Plague

A Medical Thriller

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

Methos should stick to writing legal thrillers!

With the Wuhan virus being active it likely is not a good time to listen to PLAGUE. Actually there is never a good time to listen to the horrid narration. I seldom reduce the number of stars based on narration. In this case it is justified.

The novel is about a new virus that kills people in horrible ways. In the US it starts in Hawaii and then spreads to California. The protagonist is a doctor with CDC in Atlanta.

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.

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.

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!)

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.

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...

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.

Clearly written pre Covid, but still kept me listening!

I really enjoyed the characters and the plot despite the clear plot gaps Re pandemics. In person meetings, go visit the house of the sick, no masks, oh and let’s go out before lockdown even though black pox is going around? Despite the naïveté of the pandemic part, one just has to recognize this was written pre COVID-19. I stuck with it and enjoyed it anyway. Definitely did not like the narrator though. She sounded like she was 12 and the voice did not fit what I’d imagine Samantha to sound like. Despite all my ranting, I can’t wait to listen to book 3.

Terrible narrator

I couldn’t even listen to the full story bc the narrator was so awful. Wish I had my credit back bc this was awful.

Just Awful Save Your Credit

Could have been a great book but was hard to follow. I don't know if the book took place over the course of days, weeks or months. Only once did I catch a span of time. Couldn't tell if there were flash backs or the whole story was in real time. Narration could have been better but I think the book was poorly written.

Surely The worst narration possible ruining the story

Oh audible how could this be accepted. Audibles customer service is superb and I have never criticised a narrator as it seems disingenuous after their efforts. This one is SO BAD I must draw attention to it. Such A monotone , boring delivery that although we are in the grip of Coronavirus, so the book should have been more interesting, it could not hold my attention so I constantly had to rewind. The nerve grating use of slang, dropping the ‘d’ and a grunt for the ‘not’ for every negative ...coulnt..shoulnt....irritated so much that I inwardly groaned, again and again degrading any chance of enjoying the story and causing loss of track of the story. Audible, terrible quality control.

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