PANDEMIC
Scott Sigler
January 21st, 2014
Crown
Trilogies are a strange animal. 3 separate pieces that make up a whole. Now, as you know, it takes time to write even 1 book let alone 3. During the time it takes to write those 3 pieces of the puzzle, all sorts of things can happen. For instance, Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, it started out strong. Then, in the 2nd movie you had the motherfucking Joker. That nutjob lit the screen up. But Heath Ledger died and everything changed.
The question becomes about how do you end strong when the key piece is gone? You have to take the remaining pieces and form an entirely new narrative and hope it holds up and wish for the best.
PANDEMIC is the final book in Scott Sigler’s Infected trilogy. The first book started with one man going to war with literally his own body while an Alien force made its initial attempt at an invasion of our world. The 2nd book took a wider scope. It showed our countries response to that initial attempt and our response and the Alien forces evolution and response to its own failed first attempt. I’m being deliberately oblique with what details I’m giving. By all means, you need to go out and read the first 2 books as they fucking rocked. I’m just not going to give it all up for you.
At the end of the second book, Dr. Margaret Montoya emerged as a hero. Now, at the beginning of the 3rd, she is a hero to some and a pariah to everyone else. She is down for the count. She is a shut in, paranoid and depressed. Her C.I.A. agent husband does not know how to help her. At the end of the 2nd book, the Alien force launched its last ditch attempt at conquering the human race by dropping an object the size of a soda can to the bottom of Lake Michigan. It’s filled with some deadly organisms that can cause the human race to do some gnarly shit. So, without giving too much away of the new book, that soda can sized object is found. That gnarly shit is unleashed. The apocalypse begins.
Let’s go back to Batman for a second. In The Dark Knight, Heath Ledger fucking made that film with his portrayal of the Joker. Then Heath Ledger died but they still had to make the 3rd film. They took what was left and banged out The Dark Knight Rises. It was a strong film but it lacked the snap that the Joker brought to the table. That is how Pandemic turns out. It’s a very strong book but just lacks that snap. I highly advise anybody who has read the first 2 books to read this one. You need that final piece of the puzzle. Overall there is nothing wrong with Pandemic except for maybe being slightly depressing. I was just left with wanting more.
Dave Wahlman
