Infected

A Novel

By: Scott Sigler

Narrated by: Scott Sigler

Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Across America a mysterious disease is turning ordinary people into raving, paranoid murderers who inflict brutal horrors on strangers, themselves, and even their own families. Working under the government’s shroud of secrecy, CIA operative Dew Phillips crisscrosses the country trying in vain to capture a live victim. With only decomposing corpses for clues, CDC epidemiologist Margaret Montoya races to analyze the science behind this deadly contagion. She discovers that these killers all have one thing in common–they’ve been contaminated by a bioengineered parasite, shaped by a complexity far beyond the limits of known science.

Meanwhile Perry Dawsey–a hulking former football star now resigned to life as a cubicle-bound desk jockey–awakens one morning to find several mysterious welts growing on his body. Soon Perry finds himself acting and thinking strangely, hearing voices . . . he is infected. The fate of the human race may well depend on the bloody war Perry must wage with his own body, because the parasites want something from him, something that goes beyond mere murder.

©2008 Scott Sigler (P)2008 Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Part Stephen King, part Chuck Palahniuk, Infected blends science fiction and horror into a pulpy masterpiece of action, terror, and suspense. Three recommendations: don't read it at night, or just after you've eaten a full meal, or if you're weak of heart. You've been warned!"—James Rollins, New York Times bestselling author of The Judas Strain and Black Order

“Powerfully written . . . an unforgettable central character.” —Dallas Morning News

“Sigler is masterful at grabbing the reader by the throat and refusing to let go. Just when I thought I knew what abyss he was leading me across, he knocked the bridge out from under... I think I screamed the whole way down... Infected is a marvel of gonzo, in-your-face, up-to-the-minute terror.”—Lincoln Child, New York Times bestselling author of Deep Storm and Death Match

Much better author than Narrator

This narration is so terrible. If I didn't know better I'd say he didn't write this book and he didn't know what was happening from one word to the next, that's how awful his narration is. It almost turned me off the entire series. The story is pretty good. It's a decent premise and the pace is great. The narration really ruins it a lot, between weird whisper accents and odd inflections, Sigler should stick to writing and leave the VA to pros.

Pretty good

Not what I expected but not bad. I don't really like stories about aliens so I was a little disappointed when this one turned out to be just that, but the characters were so interesting that they made up for it. I don't think I will care to listen to the next on, maybe, maybe not, but this one wasn't bad at all.

Addictive

The voices irradiated me at fist. But after knowing the author did them all him self, I amazed. To put it lightly I moved passed discomfort quickly. The story is freaking awesome. Everything I’ve been looking for while working my day job. Massive praises to the author. Thank you for this one of a kind addictive novel. I will be buying all the paperbacks. Again thank you.

Interesting

I didn't much care for the narrator. Otherwise, the story was engaging. I listened to it all in less than 24 hours.

my introduction to the Siglerverse

This was my first siglarverse book and I've been hooked for well over 10 years!

Brutal!

I struggle with some graphic movies and some of the descriptions in this book got me just as bad.

Pales in comparison to Earthcore

I came to Infected after reading Earthcore, a novel later in the Siglerverse timeline, even if it was published later.

Earthcore is much more maturely written. The characters have more dimensions and the plot has more depth. If I had heard Infected without encountering Earthcore first (I’m so sorry, Scott), I would have walked away from the author.

If you decide to listen to Infected despite this lackluster review, my advice is to slow it down to 0.9x speed. Sigler’s narration was too fast to allow for imagination. A tiny fraction slower makes a big difference.

Knowing the backstory to some of the Siglerverse’s subsequent plot was nice, although I think I might skip Contagion et al and go straight to Mount Fitz Roy. Ray Porter’s performance is more alluring, and Sigler is less reliant on one aspect of a person’s background (eg, childhood abuse) to establish an entire character.

Fingers crossed Sigler keeps growing as a writer. His work can be really captivating — just (so sorry!) not here.

it's alright

the violence and gore is great but the character descriptions and expressions are... off-putting.

Must listen to the rest

Every enjoyable start to what, I hope, will be a great series. I couldn’t stop listening.

Chills

Right off the back, I can tell you this is the first audiobook that has given me an actual uneasy, chill feeling & I'm a horror fanatic!