy a book someone put a little effort into, and enjoy.

On the plus side, the science in the book was interesting and bioterrorism is certainly a hot topic. However, as a novel, the book failed completely. The writing was abysmally bad, the characters' motivations were missing or unbelievable, the characters were one-dimensional, and the plot made no sense. I didn't care one way or another what happened to the protagonist or his friends. I only finished it so that I could discuss it with a friend but I really had to force myself to read. Don't waste your time.

"The Eleventh Plague" is interesting only in its details of the dangers of bioterrorism. It has a poor writing style and the dialogue is extremely stilted. None of the characters is well-developed or even remotely human. The villain is a lunatic out of central casting. Naturally, his crazy mother made him the madman that he became. What an original plot line! The author knows his medicine, but if he wants to attempt fiction once again, he should learn how to write believable dialogue and how to create well-developed characters.

As an infectious disease specialist and Pro-MED subscriber, I was most eager to read The Eleventh Plague. Despite a plausible and interesting premise--a recreation of the biblical plagues using biological toxins and infectious organisms--the book utterly failed to please. The writing is stilted and leaden; the characters, flat and uninteresting; and plot development, non-existent. Don't waste your time on this book; read The Coming Plague if you want an accessible and well-written text about infectious disease disasters, past and present.

I've read this book twice now and keep thinking, "what a great idea, too bad the med guy didn't farm the idea out to someone who could write!" But he thought he did; wish he'd sent it to me. Ignoring all the trivial errors (misspellings of diseases, "North Ridge earthquake," calling the valley fever org. "cocci" when that term refers to all cocci forms of bacteria, "congenital arthritic hip" of Drew (think they meant congenital dysplasia causing the arthritis, not too many babies born with arthritis!), the faults in writing are amazing: rotten character development (for ex. Byrne is described in such detail at first encounter w/his pony tail, and when he has to cut it off, but do we ever hear about his pony tail again? So much for his Samson anguish), bringing up interesting points only to drop them (Kameron's taping of Byrne's comments at Mia's lecture, mention about doctoring them -- never shows up again), and leaden writing style.

Guess there's going to be another book soon, maybe the Fifth Horseman? Hope these two get a better editor.