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Infected #1
螜蠈蟼
螠喂伪 渭蠀蟽蟿畏蟻喂蠋未畏蟼 伪蟽胃苇谓蔚喂伪 渭蔚蟿伪蟿蟻苇蟺蔚喂 蠁蠀蟽喂慰位慰纬喂魏慰蠉蟼 伪谓胃蟻蠋蟺慰蠀蟼 蟽蔚 渭伪谓喂伪魏慰蠉蟼, 蟺伪蟻维蠁蟻慰谓蔚蟼 未慰位慰蠁蠈谓慰蠀蟼 蟺慰蠀 蟺蟻慰魏伪位慰蠉谓 蠁蟻喂魏蟿维 蟺蟻维纬渭伪蟿伪 蟽蔚 伪纬谓蠋蟽蟿慰蠀蟼, 蟽蟿慰蠀蟼 蔚伪蠀蟿慰蠉蟼 蟿慰蠀蟼, 伪魏蠈渭伪 魏伪喂 蟽蟿喂蟼 委未喂蔚蟼 蟿慰蠀蟼 蟿喂蟼 慰喂魏慰纬苇谓蔚喂蔚蟼.
螆谓伪 蟺蟻蠅委, 慰 螤苇蟻喂 螡蟿蠈蟽蔚蠆 -苇谓伪蟼 渭蔚纬伪位蠈蟽蠅渭慰蟼 蟺蟻蠋畏谓 伪蟽蟿苇蟻伪蟼 蟿慰蠀 伪渭蔚蟻喂魏维谓喂魏慰蠀 蟺慰未慰蟽蠁伪委蟻慰蠀, 蟺慰蠀 蟿蠋蟻伪 蔚魏蟿蔚位蔚委 蠂蟻苇畏 蠀蟺伪位位畏位委蟽魏慰蠀 蟿蔚蠂谓喂魏萎蟼 蠀蟺畏蟻蔚蟽委伪蟼- 尉蠀蟺谓维蔚喂 魏伪喂 伪谓伪魏伪位蠉蟺蟿蔚喂 伪蟻魏蔚蟿维 蟺伪蟻维尉蔚谓伪 蔚尉伪谓胃萎渭伪蟿伪 蟽蟿慰 蟽蠋渭伪 蟿慰蠀. 危蠉谓蟿慰渭伪 慰 螤苇蟻喂 蟽蠀谓蔚喂未畏蟿慰蟺慰喂蔚委 蟺蠅蟼 慰喂 蟽魏苇蠄蔚喂蟼 蟿慰蠀 魏伪喂 畏 蟽蠀渭蟺蔚蟻喂蠁慰蟻维 蟿慰蠀 蔚委谓伪喂 蟺伪蟻维尉蔚谓蔚蟼. 螒魏慰蠉蔚喂 蠁蠅谓苇蟼, 苇蠂蔚喂 伪谓蔚尉苇位蔚纬魏蟿畏 慰蟻纬萎... 苇蠂蔚喂 渭慰位蠀谓胃蔚委.
螚 渭慰委蟻伪 蟿慰蠀 伪谓胃蟻蠋蟺喂谓慰蠀 纬苇谓慰蠀蟼 魏蟻苇渭蔚蟿伪喂 伪蟺蠈 蟿慰谓 伪喂渭伪蟿畏蟻蠈 蟺蠈位蔚渭慰 蟺慰蠀 胃伪 蔚尉伪蟺慰位蠉蟽蔚喂 慰 螤苇蟻喂 蔚谓维谓蟿喂伪 蟽蟿慰 委未喂慰 蟿慰蠀 蟿慰 蟽蠋渭伪, 纬喂伪蟿委 蟿伪 蟺伪蟻维蟽喂蟿伪 胃苇位慰蠀谓 魏维蟿喂 伪蟺蠈 伪蠀蟿蠈谓, 魏维蟿喂 蟺慰蠀 渭蟺慰蟻蔚委 谓伪 伪位位维尉蔚喂 蟿畏 渭慰委蟻伪 蟿慰蠀 伪谓胃蟻蠋蟺喂谓慰蠀 纬苇谓慰蠀蟼.
螣 "螜蠈蟼" 蔚委谓伪喂 蟿慰 蟺蟻蠋蟿慰 尾喂尾位委慰 蟿慰蠀 喂谓蟿蔚蟻谓蔚蟿喂魏慰蠉 蠁伪喂谓慰渭苇谓慰蠀 Scott Sigler. 韦蠋蟻伪, 慰 Sigler 苇蟻蠂蔚蟿伪喂 蟽伪谓 魏伪蟿伪喂纬委未伪 蟽蟿伪 蟻维蠁喂伪 蟿蠅谓 尾喂尾位喂慰蟺蠅位蔚委蠅谓 渭蔚 苇谓伪 渭蠀胃喂蟽蟿蠈蟻畏渭伪 渭蔚 魏喂谓畏渭伪蟿慰纬蟻伪蠁喂魏维 蠁蟻蔚谓萎蟻畏 蟻蠀胃渭蠈 蟺慰蠀 蟽蠀谓未蠀维味蔚喂 位慰纬慰蟿蔚蠂谓喂魏维 蔚委未畏 蠈蟺蠅蟼 慰 蟿蟻蠈渭慰蟼, 蟿慰 蟿蔚蠂谓慰胃蟻委位蔚蟻 魏伪喂 蟿慰 渭蠀蟽蟿萎蟻喂慰 蟽蔚 苇谓伪 蔚魏蟻畏魏蟿喂魏蠈 渭委纬渭伪 渭蔚 蟽蠀蟽蟿伪蟿喂魏维 伪蟺蠈 Chuck Palahniuk, Michael Crichton 魏伪喂 Stephen King.
螣 "螜蠈蟼" 胃伪 渭蟺蔚喂 蟽蟿慰 蟺蔚蟿蟽委 蟽伪蟼 伪蠁萎谓慰谓蟿伪蟼 蠁蟻苇蟽魏慰 伪委渭伪 蟽蔚 魏维胃蔚 蟽蔚位委未伪.
螆谓伪 蟺蟻蠅委, 慰 螤苇蟻喂 螡蟿蠈蟽蔚蠆 -苇谓伪蟼 渭蔚纬伪位蠈蟽蠅渭慰蟼 蟺蟻蠋畏谓 伪蟽蟿苇蟻伪蟼 蟿慰蠀 伪渭蔚蟻喂魏维谓喂魏慰蠀 蟺慰未慰蟽蠁伪委蟻慰蠀, 蟺慰蠀 蟿蠋蟻伪 蔚魏蟿蔚位蔚委 蠂蟻苇畏 蠀蟺伪位位畏位委蟽魏慰蠀 蟿蔚蠂谓喂魏萎蟼 蠀蟺畏蟻蔚蟽委伪蟼- 尉蠀蟺谓维蔚喂 魏伪喂 伪谓伪魏伪位蠉蟺蟿蔚喂 伪蟻魏蔚蟿维 蟺伪蟻维尉蔚谓伪 蔚尉伪谓胃萎渭伪蟿伪 蟽蟿慰 蟽蠋渭伪 蟿慰蠀. 危蠉谓蟿慰渭伪 慰 螤苇蟻喂 蟽蠀谓蔚喂未畏蟿慰蟺慰喂蔚委 蟺蠅蟼 慰喂 蟽魏苇蠄蔚喂蟼 蟿慰蠀 魏伪喂 畏 蟽蠀渭蟺蔚蟻喂蠁慰蟻维 蟿慰蠀 蔚委谓伪喂 蟺伪蟻维尉蔚谓蔚蟼. 螒魏慰蠉蔚喂 蠁蠅谓苇蟼, 苇蠂蔚喂 伪谓蔚尉苇位蔚纬魏蟿畏 慰蟻纬萎... 苇蠂蔚喂 渭慰位蠀谓胃蔚委.
螚 渭慰委蟻伪 蟿慰蠀 伪谓胃蟻蠋蟺喂谓慰蠀 纬苇谓慰蠀蟼 魏蟻苇渭蔚蟿伪喂 伪蟺蠈 蟿慰谓 伪喂渭伪蟿畏蟻蠈 蟺蠈位蔚渭慰 蟺慰蠀 胃伪 蔚尉伪蟺慰位蠉蟽蔚喂 慰 螤苇蟻喂 蔚谓维谓蟿喂伪 蟽蟿慰 委未喂慰 蟿慰蠀 蟿慰 蟽蠋渭伪, 纬喂伪蟿委 蟿伪 蟺伪蟻维蟽喂蟿伪 胃苇位慰蠀谓 魏维蟿喂 伪蟺蠈 伪蠀蟿蠈谓, 魏维蟿喂 蟺慰蠀 渭蟺慰蟻蔚委 谓伪 伪位位维尉蔚喂 蟿畏 渭慰委蟻伪 蟿慰蠀 伪谓胃蟻蠋蟺喂谓慰蠀 纬苇谓慰蠀蟼.
螣 "螜蠈蟼" 蔚委谓伪喂 蟿慰 蟺蟻蠋蟿慰 尾喂尾位委慰 蟿慰蠀 喂谓蟿蔚蟻谓蔚蟿喂魏慰蠉 蠁伪喂谓慰渭苇谓慰蠀 Scott Sigler. 韦蠋蟻伪, 慰 Sigler 苇蟻蠂蔚蟿伪喂 蟽伪谓 魏伪蟿伪喂纬委未伪 蟽蟿伪 蟻维蠁喂伪 蟿蠅谓 尾喂尾位喂慰蟺蠅位蔚委蠅谓 渭蔚 苇谓伪 渭蠀胃喂蟽蟿蠈蟻畏渭伪 渭蔚 魏喂谓畏渭伪蟿慰纬蟻伪蠁喂魏维 蠁蟻蔚谓萎蟻畏 蟻蠀胃渭蠈 蟺慰蠀 蟽蠀谓未蠀维味蔚喂 位慰纬慰蟿蔚蠂谓喂魏维 蔚委未畏 蠈蟺蠅蟼 慰 蟿蟻蠈渭慰蟼, 蟿慰 蟿蔚蠂谓慰胃蟻委位蔚蟻 魏伪喂 蟿慰 渭蠀蟽蟿萎蟻喂慰 蟽蔚 苇谓伪 蔚魏蟻畏魏蟿喂魏蠈 渭委纬渭伪 渭蔚 蟽蠀蟽蟿伪蟿喂魏维 伪蟺蠈 Chuck Palahniuk, Michael Crichton 魏伪喂 Stephen King.
螣 "螜蠈蟼" 胃伪 渭蟺蔚喂 蟽蟿慰 蟺蔚蟿蟽委 蟽伪蟼 伪蠁萎谓慰谓蟿伪蟼 蠁蟻苇蟽魏慰 伪委渭伪 蟽蔚 魏维胃蔚 蟽蔚位委未伪.
483 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2008
725 people are currently reading
22.6k people want to read
About the author
Scott Sigler
124听books4,286听followersTHE CRYPT: SHAKEDOWN is Book I of a new five-book series. It鈥檚 out October 3, 2023 in hardcover, eBook, and audiobook narrated by Ray Porter.
by subscribing to his podcast.
#1 New York Times best-selling author Scott Sigler is the creator of fifteen novels, six novellas and dozens of short stories. He gives away his stories as weekly, serialized, audiobooks, with over 40 million episodes downloaded.
Scott launched his career by releasing his novels as author-read podcasts. His rabid fans were so hungry for each week鈥檚 episode that they dubbed themselves the 鈥淛unkies.鈥� The first hit is always free 鈥�
He is also is a co-founder of Empty Set Entertainment, which publishes his Galactic Football League series. He lives in San Diego, CA, with his wife and wee little Dogs of D酶酶m.
by subscribing to his podcast.
#1 New York Times best-selling author Scott Sigler is the creator of fifteen novels, six novellas and dozens of short stories. He gives away his stories as weekly, serialized, audiobooks, with over 40 million episodes downloaded.
Scott launched his career by releasing his novels as author-read podcasts. His rabid fans were so hungry for each week鈥檚 episode that they dubbed themselves the 鈥淛unkies.鈥� The first hit is always free 鈥�
He is also is a co-founder of Empty Set Entertainment, which publishes his Galactic Football League series. He lives in San Diego, CA, with his wife and wee little Dogs of D酶酶m.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,943 reviews
February 27, 2022
Time to break free from these nasty monster parasites, no matter how entertaining their escalating body horror and mutilation action is for the reader.
Bloody technobabble
Science mixed with disgusting terror in a way I haven麓t seen before, Sigler is giving a completely fresh and educating look on the tiny aspects of possible biological hazards, alien germ, and infectious tropes. Mostly, in resident evil walking dead style horror genre novels, the people dealing with these problems, especially the annoying hypochondriacs, aren麓t the protagonists, but cannon fodder, while the real, clean, and healthy protagonists are cliffhanging around. How discriminating.
Redshirts can live, and suffer immensely, too
But not here, the forgotten, rarely thought, and well executed idea of making the researchers and the victims the main focus of the story, instead of the boring, stereotypical action heroes, opens 2 different, fascinating narrative perspectives.
Why is this happening to me?
The research part is also often highly underrepresented, because it includes hard-sci fi elements, thereby stigmatizing and branding itself as potentially boring, not suspenseful enough for most of the audience who wants her/his average protagonist personal and ideological development mixed with some action soup, except for the ones who are into it too. Thereby it would open up so many complex, fascinating plot options that go beyond the known informing the hero about the newest, creepy research, such as implying micro and meta developments, educating, integrating ideology, philosophy of science, etc.
I don麓t like how it manifests
The disgusting perspective is, subjectively, even more fascinating, because people love terrible mutations in combination with mind control, losing personality, and generally having a bad week, as long as they don麓t suffer themselves, and the introspections of people infected with maladies with potentially endless combinations of physical and psychological effects are interesting to see and, especially, guess, what that wacky virus might do next. This could be expanded to not just one or some infected humans, but to groups, states, and planets secretly or openly ruled by king parasite.
Future will show how much will become real
There is more reality than one might want to think about in this one too, because we still know nothing about the impact of brain parasites, fungi, prions, viruses, etc. on any stage of human evolution from first microbiology to tiny mammals and rodents to simian evolution and early humans, just as with food, biochemistry, why drugs work, etc. Who infected us and ran haywire while we ate what are 2 of the biggest open questions in brainy brains history to think about before it rots, mutates, or gets assimilated.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
Bloody technobabble
Science mixed with disgusting terror in a way I haven麓t seen before, Sigler is giving a completely fresh and educating look on the tiny aspects of possible biological hazards, alien germ, and infectious tropes. Mostly, in resident evil walking dead style horror genre novels, the people dealing with these problems, especially the annoying hypochondriacs, aren麓t the protagonists, but cannon fodder, while the real, clean, and healthy protagonists are cliffhanging around. How discriminating.
Redshirts can live, and suffer immensely, too
But not here, the forgotten, rarely thought, and well executed idea of making the researchers and the victims the main focus of the story, instead of the boring, stereotypical action heroes, opens 2 different, fascinating narrative perspectives.
Why is this happening to me?
The research part is also often highly underrepresented, because it includes hard-sci fi elements, thereby stigmatizing and branding itself as potentially boring, not suspenseful enough for most of the audience who wants her/his average protagonist personal and ideological development mixed with some action soup, except for the ones who are into it too. Thereby it would open up so many complex, fascinating plot options that go beyond the known informing the hero about the newest, creepy research, such as implying micro and meta developments, educating, integrating ideology, philosophy of science, etc.
I don麓t like how it manifests
The disgusting perspective is, subjectively, even more fascinating, because people love terrible mutations in combination with mind control, losing personality, and generally having a bad week, as long as they don麓t suffer themselves, and the introspections of people infected with maladies with potentially endless combinations of physical and psychological effects are interesting to see and, especially, guess, what that wacky virus might do next. This could be expanded to not just one or some infected humans, but to groups, states, and planets secretly or openly ruled by king parasite.
Future will show how much will become real
There is more reality than one might want to think about in this one too, because we still know nothing about the impact of brain parasites, fungi, prions, viruses, etc. on any stage of human evolution from first microbiology to tiny mammals and rodents to simian evolution and early humans, just as with food, biochemistry, why drugs work, etc. Who infected us and ran haywire while we ate what are 2 of the biggest open questions in brainy brains history to think about before it rots, mutates, or gets assimilated.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
May 9, 2012
Gee...um...well...this was...uh...
...severely frustrating.
It had an interesting premise, a solid story, and truly excellent horror elements鈥UT it also had shitty characters, and dialogue that grated on my nerve clusters bad enough to leave me irked with the entire effort.
Such a hope-dashing, bitter disappointment this was for me. After really enjoying some time ago, I was looking to Sigler to become a new staple for me in the realm of science-horror. Now, after this miss, it looks like his newest effort, , will be the deciding vote on whether he and I have a future together.
听
And so it goes. 听
听
Undressing the novel down to its various components, I thought most of them were good to excellent. Sigler has a terrific imagination, and I was a fan of both the plot and the science fiction/horror aspects. It was just that giant, dimpled, 800 pound BUT that ruined things by blowing stink all over the story. 听
First, the positives.
The Good:
听
1. The premise...ET virus lands on Earth, finds warm, comfy humans to nest in, and turns these听 鈥渋nfected鈥� into paranoid, murderous sickfuckopaths. Me likely...thumbs up!
听
2. Intriguing backstory/details on the parasitic space invaders, complete with plenty of easily digestible science bits on how the nasties work once inside a their host. Again, I thought this was nicely done.
听
3. The laying out of the various stages of the viral incubation, and the increasingly destressing symptoms as the infection progressed was handled in a manner that kept the pages turning. 听听
听
4. The 鈥渟takes raising鈥� plot development regarding the virus not being 鈥渏ust鈥� a virus really ramped up the tension and added a sense of freshness to what could have been a very pedestrian plague novel.
听
5.Healthy doses Disturbing amounts of blood, gore, and almost unmentionable dismemberments (I鈥檒l simply mention 鈥淐hicken Scissors鈥� and leave it at that). Just thinking of it makes me wince. Still, this was sick, graphic and wonderfully entertaining.听 听
听
Unfortunately鈥isappointment lurked nearby...in the shadows.
听
The Shitty:
听
The characters in charge of carrying the story were just horrible. I didn鈥檛 get along with a single one, and the only thing worse than their clanging internal monologues was when they opened their pie holes to speak. I鈥檓 not saying all of the dialogue was bad, but it rarely felt natural, and there were far too many wincing, eye-rolling moments to overlook.
听
In essence, that ruined this novel for me. I cared for no one affected by the virus, not just because they were two-dimensional and unrealistic, but because they were dumbass annoyasauruses.
Anyway, I don鈥檛 want to belabor the point, because I can hear 鈥淏aby Rage鈥� just itching to make an appearance in this review. It wasn鈥檛 鈥淏aby Rage鈥� bad鈥he characters and dialogue were...but the rest of the story was a solid 3 star effort鈥arts of it even 4 star worthy as I really thought the premise was fun.
听
BUT....the negatives were too large and hairy to overlook.
听
2.0 stars.
...severely frustrating.
It had an interesting premise, a solid story, and truly excellent horror elements鈥UT it also had shitty characters, and dialogue that grated on my nerve clusters bad enough to leave me irked with the entire effort.
Such a hope-dashing, bitter disappointment this was for me. After really enjoying some time ago, I was looking to Sigler to become a new staple for me in the realm of science-horror. Now, after this miss, it looks like his newest effort, , will be the deciding vote on whether he and I have a future together.
听
And so it goes. 听
听
Undressing the novel down to its various components, I thought most of them were good to excellent. Sigler has a terrific imagination, and I was a fan of both the plot and the science fiction/horror aspects. It was just that giant, dimpled, 800 pound BUT that ruined things by blowing stink all over the story. 听
First, the positives.
The Good:
听
1. The premise...ET virus lands on Earth, finds warm, comfy humans to nest in, and turns these听 鈥渋nfected鈥� into paranoid, murderous sickfuckopaths. Me likely...thumbs up!
听
2. Intriguing backstory/details on the parasitic space invaders, complete with plenty of easily digestible science bits on how the nasties work once inside a their host. Again, I thought this was nicely done.
听
3. The laying out of the various stages of the viral incubation, and the increasingly destressing symptoms as the infection progressed was handled in a manner that kept the pages turning. 听听
听
4. The 鈥渟takes raising鈥� plot development regarding the virus not being 鈥渏ust鈥� a virus really ramped up the tension and added a sense of freshness to what could have been a very pedestrian plague novel.
听
5.
听
Unfortunately鈥isappointment lurked nearby...in the shadows.
听
The Shitty:
听
The characters in charge of carrying the story were just horrible. I didn鈥檛 get along with a single one, and the only thing worse than their clanging internal monologues was when they opened their pie holes to speak. I鈥檓 not saying all of the dialogue was bad, but it rarely felt natural, and there were far too many wincing, eye-rolling moments to overlook.
听
In essence, that ruined this novel for me. I cared for no one affected by the virus, not just because they were two-dimensional and unrealistic, but because they were dumbass annoyasauruses.
Anyway, I don鈥檛 want to belabor the point, because I can hear 鈥淏aby Rage鈥� just itching to make an appearance in this review. It wasn鈥檛 鈥淏aby Rage鈥� bad鈥he characters and dialogue were...but the rest of the story was a solid 3 star effort鈥arts of it even 4 star worthy as I really thought the premise was fun.
听
BUT....the negatives were too large and hairy to overlook.
听
2.0 stars.
September 9, 2024
So, What鈥檚 Going On? 馃し馃徑鈥嶁檧锔�
Americans are showing a strange infection! Family members are being murdered by their loved ones. Most commit suicide, later. Some of the infected are murdered by secretive government agents.
Can you blame them?
Wherever did it come from? However did it get here? Whatever is it capable of? Whoever is behind this? Whyever is this happening (is whyever a word)?
With the CDC involved, and the fiery and brilliant Dr. Margaret Montoya galloping about to find a cure, and the infection spreading throughout the world, will the world get this disaster under control?
Surprisingly, the more that is learned, the more dangerous the world becomes. 馃槺
Five, fabulous stars! 鉁ㄢ湪鉁ㄢ湪鉁�
Americans are showing a strange infection! Family members are being murdered by their loved ones. Most commit suicide, later. Some of the infected are murdered by secretive government agents.
Can you blame them?
Wherever did it come from? However did it get here? Whatever is it capable of? Whoever is behind this? Whyever is this happening (is whyever a word)?
With the CDC involved, and the fiery and brilliant Dr. Margaret Montoya galloping about to find a cure, and the infection spreading throughout the world, will the world get this disaster under control?
Surprisingly, the more that is learned, the more dangerous the world becomes. 馃槺
Five, fabulous stars! 鉁ㄢ湪鉁ㄢ湪鉁�
May 19, 2015
This book should cause me to lose a few pounds because now my stomach is queasy.
When I started the book I was all fangirl because I love some contagion books. Yes, I know I have weird tastes in books.
Some kind of contagion is sweeping a town, it causes people to go completely nuts and to kill the people around them. A seventy something year old Grandma kills her son because of it.
Then before the bodies of the assailants can be looked at they rot, completely turn to mush, and an odd fungus looking stuff.
Things of daydreams right?
Then a former football player gets infected. Perry Dawsey is a big guy, he has been known for his horrible temper but has settled into a boring office job. Once infected Perry fights back. He has blue triangles growing in his skin!
There are others that have been infected. Then the triangles start talking to each other......then start hatching.
I've had the third book of this series on my kindle for awhile and thought I would finally pick this one up to see what all the fuss was about. It was kind of a medium opening for me. I will finish the series but not at this moment.
When I started the book I was all fangirl because I love some contagion books. Yes, I know I have weird tastes in books.
Some kind of contagion is sweeping a town, it causes people to go completely nuts and to kill the people around them. A seventy something year old Grandma kills her son because of it.
Then before the bodies of the assailants can be looked at they rot, completely turn to mush, and an odd fungus looking stuff.
Things of daydreams right?
Then a former football player gets infected. Perry Dawsey is a big guy, he has been known for his horrible temper but has settled into a boring office job. Once infected Perry fights back. He has blue triangles growing in his skin!
There are others that have been infected. Then the triangles start talking to each other......then start hatching.
I've had the third book of this series on my kindle for awhile and thought I would finally pick this one up to see what all the fuss was about. It was kind of a medium opening for me. I will finish the series but not at this moment.
July 20, 2016
dude if you can't even read your own novel effectively then hire someone! I for one am not a fan of overly emphatic narration that sounds like the reader has too much saliva in their mouth. and it's right there inside of my ears. spit or swallow, Sigler! it was so gross that I didn't even have a chance to get grossed out by the plot itself. and I doubt! that every sentence! ends! in an exclamation! point! or a breathy whisper. even worse: female characters voiced by the author as high-pitched ninnies who sound all too much like Minnie Mouse.
this is my second and probably last audiobook. I really don't get the appeal. clearly they are not for me. ugh!
this is my second and probably last audiobook. I really don't get the appeal. clearly they are not for me. ugh!
February 19, 2009
Scott Sigler is one of those new fangled podcast novelists who is revolutionizing the publishing industry. Sigler offered audiences his first couple of novels free to the whoever wanted to download them. Through hard work and shameless self-promotion, Sigler got his name out there, drew in audiences and created a network of 30,000 plus rabid fans who couldn鈥檛 wait for the next insallment or novel.
Eventually, the publishing industry took notice and signed Sigler to a contract to put his stories in the old-fashioned brick and mortar stores. And unlike some first-time authors of this kind, Sigler wasn鈥檛 going out in paperback or a trade paperback. He was going hardcover with a full-on marketing push and blitz.
The first major label publication is Sigler鈥檚 popular story 鈥淚nfected.鈥� Not only because it鈥檚 one of his better books, but also becuase it鈥檚 creating the universe that Sigler plays in other novels. Hopefully the blitz and the publication will create new fans for Sigler as they realize what many of his podcast fans have known for years鈥搕he man can write one hell of a novel.
鈥淚nfected鈥� is an alien invasion story, of sorts. Every-man Perry Dawson鈥檚 body has been invaded by some kind of alien virus. It starts out as a rash, but slowly evolves into something worse, to the point that the virus can communicate telepathically with Perry. The organisms are slowly turning into something, something sinister. But what they are and where they came from aren鈥檛 exactly know to Perry.
Meanwhile, a government team is trying to find a connection between a set of seemingly well-adjusted people who suddenly go mad and on a killing spree. One connection is the crazy person become suicidal and their bodies decay quickly after death.
These plot threads slowly and inevitably come on a collision course.
The first thing to warn readers is that 鈥淚nfected鈥� is not for the faint of heart. Perry鈥檚 attempts to get the sores out of his body become more and more intense as the story goes along. This is not a book to be read while eating or even if you鈥檝e eaten lately or if you鈥檙e thinking of eating later. It is, however, a great book to lose weight by reading. Sigler finds the perfect balance between giving enough information on what鈥檚 unfolding and allowing our imaginations to fill in the rest.
The portions of the story with March are the most compelling of the book. Sigler seems to channel Stephen King or Richard Matheson in finding the everyman who is in some bizarre circumstance and trying to figure out how to react to it. March鈥檚 descent into madness works because Sigler lays out the journey and the decisions that eventually lead to his actions. That said, you鈥檒l never look at chicken scissors in quite the same way again.
Where the story does drag a bit is in the governmental pursuit of the virus. While March鈥檚 story has a definite beginning, middle and end, the story of what the virus is and the pursuit of it feels more like the opening salvo of a larger storyline. If you鈥檙e looking for a lot of answers on that front, you鈥檙e going to come away being disappointed. 鈥淚nfected鈥� clearly leaves itself open for a sequel and I just hope sales justify the next installment of this series.
Of course, I guess even if they don鈥檛 the good news is that Sigler would still deliver the novel via podcast.
But why not pick up the book and encourage them to give us more? At times, 鈥淚nfected鈥� is a white-knuckle thriller that will keep the pages turning and there are certain scenes that will huant you long after the final page is turned. It鈥檚 a bloody, dark, violent gruesome affair and one of the best 鈥渇irst novels鈥� I鈥檝e read in a long time. Some day we may all look back and say, 鈥淥h yeah, I read Sigler back when鈥�.鈥�
Get on board the train now. You won鈥檛 regret it.
Eventually, the publishing industry took notice and signed Sigler to a contract to put his stories in the old-fashioned brick and mortar stores. And unlike some first-time authors of this kind, Sigler wasn鈥檛 going out in paperback or a trade paperback. He was going hardcover with a full-on marketing push and blitz.
The first major label publication is Sigler鈥檚 popular story 鈥淚nfected.鈥� Not only because it鈥檚 one of his better books, but also becuase it鈥檚 creating the universe that Sigler plays in other novels. Hopefully the blitz and the publication will create new fans for Sigler as they realize what many of his podcast fans have known for years鈥搕he man can write one hell of a novel.
鈥淚nfected鈥� is an alien invasion story, of sorts. Every-man Perry Dawson鈥檚 body has been invaded by some kind of alien virus. It starts out as a rash, but slowly evolves into something worse, to the point that the virus can communicate telepathically with Perry. The organisms are slowly turning into something, something sinister. But what they are and where they came from aren鈥檛 exactly know to Perry.
Meanwhile, a government team is trying to find a connection between a set of seemingly well-adjusted people who suddenly go mad and on a killing spree. One connection is the crazy person become suicidal and their bodies decay quickly after death.
These plot threads slowly and inevitably come on a collision course.
The first thing to warn readers is that 鈥淚nfected鈥� is not for the faint of heart. Perry鈥檚 attempts to get the sores out of his body become more and more intense as the story goes along. This is not a book to be read while eating or even if you鈥檝e eaten lately or if you鈥檙e thinking of eating later. It is, however, a great book to lose weight by reading. Sigler finds the perfect balance between giving enough information on what鈥檚 unfolding and allowing our imaginations to fill in the rest.
The portions of the story with March are the most compelling of the book. Sigler seems to channel Stephen King or Richard Matheson in finding the everyman who is in some bizarre circumstance and trying to figure out how to react to it. March鈥檚 descent into madness works because Sigler lays out the journey and the decisions that eventually lead to his actions. That said, you鈥檒l never look at chicken scissors in quite the same way again.
Where the story does drag a bit is in the governmental pursuit of the virus. While March鈥檚 story has a definite beginning, middle and end, the story of what the virus is and the pursuit of it feels more like the opening salvo of a larger storyline. If you鈥檙e looking for a lot of answers on that front, you鈥檙e going to come away being disappointed. 鈥淚nfected鈥� clearly leaves itself open for a sequel and I just hope sales justify the next installment of this series.
Of course, I guess even if they don鈥檛 the good news is that Sigler would still deliver the novel via podcast.
But why not pick up the book and encourage them to give us more? At times, 鈥淚nfected鈥� is a white-knuckle thriller that will keep the pages turning and there are certain scenes that will huant you long after the final page is turned. It鈥檚 a bloody, dark, violent gruesome affair and one of the best 鈥渇irst novels鈥� I鈥檝e read in a long time. Some day we may all look back and say, 鈥淥h yeah, I read Sigler back when鈥�.鈥�
Get on board the train now. You won鈥檛 regret it.
July 3, 2015
This was truly one of the grossest books at times and I'm surprised I didn't have nightmares. And... I loved it!!!
I have a signed copy and the inscription reads "Save Perry's balls!" I caught on about halfway through!
There is science, and itching, and more science, and alien things, and gore, and more gore, and... You really have to read it!!
Sigler is a master storyteller of this genre!! I have open and ready to go!!
I have a signed copy and the inscription reads "Save Perry's balls!" I caught on about halfway through!
There is science, and itching, and more science, and alien things, and gore, and more gore, and... You really have to read it!!
Sigler is a master storyteller of this genre!! I have open and ready to go!!
October 16, 2022
The body horror was truly wild!! Sososo graphic and vivid, alot like The Troop by Nick Cutter.
I didn鈥檛 really care for any of the characters though, they felt kinda corny/weird. Also, I felt like there were a few parts that dragged, and some of the writing/similes were cringey, but overall it was pretty fun and very freaky!!
I didn鈥檛 really care for any of the characters though, they felt kinda corny/weird. Also, I felt like there were a few parts that dragged, and some of the writing/similes were cringey, but overall it was pretty fun and very freaky!!
December 28, 2022
Had high hopes for this as the blurb sounded so intriguing and a review !ade me even more intruiged. Glad to say it wasn't a disappointing. Very interesting read
May 22, 2024
I've often credited this book for being the work that made me realize that I do like body horror a lot as long as it's in the context of the body doing/becoming the horror not the horror being visited upon the body via torture. So, I figured maybe I should reread it and see if it stood the test of time since I was very easily impressed back when I first read it.
The body horror held up as did the general plot, but the banter and how insufferable the characters were not so much. I understand Perry is supposed to be a hard to love but somehow sympathetic figure but with most of the other characters being in the same vein and with the inappropriate edginess that passed for witticism at the time (yes the late 2000s were an era of unrelenting cringiness) it just got tedious at some point.
The body horror held up as did the general plot, but the banter and how insufferable the characters were not so much. I understand Perry is supposed to be a hard to love but somehow sympathetic figure but with most of the other characters being in the same vein and with the inappropriate edginess that passed for witticism at the time (yes the late 2000s were an era of unrelenting cringiness) it just got tedious at some point.
November 1, 2010
This book did nothing for me. If you're going to give me action, then give me action I can believe and not have to stop every other page and question what I'm reading. If you're going to give me violence and gore (and be warned, there is a lot of violence and gore here) then give me violence and gore I can believe and not something just for the sake of writing something violent.
The concept of alien spores growing in humans was easier for me to swallow than anything else in this story and when it got to the alien spores talking to the infecteds the whole thing got a little comical for me and I started seeing Perry and his spores as some type of sci-fi Three Stooges.
This book comes with a lot of hype and that's it has going for it as far as I was concerned. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.
The concept of alien spores growing in humans was easier for me to swallow than anything else in this story and when it got to the alien spores talking to the infecteds the whole thing got a little comical for me and I started seeing Perry and his spores as some type of sci-fi Three Stooges.
This book comes with a lot of hype and that's it has going for it as far as I was concerned. I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone.
July 29, 2022
Infected in 'Murica!
Infected by Scott Sigler.
My mind is quickly erasing this experience, so here is my two cents.
The first time I read book 1 was with a very cynical eye, so I thought it was very funny and I planned to read the rest in the series, but it took some time to get book 3. Back to present time, 3 books on my hands and starting over鈥� well鈥� that was an experience. Didn鈥檛 remember WHY I thought it was funny. It was fun for all the wrong reasons, to say it shortly it is a cringe-fest. If I rate it for the morbid fun, it would get 3-4 stars, but is it a good book? Of course not. It felt a lot like those 80s-90s terrible action B-movies: cringe-fun.
Well, that isn鈥檛 bad at all, unless鈥� if you look a bit more closely (not much really), peculiar waves below the simplification of clich茅s appear.
Let鈥檚 take a look to our cast, shall we?
- The very white (like鈥� super white) jerk misogynist (not recovered) jock with anger management issues (recovered for a time, Hallelujah!)
- His funny friend.
- Infodump.
- The ambitious Latin scientist, wannabe lead Karen boss.
- The effeminate but surprisingly straight scientist, unsurprisingly passive.
- The yummy Black agent.
- The stoic racist badass ex-vet turned CIA agent that survived the worst pain of all: having a lesbian daughter (his baby girl, of course).
- The young Black agent, beloved partner of our main agent (yes, the racist one and no, it isn鈥檛 ironic here, more on this later).
- The xenophobic police officers, ready to serve and protect.
- Infodump.Until.You.Choke.
- Retards, gooks, bull dykes appearing by mention.
- Media references鈥� like f**k descriptions!
- The cringy language all doop de di doos and awesomesauce.
Setting: in 'Murica (yes, that dreamland country of some, not the same as the US).
So far, it loos like a cringy character list, but it is a lot more: a racist, homophobic, misogynist (choose your pick) mode that tries hard to appear the contrary; using the logic that it isn鈥檛 racist because A) It contains pseudo-developed Black characters B) The stoic agent clearly cares (of course, in a manly, very manly way!) for his partner. Same goes for the other picks, and by way of doing this, you can spit all the racist (et al) crap because you are safe now... sure. A bit worse, it is like a 鈥済uide to care for your racist (et al)鈥�. It麓s ok, care for them as you would care for someone who has stinky feet or bad handwriting鈥� sure. But hold on, some may say鈥� there is a Latin president! He makes fun of the angry-posting racist stereotype! Well, yeah. The thing is, it is not uncommon for some people to believe (or trying very hard to) themselves not ___ (insert pick) and hold some of these views, but is also used as a shield.
It is a healthy practice to separate the author from the characters and their dialogues, so it is curious to see the patterns and undercurrent views not so subtly displayed. Moving on.
Book 2 wasn鈥檛 as fun; it gets old pretty quick and Book 3 was just鈥� painful. The list of character clich茅s become more and more cartoonish (it is possible!), the infodump gets denser and the shield flimsier. Women in Book 2 (or 3? whatever!) for example, we have a lesbian heroic soldier, a woman as president and at the same time a very troubling handling of sexual harassment. One of the new characters is a male doctor with a PHD in sexual verbal harassment and the female characters find it funny, charming, effective (!!) and he is kind to remind us that women in powerful positions need someone to control them, at least in bed, and to call them 鈥渄addy鈥�. Yeah, character development. And you can almost see the phallic tool鈥� I mean pen, writing the womanly thoughts of a character that finds herself in top of a situation having no better way to phrase it as, quote:
鈥淪he was the man, for lack of a better term鈥︹€�
Of course, a better term can鈥檛 be found鈥� right?
We could go on and on with the troublesome situations, the humongous infodump (someone give him a cookie, have mercy!), the characters caricatures, but it is pointless. It was fascinating at some point to see this kind of mechanic at work, but when you see that there is no better way for a father in the book to describe very casually his teenage daughter but as 鈥渉ot鈥� 鈥� well.
This is my tired opinion, lots of people had a blast with these books. Anyway, this is one of the few occasions in which I welcome the fuzziness of oblivion washing over my mind.
Infected by Scott Sigler.
My mind is quickly erasing this experience, so here is my two cents.
The first time I read book 1 was with a very cynical eye, so I thought it was very funny and I planned to read the rest in the series, but it took some time to get book 3. Back to present time, 3 books on my hands and starting over鈥� well鈥� that was an experience. Didn鈥檛 remember WHY I thought it was funny. It was fun for all the wrong reasons, to say it shortly it is a cringe-fest. If I rate it for the morbid fun, it would get 3-4 stars, but is it a good book? Of course not. It felt a lot like those 80s-90s terrible action B-movies: cringe-fun.
Well, that isn鈥檛 bad at all, unless鈥� if you look a bit more closely (not much really), peculiar waves below the simplification of clich茅s appear.
Let鈥檚 take a look to our cast, shall we?
- The very white (like鈥� super white) jerk misogynist (not recovered) jock with anger management issues (recovered for a time, Hallelujah!)
- His funny friend.
- Infodump.
- The ambitious Latin scientist, wannabe lead Karen boss.
- The effeminate but surprisingly straight scientist, unsurprisingly passive.
- The yummy Black agent.
- The stoic racist badass ex-vet turned CIA agent that survived the worst pain of all: having a lesbian daughter (his baby girl, of course).
- The young Black agent, beloved partner of our main agent (yes, the racist one and no, it isn鈥檛 ironic here, more on this later).
- The xenophobic police officers, ready to serve and protect.
- Infodump.Until.You.Choke.
- Retards, gooks, bull dykes appearing by mention.
- Media references鈥� like f**k descriptions!
- The cringy language all doop de di doos and awesomesauce.
Setting: in 'Murica (yes, that dreamland country of some, not the same as the US).
So far, it loos like a cringy character list, but it is a lot more: a racist, homophobic, misogynist (choose your pick) mode that tries hard to appear the contrary; using the logic that it isn鈥檛 racist because A) It contains pseudo-developed Black characters B) The stoic agent clearly cares (of course, in a manly, very manly way!) for his partner. Same goes for the other picks, and by way of doing this, you can spit all the racist (et al) crap because you are safe now... sure. A bit worse, it is like a 鈥済uide to care for your racist (et al)鈥�. It麓s ok, care for them as you would care for someone who has stinky feet or bad handwriting鈥� sure. But hold on, some may say鈥� there is a Latin president! He makes fun of the angry-posting racist stereotype! Well, yeah. The thing is, it is not uncommon for some people to believe (or trying very hard to) themselves not ___ (insert pick) and hold some of these views, but is also used as a shield.
It is a healthy practice to separate the author from the characters and their dialogues, so it is curious to see the patterns and undercurrent views not so subtly displayed. Moving on.
Book 2 wasn鈥檛 as fun; it gets old pretty quick and Book 3 was just鈥� painful. The list of character clich茅s become more and more cartoonish (it is possible!), the infodump gets denser and the shield flimsier. Women in Book 2 (or 3? whatever!) for example, we have a lesbian heroic soldier, a woman as president and at the same time a very troubling handling of sexual harassment. One of the new characters is a male doctor with a PHD in sexual verbal harassment and the female characters find it funny, charming, effective (!!) and he is kind to remind us that women in powerful positions need someone to control them, at least in bed, and to call them 鈥渄addy鈥�. Yeah, character development. And you can almost see the phallic tool鈥� I mean pen, writing the womanly thoughts of a character that finds herself in top of a situation having no better way to phrase it as, quote:
鈥淪he was the man, for lack of a better term鈥︹€�
Of course, a better term can鈥檛 be found鈥� right?
We could go on and on with the troublesome situations, the humongous infodump (someone give him a cookie, have mercy!), the characters caricatures, but it is pointless. It was fascinating at some point to see this kind of mechanic at work, but when you see that there is no better way for a father in the book to describe very casually his teenage daughter but as 鈥渉ot鈥� 鈥� well.
This is my tired opinion, lots of people had a blast with these books. Anyway, this is one of the few occasions in which I welcome the fuzziness of oblivion washing over my mind.
December 4, 2014
AWESOME!!
Totally awesome.
Love this first book.
I was getting the creepy-willies all while reading it.
Totally awesome.
Love this first book.
I was getting the creepy-willies all while reading it.
August 15, 2008
Scott Sigler is a podcast author - #1 on every aggregator, icluding Itunes. Infected is his first published novel. I picked it up because the cover looked cool, and the title sounded creepy. The short synopsis inside the front cover convinced me to buy it.
Boy, was I glad I did!
Infected is an original story that's well told, thought provoking, and fun to read. The characters are well written and believable and the story is intriguing.
This book gave me the feeling that all this was happening in real time. I felt like if I wasn't reading it, things were happening without me. I read this book very quickly - like I was afraid I'd miss something if I didn't. It was a strange feeling. I attribute it to Siglers unique writing style. I loved the short chapters and the POV shift between characters.
I think I spent more time thinking about this one than I did reading it - because I couldn't help but tear though it as quickly as possible! I loved it, can't wait until Scott Sigler writes another :)
I might even try listening to one of his stories on my Ipod.
Boy, was I glad I did!
Infected is an original story that's well told, thought provoking, and fun to read. The characters are well written and believable and the story is intriguing.
This book gave me the feeling that all this was happening in real time. I felt like if I wasn't reading it, things were happening without me. I read this book very quickly - like I was afraid I'd miss something if I didn't. It was a strange feeling. I attribute it to Siglers unique writing style. I loved the short chapters and the POV shift between characters.
I think I spent more time thinking about this one than I did reading it - because I couldn't help but tear though it as quickly as possible! I loved it, can't wait until Scott Sigler writes another :)
I might even try listening to one of his stories on my Ipod.
August 27, 2008
Well-plotted enough, I suppose, but most definitely NOT my kind of read. Incessant foul language, manic violence, graphic gore, and grating characters. Ending wasn't what I'd expected (not a compliment), and I weary of obvious sequel set-ups.
audiobook note: Authors rarely do a good job reading their own works, and Sigler even acknowledges that he can't do female voices. He's right.
audiobook note: Authors rarely do a good job reading their own works, and Sigler even acknowledges that he can't do female voices. He's right.
January 3, 2021
4.5 Stars for Infected: Infected Series Book 1 by Scott Sigler read by the author. This was a fast paced and gory story. Just like the author promised at the beginning of the book. I really enjoyed this audiobook. The author does a good job of reading the story. What he lacks in ability he more than makes up for in enthusiasm. I鈥檓 looking forward to the next book in the series.
November 20, 2020
Tengo un grato recuerdo de este libro, lo compr茅 por su sinopsis y no me defraud贸, hubo momentos de angustia, pero se disfrutaron.
Mezcla de g茅neros, ciencia ficci贸n, terror.
Muy recomendable.馃憤
Mezcla de g茅neros, ciencia ficci贸n, terror.
Muy recomendable.馃憤
July 21, 2009
This book, by an author who formed fan base by writing chapters for podcasts, had a lot of promise. However, that promise was never fulfilled. The premise of the book is either an alien invasion or a bioterrorist attack (we're never really told) on some unsuspecting souls in western Ohio and northern Michigan. We're introduced to characters like Margaret Montoya, a doctor with the CDC who wants to stop this thing and advance her career, and "Scary" Perry Dawsey, a former U of Michigan linebacker whose career ended with a knee injury and who now works for a computer support company. Both Montoya and Perry are likeable enough, as are the other characters, but they're never developed. A possible relationship between Montoya and an agent with the CIA goes nowhere. The lead agent in the case, whose partner is killed early on by one the "infected", is really little more than the stereotypical world-weary hero, and we never know if his fight for good does any good at all. Dawsey, who came from an abusive home and struggles with his own tendency towards physical violence, fights for his humanity at the beginning but then turns into such a selfish jerk that you simply don't care if he lives. And the descriptions of the "infection"--triangular-shaped parasites who feed off of human nutrition and thought, are described in gorey detail, which is fine, but much of it becomes gratuitous as the reader stops caring if the main characters beat this thing or not.
Save yourself some trouble and don't bother with this sophmoric effort.
Save yourself some trouble and don't bother with this sophmoric effort.
November 17, 2023
The creepiest thing about this is that the parasites are triangle. I鈥檓 sorry but no. That is not an acceptable shape. Neither is the colour blue. I will accept a lot of things from a book like this but I will not accept blue triangles.
May 12, 2015
WHAT. THE. FUCK?!
Um. I was excited to read this book becausefew many people said it's zombie. I WAS LIKE, HELL YEAH!
Well, nope...
OK...I think this book...well, what I think of this book...
When Perry were trying to get things out of his body...SKIN...
THAT'S DISGUSTED
AT THE END OF BOOK, I was like..
I don't want the damn thing inside of my body...
I REPEAT, WHAT. THE. F.U.C.K.!
Um. I was excited to read this book because
Well, nope...
OK...I think this book...well, what I think of this book...
When Perry were trying to get things out of his body...SKIN...
THAT'S DISGUSTED
AT THE END OF BOOK, I was like..
I don't want the damn thing inside of my body...
I REPEAT, WHAT. THE. F.U.C.K.!
September 12, 2017
5 Stars
Not sure where to begin, but one place I can start.... the gore. I have read bloody things before; but the mutilation even made me wince; and that is saying something.
This book is about infection gone astray, awry, ballistic, crazy, on acid, on uppers, on downers, on some real -ish. See there are these minute "seedlings"...and they get in your system; once there...bad things start to happen.
This book is not for the squeamish, so tread lightly. It is, however, perfect for horror/sci-fi readers; who love this shit. It is so fun, so icky.
Not sure where to begin, but one place I can start.... the gore. I have read bloody things before; but the mutilation even made me wince; and that is saying something.
This book is about infection gone astray, awry, ballistic, crazy, on acid, on uppers, on downers, on some real -ish. See there are these minute "seedlings"...and they get in your system; once there...bad things start to happen.
This book is not for the squeamish, so tread lightly. It is, however, perfect for horror/sci-fi readers; who love this shit. It is so fun, so icky.
March 30, 2013
4.5 stars. This was an excellent sci-fi/horror that begs to be adapted into a David Cronenberg film (with good old fashioned special effects, none of that CGI crap.) I listened to the audio version narrated by the author as a free podcast download from iTunes. The production quality was top-notch and I'm looking forward to the sequel.
December 16, 2015
This book has been on my wishlist since 2008, but it just never really made its way into my hands. Until now, when we have a couple things align to make that happen. The first thing that it's October. I love October - it's my favorite reading month, the month when I read all sorts of demented horror-y stuff all month long and don't feel a bit guilty about it. Err... not that I do anyway, but, y'know, I try to vary my reading and stuff. So, right, October, horror required. Check.
The next thing is that I've been working on a couple different knitted projects lately. One of them I wanted to get done soonish as I need to mail it out to someone as a gift, and so, I needed to multitask. I am not of the accomplished Knitter's Guild level 60, and therefore I gotta look at what I'm knitting. So reading is out, unless it's an audio. So, I headed over to Audible, where I poked around a while, and listened to some samples and finally decided on Infected.
Download complete, I can be productive while getting my horror fix in, and this makes Becky a happy girl.
So, on to my review.
I admit that I did not care much for the reading of this one, mainly due to the character voices. It's read by the author and I'm rather, err, finicky when it comes to audiobook readers. The reader is almost always something that I discuss when reviewing an audiobook.
The voices that Sigler gave the characters just didn't seem to fit the characters much to me. Dew especially. To me, the way he was read sounded like George W. Bush, and... well, that's just weird. I'm guessing that maybe he was going for a kind of commanding presence type, the kind that doesn't need to raise his voice to make people sit up and pay attention. The type that has that deadly charisma that makes people uneasy for unknown reasons, you know? But the actual voice didn't do any of this for the character, and so it kept throwing me off.
Likewise, Margaret Montoya's voice was wrong for her, too. Aside from the female voices in general, I just didn't really get Margaret's having a Hispanic accent, considering that she grew up (or at least went to school) in the US. And then, when she's supposed to be kind of ruthless and demanding to get her way, it was hard for me to believe, because instead of sounding stern and serious, she sounded shrill and scared.
Not everyone is cut out to do voice work though. I am almost positive that I am not, despite my nitpicking ability when listening to others. Stephen King is not. I love his books and his writing, but I cannot listen to his reading voice for any length of time. I have my fingers crossed that a new audiobook version of Bag of Bones will be put out one day, read by someone else. His talent is writing, not reading, that's all.
That being said, I did enjoy Sigler's main narrative reading. I thought the tone and the pacing and even the little bits of irony or humor were great, and these sections (most of the book, truthfully) kept me engaged and interested in the audio. And there were voices I liked, after they grew on me. Perry is one of those, as is Otto. I thought that both sounded a bit too deep and slow initially, but then after a while, I adjusted to them and ended up liking them both. Otto, though, reminded me of someone else's voice, and I just couldn't place it until almost the end of the book, when it came to me that he sounded exactly like Darnell from My Name Is Earl. Kinda reminded me of him character-wise as well, honestly. I like Darnell and I liked Otto. I'm hoping he has a bigger role in the second book.
Last thing regarding the audio itself (promise!). I'm not a fan of performance audiobooks. I don't mind full cast audios, but I don't generally like sound effects and whatnot in them. To me it's distracting and weird. I just want the story, no bells, no whistles. But the way the Triangles were handled was great. I liked it quite a lot. Very creepy, especially when unexpected at 3am and the effect is just the smallest 'What the fuck was that?!' sound -- at least at first. It grew, obviously, but at first I thought I was hearing things. VERY CREEPY. I think, creep-out factor wise, it seemed like it would be much more effective in audio than print.
Storywise, I really enjoyed this one. Different parts reminded me of other things that I've enjoyed, and it was interesting to find these comparisons while listening. Some off of the top of my head would be , , , and the TV show Heroes. I am not sure if these were intentional "homages" or if they are just coincidental, but either way, it worked for me.
I did like most of the characters too. I very much liked Perry, and right from the start I connected with him. Maybe that's proof that there's something wrong with me, because I liked him because of the meanness in him that he tries to overcome. That history of abuse and anger issues and aggression that he worked so hard to control in himself drew me in and I immediately liked him for the mere fact of trying to be better, and to break the cycle and not be the same person his father was.
Later on, I was kind of in awe of him, for his sheer willpower and strength of mind. My goodness... the things that he endured... Yikes. I stub my toe and I practically need a Jazzy so I can get around. This dude is freaking superhuman when I think of the massive amounts of pain and mutilation he dealt with. I was definitely rooting for him, and though things turned out differently than I'd hoped, I'm satisfied with the resolution, and look forward to reading the 2nd book to see where things pick up with the rest of the cast.
I also liked that Sigler didn't pull many punches with the violence or gore. It seemed like the perfect amount, and when things were hinted at, it was done in a way that worked just as well, if not better, than spelling everything out might have. There was only one cringeworthy moment for me, which was Perry's career-ending injury, but thankfully that was just a passing reference. *shudder* Yeesh. Where's my Jazzy? I have sympathy pains!
I thought that the pacing was great, and that the tension kept on ratcheting up. I liked how the narrative toggled between different people and kept tabs on all. I thought it worked well here. There were a few times that I thought one person (usually Perry) hogged the focus a little too long, but usually very shortly it'd shift and catch us up on the others. I wasn't bored, that's for sure, even in the more technical or medical explanatory sections. These were handled well, too, I might add. A little bit of info-dump, but necessary and relevant and I'm glad they were there. And they were only inserted as necessary, so as the story progressed, so did our understanding of the Triangles, which is as it should be.
Overall, I enjoyed this and will definitely be picking up the 2nd book.
Horror October 2011: #4
The next thing is that I've been working on a couple different knitted projects lately. One of them I wanted to get done soonish as I need to mail it out to someone as a gift, and so, I needed to multitask. I am not of the accomplished Knitter's Guild level 60, and therefore I gotta look at what I'm knitting. So reading is out, unless it's an audio. So, I headed over to Audible, where I poked around a while, and listened to some samples and finally decided on Infected.
Download complete, I can be productive while getting my horror fix in, and this makes Becky a happy girl.
So, on to my review.
I admit that I did not care much for the reading of this one, mainly due to the character voices. It's read by the author and I'm rather, err, finicky when it comes to audiobook readers. The reader is almost always something that I discuss when reviewing an audiobook.
The voices that Sigler gave the characters just didn't seem to fit the characters much to me. Dew especially. To me, the way he was read sounded like George W. Bush, and... well, that's just weird. I'm guessing that maybe he was going for a kind of commanding presence type, the kind that doesn't need to raise his voice to make people sit up and pay attention. The type that has that deadly charisma that makes people uneasy for unknown reasons, you know? But the actual voice didn't do any of this for the character, and so it kept throwing me off.
Likewise, Margaret Montoya's voice was wrong for her, too. Aside from the female voices in general, I just didn't really get Margaret's having a Hispanic accent, considering that she grew up (or at least went to school) in the US. And then, when she's supposed to be kind of ruthless and demanding to get her way, it was hard for me to believe, because instead of sounding stern and serious, she sounded shrill and scared.
Not everyone is cut out to do voice work though. I am almost positive that I am not, despite my nitpicking ability when listening to others. Stephen King is not. I love his books and his writing, but I cannot listen to his reading voice for any length of time. I have my fingers crossed that a new audiobook version of Bag of Bones will be put out one day, read by someone else. His talent is writing, not reading, that's all.
That being said, I did enjoy Sigler's main narrative reading. I thought the tone and the pacing and even the little bits of irony or humor were great, and these sections (most of the book, truthfully) kept me engaged and interested in the audio. And there were voices I liked, after they grew on me. Perry is one of those, as is Otto. I thought that both sounded a bit too deep and slow initially, but then after a while, I adjusted to them and ended up liking them both. Otto, though, reminded me of someone else's voice, and I just couldn't place it until almost the end of the book, when it came to me that he sounded exactly like Darnell from My Name Is Earl. Kinda reminded me of him character-wise as well, honestly. I like Darnell and I liked Otto. I'm hoping he has a bigger role in the second book.
Last thing regarding the audio itself (promise!). I'm not a fan of performance audiobooks. I don't mind full cast audios, but I don't generally like sound effects and whatnot in them. To me it's distracting and weird. I just want the story, no bells, no whistles. But the way the Triangles were handled was great. I liked it quite a lot. Very creepy, especially when unexpected at 3am and the effect is just the smallest 'What the fuck was that?!' sound -- at least at first. It grew, obviously, but at first I thought I was hearing things. VERY CREEPY. I think, creep-out factor wise, it seemed like it would be much more effective in audio than print.
Storywise, I really enjoyed this one. Different parts reminded me of other things that I've enjoyed, and it was interesting to find these comparisons while listening. Some off of the top of my head would be , , , and the TV show Heroes. I am not sure if these were intentional "homages" or if they are just coincidental, but either way, it worked for me.
I did like most of the characters too. I very much liked Perry, and right from the start I connected with him. Maybe that's proof that there's something wrong with me, because I liked him because of the meanness in him that he tries to overcome. That history of abuse and anger issues and aggression that he worked so hard to control in himself drew me in and I immediately liked him for the mere fact of trying to be better, and to break the cycle and not be the same person his father was.
Later on, I was kind of in awe of him, for his sheer willpower and strength of mind. My goodness... the things that he endured... Yikes. I stub my toe and I practically need a Jazzy so I can get around. This dude is freaking superhuman when I think of the massive amounts of pain and mutilation he dealt with. I was definitely rooting for him, and though things turned out differently than I'd hoped, I'm satisfied with the resolution, and look forward to reading the 2nd book to see where things pick up with the rest of the cast.
I also liked that Sigler didn't pull many punches with the violence or gore. It seemed like the perfect amount, and when things were hinted at, it was done in a way that worked just as well, if not better, than spelling everything out might have. There was only one cringeworthy moment for me, which was Perry's career-ending injury, but thankfully that was just a passing reference. *shudder* Yeesh. Where's my Jazzy? I have sympathy pains!
I thought that the pacing was great, and that the tension kept on ratcheting up. I liked how the narrative toggled between different people and kept tabs on all. I thought it worked well here. There were a few times that I thought one person (usually Perry) hogged the focus a little too long, but usually very shortly it'd shift and catch us up on the others. I wasn't bored, that's for sure, even in the more technical or medical explanatory sections. These were handled well, too, I might add. A little bit of info-dump, but necessary and relevant and I'm glad they were there. And they were only inserted as necessary, so as the story progressed, so did our understanding of the Triangles, which is as it should be.
Overall, I enjoyed this and will definitely be picking up the 2nd book.
Horror October 2011: #4
April 16, 2009
I wanted to like this book. I was ready to let it entertain me with its creepy-sounding premise: alien spores infecting hapless human beings and turning them violent and delusional, while directing them to some mysterious purpose. Meanwhile the government has to race to figure out what's going on before word of the violence spreads to the general public--and before the aliens become enough of a genuine threat that military action must be taken.
Okay, cool, I thought. However, the book that that premise promised was not the book I got. Most of the focus is on Perry Dawsey, a young ex-football-player who's infected by the Triangles and who fights a losing battle against encroaching insanity as they grow within him. But here's the thing: the character's backstory already has him violent and temperamental, and specifically fighting to keep that part of him under control. That's the thing that makes him an interesting and sympathetic character, and it's this that gets shot right out from under him the longer he wages his personal battle against his body's invaders. It gets to the point that when he meets another person infected with the Triangles, he's so far gone that he assaults her with no more than the faintest glimmer of conscience--and by then, with no real sign remaining in him of common decency, I honestly found myself wondering why the book had made me hang out in this guy's point of view for the majority of the camera time.
Nor are we given any real, strong characters to balance Dawsey out--especially when female characters are on camera. We get a woman who's in charge of the scientific investigation, but who lacks personal fortitude and has to be nudged into asserting herself by the agent to whom she's attracted. Also, the unfortunate female victim of the Triangles Dawsey assaults is signified in the narrative mostly by the fact that she's a) female, b) fat, and c) pathetic, particularly in comparison to Dawsey himself, for not fighting against the organisms growing inside her. Granted, this is supposed to be from Dawsey's POV, and he's well and thoroughly on board the train to psychotown at that point--but nonetheless, it was grating to read.
The book's not without a few strong points; I did like the visual tricks it was playing with using unusual fonts and layout to signify when the spores were speaking, once the ones in Dawsey became sentient. There are definite pacing issues, but Sigler's writing did in general overcome those well enough to keep me reading to the end even if I wasn't appreciating the characters very much. And the overall question of the story, what the Triangles are, where they've come from, and what they're trying to achieve, is suitably intriguing enough to keep the story moving.
For me though, unfortunately, it just didn't click. Two stars.
Okay, cool, I thought. However, the book that that premise promised was not the book I got. Most of the focus is on Perry Dawsey, a young ex-football-player who's infected by the Triangles and who fights a losing battle against encroaching insanity as they grow within him. But here's the thing: the character's backstory already has him violent and temperamental, and specifically fighting to keep that part of him under control. That's the thing that makes him an interesting and sympathetic character, and it's this that gets shot right out from under him the longer he wages his personal battle against his body's invaders. It gets to the point that when he meets another person infected with the Triangles, he's so far gone that he assaults her with no more than the faintest glimmer of conscience--and by then, with no real sign remaining in him of common decency, I honestly found myself wondering why the book had made me hang out in this guy's point of view for the majority of the camera time.
Nor are we given any real, strong characters to balance Dawsey out--especially when female characters are on camera. We get a woman who's in charge of the scientific investigation, but who lacks personal fortitude and has to be nudged into asserting herself by the agent to whom she's attracted. Also, the unfortunate female victim of the Triangles Dawsey assaults is signified in the narrative mostly by the fact that she's a) female, b) fat, and c) pathetic, particularly in comparison to Dawsey himself, for not fighting against the organisms growing inside her. Granted, this is supposed to be from Dawsey's POV, and he's well and thoroughly on board the train to psychotown at that point--but nonetheless, it was grating to read.
The book's not without a few strong points; I did like the visual tricks it was playing with using unusual fonts and layout to signify when the spores were speaking, once the ones in Dawsey became sentient. There are definite pacing issues, but Sigler's writing did in general overcome those well enough to keep me reading to the end even if I wasn't appreciating the characters very much. And the overall question of the story, what the Triangles are, where they've come from, and what they're trying to achieve, is suitably intriguing enough to keep the story moving.
For me though, unfortunately, it just didn't click. Two stars.
April 11, 2020
螝伪位蠈 萎蟿伪谓. 螠慰蠀 维蟻蔚蟽蔚 慰 蟿蟻蠈蟺慰蟼 蟺慰蠀 蟺蔚蟻喂纬蟻维蠁蔚喂 蟿畏谓 蟺蟻慰蟽蟺维胃蔚喂伪 蟿慰蠀 螤苇蟻喂 谓伪 伪谓蟿喂蟽蟿伪胃蔚委 蟽蟿伪 蟺伪蟻维蟽喂蟿伪,伪谓 魏伪喂 魏维蟺慰喂蔚蟼 蠁慰蟻苇蟼 尾蟻萎魏伪 蟿喂蟼 蔚谓苇蟻纬蔚喂苇蟼 蟿慰蠀 蔚尉伪喂蟻蔚蟿喂魏维 伪畏未喂伪蟽蟿喂魏苇蟼 魏伪喂 伪谓伪蟿蟻喂蠂喂伪蟽蟿喂魏苇蟼. 螣喂 蟿蔚位蔚蠀蟿伪委蔚蟼 50 蟽蔚位委未蔚蟼 未蔚谓 萎蟿伪谓 喂蟽维尉喂蔚蟼 蟿慰蠀 蠀蟺慰位慰委蟺慰蠀 尾喂尾位委慰蠀, 未蔚谓 萎胃蔚位伪 谓伪 蟿蔚位蔚喂蠋蟽蔚喂 苇蟿蟽喂 蟿慰 渭蠀胃喂蟽蟿蠈蟻畏渭伪.
October 20, 2010
Infected is a crazy, impressive concept that's written from every possible viewpoint. An infection like nothing the world has ever seen before begins taking over people's bodies. Through Perry, we see the infection through the eyes of someone who has it. Through Margaret, we see it from the medical standpoint. Through Dew, the government's though process. We even experience the infection from the standpoint of the infection itself. It's fantastic to see everything going on from these different angles, but it makes it a little hard to feel any true connection to any of the characters. I cared deeply about where the story was going, but wasn't concerned if any of the characters lived or died.
The infection consists of triangular shaped growths on the body. Those infected become paranoid and eventually both homicidal and suicidal. It's very interesting how the infection gets to the hosts psychologically. To fight the infection, Perry not only has to fight the physical manifestation, but also the demons from his past the infection dredges up. The book focuses a lot on Perry's struggle and the most horrifying and grotesque scenes stem from him battle with the infection.
What is the infection? What does it do? When did it come from? These are the questions that are answered. Somewhat. Infected gives you just enough information to be satisfied, but holds back a lot of the details, presumably to be divulged in the sequel, Contagious.
Infected is an intelligent, monumentally creepy book with a vast array of possibilities left open for the future. This is definitely a book that could give you nightmares.
The infection consists of triangular shaped growths on the body. Those infected become paranoid and eventually both homicidal and suicidal. It's very interesting how the infection gets to the hosts psychologically. To fight the infection, Perry not only has to fight the physical manifestation, but also the demons from his past the infection dredges up. The book focuses a lot on Perry's struggle and the most horrifying and grotesque scenes stem from him battle with the infection.
What is the infection? What does it do? When did it come from? These are the questions that are answered. Somewhat. Infected gives you just enough information to be satisfied, but holds back a lot of the details, presumably to be divulged in the sequel, Contagious.
Infected is an intelligent, monumentally creepy book with a vast array of possibilities left open for the future. This is definitely a book that could give you nightmares.
November 26, 2014
4 gruesome stars.
It's been 4 years since I read this book, and yet I still managed to cringe when I stumbled upon the book's cover while surfing 欧宝娱乐. Why is this such a surprise to me? Partly because I don't usually remember the details of many of the books I've read, unless it's super good. Why did I cringe? Because this book is GROSS AS FU...!!!
Let's be clear: I don't gross out easily. I grew up watching scary/gross movies and reading scary/gross books. I also have 3 younger brothers, which can be gross in and of itself. This book trumps them all. The way that Scott Sigler lovingly described all the disgusting things that go on in this book repeatedly made me want to puke, and that never happens. Never. I even had to pause to collect myself many times. :shudder:
If you have a weak stomach, I would advise you to never, ever read this. Ever. If you don't, and you'd like to read a fascinating book about medical atrocities and decomposing corpses and people that are infected So they end up doing some insane shit, I'd check this one out ASAP.
It's been 4 years since I read this book, and yet I still managed to cringe when I stumbled upon the book's cover while surfing 欧宝娱乐. Why is this such a surprise to me? Partly because I don't usually remember the details of many of the books I've read, unless it's super good. Why did I cringe? Because this book is GROSS AS FU...!!!
Let's be clear: I don't gross out easily. I grew up watching scary/gross movies and reading scary/gross books. I also have 3 younger brothers, which can be gross in and of itself. This book trumps them all. The way that Scott Sigler lovingly described all the disgusting things that go on in this book repeatedly made me want to puke, and that never happens. Never. I even had to pause to collect myself many times. :shudder:
If you have a weak stomach, I would advise you to never, ever read this. Ever. If you don't, and you'd like to read a fascinating book about medical atrocities and decomposing corpses and people that are infected So they end up doing some insane shit, I'd check this one out ASAP.
December 15, 2020
A pretty good thriller, but a bit over-the-top.
You gotta know going into a X-Files type story such as this one, that there will be some gore before its all said and done. But this was like someone had signed me up for the mutilation-of-the-month club and had them all delivered at once.
I did a good amount of cringing and skimming to get through these impromptu anatomical modifications, but I made to the end and got some answers.
You gotta know going into a X-Files type story such as this one, that there will be some gore before its all said and done. But this was like someone had signed me up for the mutilation-of-the-month club and had them all delivered at once.
I did a good amount of cringing and skimming to get through these impromptu anatomical modifications, but I made to the end and got some answers.
March 2, 2013
Extremely gory, the main character is one tough a..hole. My stomach actually churned a few times.
September 8, 2019
Well....humm, this review is going to be a little mixed. First I gave it 2 stars, but I think I'm going to at least try the next book in the series.
Now, why the rating and why try the next book?
Well, the idea behind the book is interesting. As movie goers and readers already know. For example The book was interesting enough that I found I wanted to see how the writer worked it out. I'm also curious to see how he handles the continuing story.
Now, the 2 star rating. I may be risking 欧宝娱乐' wrath here but to comment on the book itself I have to comment on the problems. First I got the audio version and it wasn't...well it's pretty weak. I didn't realize until I'd finished it that reader was also the writer. I honestly think it would be worth his time and the expense to find a better reader. The way he reads the female lead (Margaret Montoya) I found especially annoying...even grating.
Then there's the writing. The dialogue here is pretty 5th grade paper or avid fan-fiction quality (in my opinion of course). I found myself rolling my eyes, jumping the audio forward and just...well, trying to get through some of it. We're also treated to some plot exposition monologues that reminded me of some of the giant bug horror movies in the 1950s. Did you ever watch any of those? They sort of insert in the story a scene where the "scientist du jour" usually runs a film or a slide show and tells the audience about the "bug" or whatever in question.
The book does have an interesting idea (though at times a juvenile take on it.) I found the climax weak...but interesting.
Does that make sense? Let me use a spoiler here
Now, why the rating and why try the next book?
Well, the idea behind the book is interesting. As movie goers and readers already know. For example The book was interesting enough that I found I wanted to see how the writer worked it out. I'm also curious to see how he handles the continuing story.
Now, the 2 star rating. I may be risking 欧宝娱乐' wrath here but to comment on the book itself I have to comment on the problems. First I got the audio version and it wasn't...well it's pretty weak. I didn't realize until I'd finished it that reader was also the writer. I honestly think it would be worth his time and the expense to find a better reader. The way he reads the female lead (Margaret Montoya) I found especially annoying...even grating.
Then there's the writing. The dialogue here is pretty 5th grade paper or avid fan-fiction quality (in my opinion of course). I found myself rolling my eyes, jumping the audio forward and just...well, trying to get through some of it. We're also treated to some plot exposition monologues that reminded me of some of the giant bug horror movies in the 1950s. Did you ever watch any of those? They sort of insert in the story a scene where the "scientist du jour" usually runs a film or a slide show and tells the audience about the "bug" or whatever in question.
The book does have an interesting idea (though at times a juvenile take on it.) I found the climax weak...but interesting.
Does that make sense? Let me use a spoiler here
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