Plague

By: Victor Methos

Narrated by: Marilyn Ghigliotti

Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's Summary

The deadliest disease in history....

A lethal pathogen appears on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Dr. Samantha Bower of the Centers for Disease Control is handed the case and asked to investigate its origins and containment.

A mysterious figure that is not who he appears to be....

Samantha discovers a lethal pathogen unlike any she has encountered in her lifetime. Extremely contagious with a mortality rate higher than any disease ever recorded, it is an extinction level event. A man with an intimate knowledge of the microorganism offers her help. But Samantha Bower begins to suspect he is not who he says he is.

Humanity hangs on the edge of a cliff....

Samantha begins to realize there are forces at work that she can't understand. Pressures are being applied from outside sources and not all of them wish for a vaccine. But Samantha is sure of one thing: If a vaccine isn't developed, humanity may soon be an endangered species....

About the author: Victor Methos is the best-selling author of The White Angel Murder, the number-one mystery book in the United States and United Kingdom for over eight weeks. He is a former prosecutor specializing in violent crime and is currently a criminal defense attorney in the United States. He is on a quest to climb the "Seven Summits", the seven highest peaks on Earth, and attain his certificate as a deep-sea submersible pilot. He can be reached through his blog at www.methosreview.blogspot.com

©2012 Victor Methos (P)2013 Victor Methos

Couldn't finish.

The premise of the book seems ok but I couldn't finish it due to the narrator. Pauses every few words out of sync with the punctuation and mispronouncing words was just too distracting. No stars.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Really interesting story!

I'm always fascinated by things (typically microscopic) that challenge human arrogance and this novel really delivered. I was anxious to see what would happen next and though I generally avoid serial novels, I'll certainly be reading the follow-up to this one. The only negative was the narrator. I was surprised to learn that she's an actress, because her narration of this book was so poor. It seemed as if she hadn't read the book before recording the narration. She paused sentences in the wrong places, and most egregiously, she consistently mispronounced words. There's no "d" in the word, "exponentially," Ms. Ghigliotti. Other than the narration, however, I highly recommend this book.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Absolutely the WORST Narration I’ve Ever Attempted to Listen to...

I made it to chapter 34, but only because I did a bite at a time, so to speak. Methos is a really decent author and if they recast the narrator I will repurchase and listen again. If you read a review for this book and it notes the narration as anything other than ‘poor’ or ‘terrible,’ then rest assured it was posted by the narrator’s Family. This is like, when I sing, and someone says, “Don’t quit your day job!” Dear Narrator, you tried, you made a valiant effort, but don’t quit your day job! (Unless of course, if narration IS your day job, then by ALL means, quit NOW!)

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

production quality poor and other things

The first thing I noticed with this book was the poor production quality. There is a fine static hum throughout the book. Also, at the end of chapter six is says, "chapter six (pause) chapter seven". Made me think we'd gone backwards The narrator isn't bad when she's doing dialogue but for the narration it's a little too monotone. And well a pet peeve of mine mispronouced words. The book itself was interesting, not great. A few too many medical/scientific mistakes. But it kept my interest that I listened to the whole thing. So don't waste a credit but get it on sale or something if you really want to listen to it. There are better books out there.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Perhaps with a different narrator...

Too many awkward pauses & mispronounced words - good story but too distracting. Struggled to complete. Good story, though! Bad narration. Pity...

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Nice story, interesting characters

Would you try another book from Victor Methos and/or Marilyn Ghigliotti?

Yes. I enjoyed the story once I decided not to dwell on medical inaccuracies.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Mispronounciations ("filling" from the plane instead of "filing" from the plane). Inconsistent Aussie accent. Were the lesions "pustules" or "papules"?

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

I would see the movie if it had one of my favorite actors.

Any additional comments?

The author should listen to his medical advisor more closely. Have the advisor listen to the audio script as well.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Book is okay, Narration is abysmal!

I'm trying to finish this book. The book itself is okay, but wow, the narration is probably the worst I've ever heard, and I've been listening to audio books since they were "books on tape" (yes, actual cassettes in the 1990s!). She cannot do character voices, they all sound alike. The director gets as much blame as the performer because, wow, you'd have to be absent from the booth to not know this was a disaster in the making! I stupidly bought this one without listening to the clip first, as has been my habit. I was rushed and didn't do my due diligence. But, I like the book enough I'm putting up with it, and not returning it, however painful it will be to finish...

Started out well, ultimately disappointing.

I had high hopes for this book, and the first half of it seemed to reward those hopes. The plot was interesting, it was well paced, and I couldn’t wait to hear what came next. The last 1/3 to 1/2 was too full of plot holes and inconsistencies (for example, how does someone fire a pistol when they are wearing a biohazard suit?), and rather than eagerly listening to the end I was forcing myself to finish it.

The narration was another problem for me. A doomsday story with a virus that could wipe out mankind is better suited to a male voice that is deep and somewhat ominous, rather than a medium to high pitched female voice. In addition, when there were breaks within a chapter (such as changing to different characters & locations), The narrator plowed right ahead without the hint of a break. It was very disorienting. In addition, the voices she created for the characters were not distinct enough to know who was talking when there was multi-character dialogue.

If you have a lot of extra credits to burn this might be worth listening to, but I wouldn’t spend money on it.

Good beginning and middle

A little too far fetched for me. The first part of the book was intriguing, but the end when they went to Peru was disjointed and hard to follow. And I may have missed it, but what happened to the lone surviving woman? Dr Ralph’s misadventure at the LA hospital was too unbelievable. I’ll stick to Victor Methos’ legal thrillers.

Could this happen?

It was a good medical mystery. Narrator was pretty good with different voices to keep characters apart.
I have read other books way better but this is worth the read.
I feel it just makes you think about the fact that this is possible.
I lead character is good.

Could this really happen??

I was recommended this book by a friend, and although uncertain whether it was my type of read, I quickly became engrossed. The story is believable, the characters are realistic and the situations they find themselves in are horrific. I understand that humans can very easily revert to cruel and basic behaviour but the way Victor Method has written this book confirms how badly this can happen. Brilliant book ... Extremely well written ... Can't wait to start on the next one

Terrible narrator

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Use a different narrator. Pauses in wrong places so you sometimes have to work out the actual.meaning.of the sentence.

How could the performance have been better?

Use someone else- preferably a smooth reader who can use diction properly.

Any additional comments?

I didn't finish this book even though I love the genre....the narration is impossible to put up with.

Poorly read

The narration was just so bad I couldn't stand to listen to it. The narrator actually has a pleasant voice, but her attempts at accents and characters is horrible.

Really good

Yes definitely met expectations
Excellent narrator
Need to read pestilence now
I had not read books by this author previously