The Epidemic

By: Suzanne Young

Narrated by: Rebekkah Ross

Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Can one girl help others find closure by slipping into the identities of their loved ones? Find out in this riveting sequel to The Remedy and companion to the New York Times best-selling The Treatment and The Program.

In a world before The Program...

Quinlan McKee has spent her life acting as other people. She was a closer - a person hired to play the roles of the recently deceased in order to give their families closure. Through this process, Quinn learned to read people and situations, even losing a bit of herself to do so. But she couldn't have guessed how her last case would bring down her entire world.

The only person Quinn trusts is Deacon, her best friend and the love of her life. Except Deacon's been keeping secrets of his own, so Quinn must set out alone to find Arthur Pritchard, the doctor who's been trying to control her life. The journey brings Quinn to Arthur's daughter, Virginia, who tells Quinn the truth about Pritchard's motives. The former closer will start to see that she is the first step in fighting an epidemic.

But Quinlan doesn't want to be a cure. And with all the lies surrounding her, she realizes she has no one left to rely on but herself - even if she doesn't know who that is anymore.

©2016 Suzanne Young. All rights reserved. (P)2016 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Love this book

This book is amazing. I listen to this book for 2 days in a row.

Great connector

I enjoyed this book. It did a great job of connecting the story lines together. It wasn't as strong as the last but still stronger than the others. It pulled me in and kept me wanting to read more. The nuisances in the story were unexpected in some ways but looking back completely obvious. Good writing to be able to say both.

The story reminds me of the old 80s movies. The adults are the villains as they try to keep the kids safe. The reasonable ones are the kids. I'm not saying that to say it's bad or trite but provide a recap overall at least as far as I am concerned.

I found myself shuffling between stances. The reader just taking in the story. A former angst ridden teenager trying to discover self. A person who works with kids and preteen/teenagers in particular. A counselor who has been trained and worked in different areas the books address.

I find myself wondering if this wouldn't be a good study for counsellors. While far fetched it still had a kernel of the various issues that many teens deal with. Thinking to Erickson's stages of development it seems pretty straightforward.

Of course in the end, the elephant in the room remains. What is the contagion? Was it V? Did it spread as a contagion would based on different models I've read over the years? Interesting thought that a mental health issue was a contagion. Wonder about this as I think about a few we have now. ADHD? Autism? Etc...

Overall a thought provoking story that I found kept me interested.

Need to be in the right place to read

I am a freshman in college. I picked up the first book in 2020 as the pandemic started. It was a good read and I enjoyed it. I have continued on in the series and found that it is all too related to our current state in the stigma around mental health and therapy. It is scary to think how not so far off we actually are. I recommend you take time for yourself and be on a good place yourself before reading. :)

US suicide hotline [phone]

I loved this book

Emotionally stimulating, captivating, and thrilling. Every moment of this book is worth reading. I loved every page.

A little depressing

While I enjoyed the book, I have to give the overall story a lower score. Whilst reading this book, I found my emotions and overall mental health effected. I'm a pretty balanced person, but found myself more upset and stressed. After having a disagreement with my husband, found myself upset enough to have a tantrum. I haven't had a tantrum since I was a child.

Maybe I found this book too relatable to the current COVID-19 situation, or related to the main characters too much, but regardless I can't read the rest of the books.

Too much profanity.

I hate giving this book 2 stars , but the amount of profanity, especially f-words, was ridiculous. Entirely unnecessary.