Patient Zero

The Joe Ledger Novels, Book 1

By: Jonathan Maberry

Narrated by: Ray Porter

Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

From multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author Jonathan Maberry comes a major new thriller that combines the best of the New York Times best-selling books World War Z by Max Brooks and James Rollins’ Sigma Force Series to kick off the start of a new series featuring Joe Ledger and the Department of Military Sciences.

When you have to kill the same terrorist twice in one week there’s either something wrong with your world or something wrong with your skills - and there’s nothing wrong with Joe Ledger’s skills. And that’s both a good and a bad thing. It’s good because he’s a Baltimore detective who has just been secretly recruited by the government to lead a new task force created to deal with the problems that Homeland Security can’t handle. This rapid-response group is called the Department of Military Sciences, or the DMS for short. It’s bad because his first mission is to help stop a group of terrorists from releasing a dreadful bioweapon that can turn ordinary people into zombies. The fate of the world hangs in the balance.

Jonathan Maberry is the New York Times best-selling and multiple Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Ghost Road Blues, the first of a trilogy of thrillers with a supernatural bite. A professional writer and writing teacher, he has sold more than 1.000 articles, 17 nonfiction books, six novels, and two plays.

©2009 Jonathan Maberry (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Brilliant, shocking, horrifying, it puts the terror back in terrorist.” (James Rollins, New York Times best-selling author)

“Plenty of man-to-zombie combat, a team traitor and a doomsday scenario add up to a fast and furious read.” ( Publishers Weekly)

"Jonathan Maberry has found a delightful voice for this adventure of Joe Ledger and his crew: while the action is heated, violent, and furious, the writing remains cool, steady, and low-key, framing all the wildness and exuberance in a calm rationality (given an almost comic edge) that renders it as palatable as your favorite flavor of ice cream." (Peter Straub)

Fodder for zombie apocolypse nightmares

What did you love best about Patient Zero?

The psychological creep factor. If a book doesn't stay in my head after I've finished, then what's the point. This one creeped me out.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I pretty much did. My SO and I listened to it on a road trip. I was so immersed in the book's world, I kept expecting zombies to shamble onto the roadway any minute.

Great stuff. MUST listen.

The story is a great one, but Ray Porter's narration is really the icing on the cake. His easy speech style and fluidity really show the difference between someone who reads a story, and a narrator.

captivating

I don't typically read or listen to books in this genre; however, I enjoyed this read thoroughly. The story is well written and each character is brought to life wonderfully by Ray.

zombies and science for bros!

Contrary to the stigma that "bro-ness" is low brow and testosterone meat-headedness, this story was a good balance of action and something deeper. There was no shortage of archetypal characters... from a Barney Badass protagonist to the mysteriously powerful mentor, and holy bad guy to the emotionally scarred hottie and Uber fun psychologist. The story has the elements of a shallow action adventure hero's journey... BUT there is a deeper level with real science and of course the terrorist/profiteer twist on the age-old ZOMBIE story!

All-in-all, it was a fun listen.

Kept my interest

The story was a fun mix of zombies, military action, and mystery. So it was cheesy in places, but I still enjoyed every minute of the adventure.

Solid.

Great listen at a great price. Will read more from this author. I didn’t give it 5 stars because it’s not very original—the whole zombie business. Also, some of the characters are super cliche “stock,” but very entertaining! Was excited to get back to the book every evening.

totally awesome

loved this book from start to finish
I could not stop listening to it awesome

a must listen

great story with all of the science based in just enough truth to be believable. I was hesitant to start this book, but so glad that I did. It has the sci fi, mystery, action, and characters that you learn to love. don't miss out!

Zombies and Cops

This is a pretty good story. But the cop-heros show like superhero levels of fighting abilities. You just have to accept that they are as tough as Captain America or something.

Bit of a slow start, but then EXPLOSIVE!

I feel similarly about Stephen King - - craploads of build up only to get to the set-up that I already knew would come, based simply on reading the back of the book! It took 3 hours of listening before Ledger actually agrees to join the DMS... that bugged me. But once this story took off (Room 12...) it was spectacular. Non-stop party. LOVED IT!

And this narrator is unbelievable. Best I've ever heard.