Review: Action packed thrill ride
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 19, 2013
The world's population is growing at an alarming rate. People have been scared of over-population for a long time and it doesn't seem like we can do anything about it. Except there is a secret organization that is dedicated to getting the population problem under control. They are called the Malthusian League, they have been around for 200 years, they have many members in different governments around the world and they are dedicated to making sure Thomas Malthus's prediction that population will outgrow our ability to obtain resources doesn't come true.Thomas Malthus was a Reverend and Economist who wrote a paper in 1798 called "An Essay On The Principal Of Population." Reverend Malthus predicted that as population continues to grow, an epidemic of famine  would destroy society. The Malthusian League causes war and creates diseases to slow down population growth and their secret has been kept for years.What happens though when two college students named Dean and Felix stumble upon the world's biggest conspiracy? They have to run for their lives and everyone around them is in danger. The only help they have is from a friend named Ralph and a police officer named Isabella. The four of them have to race against time to expose a secret society and stop the release of a virus that will kill millions but there are people in high places that will kill them at any cost.This is the story behind The Malthus Conspiracy by Danielle Uidam. This is an excellent action packed thriller that reminded me a lot of Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code minus the religious references. The best part of the book was how It goes back and forth from several character's viewpoints and moves from the past to the present. Danielle Uidam did a lot of research for this book and fit a detailed history of a secret organization into a well told story. This may have been a long read but there was so much action in it that it didn't seem like it.The best part of the book was the character of Isabella, it was great seeing  a strong female character in this story and I liked how resourceful she was. I also liked the character of Ralph. Ralph is a social misfit and not the kind of person that you would expect to see in an action novel. I kept wondering if he was going to be able to break out of his shell to help his friends. Another thing that made this novel stand out was that I've never seen car chases that were well described in a book but Danielle made the chase scenes come to life.The only problems I had with this book were minor. I kept thinking to myself that The Malthusian League wasn't doing a good job because the population was still growing and there was a scene at a social event that dragged a bit. Other than that the villains in this story were excellent and  I liked how they seemed only interested in eliminating the undesirable part of the population. If you like lots of action and conspiracy theories then this one is a must read and the essays on Thomas Malthus and people's opinions on his theory at the end made the book better. I'm hoping that Danielle Uidam decides to revisit these characters again in the future.