Pandemic

Starred review from November 25, 2013
Bestseller Sigler’s conclusion to his Infected trilogy, a terrifying horror thriller, improves on its predecessor, 2008’s Contagious. A brief prologue brings newcomers up to speed: an alien race known as the Creators launched a machine to Earth that sent out probes containing seeds with the capacity to infiltrate human bodies and convert them into violent zombielike creatures. Humanity has managed to destroy most of the probes, but one remains intact at the bottom of Lake Michigan. The aliens depend on “three existing, proven designs”: hatchlings, whose main purpose is to kill; crawlers, which use hive intelligence to infect; and mommies, which turn people into spore-distribution systems. Prospects for survival are slim as the numbers of the infected and the dead ratchet up geometrically. Scientists, led by Dr. Margaret Montoya, struggle to develop an antidote, racing the clock as the news gets more and more bleak. Sigler does almost too good a job in creating an existential threat, and, in keeping with the hit TV series The Walking Dead, he doesn’t hesitate to dispose of key characters. This apocalyptic epic will happily engage World War Z fans. Agent: Byrd Leavell, Waxman Leavell Literary Agency.

December 15, 2013
Yeah, yeah. Space zombies have taken over the world, courtesy of Sigler (Nocturnal, 2012, etc.) and his capable if derivative Infected series, which winds down with this volume. Fans of the series will know that it started as a kind of police procedural that got increasingly supernatural and sci-fi-ish, a kind of Childhood's End with oodles of mayhem. Sigler lays it on plenty thick here--among other things, the Navy is now blowing itself apart, half populated with the "infected" and half with swabbies still eligible for honorable discharge. And why the Navy? Because somewhere under Lake Michigan, something very strange is happening. Margaret Montoya, the tough and resourceful doctor who's helped battle the alien virus, is back in action in a world full of unpretty pictures: "His own blood had baked flaky-dry on his skin. A softball-sized pustule on his left collarbone streamed black rot down his wide chest." Eck. (And that's not even to mention the severed penis that the dude is clutching, presumably his own.) It wouldn't be a proper shoot'em-up without an assortment of Sgt. Rock types--Navy SEALs, Delta Force, top cops and ops, and so forth--with the usual gallows humor ("Your courage is immeasurable, Roger. If you don't turn into a plant, drinks are on me"). Sigler excels at snappy dialogue, but the story itself is too familiar for anyone who grew up on a diet of The Omega Man and Aliens. Still, for those who can't get enough of must-eat-brains yellow monster types with extremely bad attitudes, this is just the book. Will the Earthlings prevail? Cue Count Floyd, the old SCTV creature-feature host: "Oooh, very scary, boys and girls." Or maybe not. Competent enough but without many surprises.

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December 1, 2013
Sigler's gritty Infected trilogy wraps up as the author takes humanity to the brink of extinction. The extraterrestrial invaders, who came to Earth in the form of a virus that takes over the human body, seemed to have been vanquished or at least seriously roadblocked in the last book (Contagious, 2009). But the aliens' last-ditch attempt to exterminate humanity lies, waiting to be activated, at the bottom of one of the Great Lakes. Dr. Margaret Montoya, who has already done more than her share to keep humanity from being wiped out, is coerced out of self-imposed retirement to investigate some strange goings-on in Lake Michigan and finds herself on the front lines of the alien invaders' most powerful attack. As human beings turn into cannibalistic monsters, and it seems impossible to contain this new threat, Margaret puts her own life on the line to save billions. Sigler's brand of visceral, in-your-face horror, complemented by well-drawn characters and some very smart writing, will make this a surefire hit with horror and sf aficionados.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)