Review: Interesting..and irritating
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 01 1, 2013
So let's start with the interesting.  This book has lots going on, it follows the course of a plague from its creation through to the decimation of modern civilization.  The first half of the book was, for me, the most engrossing as it has a well thought out story line and the development of the 'deadliest plague' was frighteningly simple and realistic.  There are many different characters in the book which means the reader sees the event from varied perspectives and this adds to the interest.Now for the irritating, and I mean really irritating so much so the book went from a five star down to a three.First irritant:  I think the plague's first victim was a proof reader.  This book has an astounding number of typographical and grammatical errors.  It suffers from Random Capitalisation, missing words, one word sentances, wrongly used or spelt words - and there were enough of these that it became a little difficult to ignore them.  There are also some words used which made this reader raise an eyebrow.Second irritant.  I don't think the book was penned in the early 1900s, but the views on women were ( in my opinion) reminiscent of that period.  The women are more than annoying - they are almost insulting.  Yes there is one female scientist - but of course she is the stereotypical geek who harbours a secret desire to look beautiful and have a baby.  A one point ( and I will avoid any spoilers) we have two 'nubile teenagers' whose first concern on discovering there are other survivors is to do 'sexual maths' and establish that women outnumber men 3 to 1.  Their top priority is to find a way not to share their man.  Seriously.  There are parts of the book toward the end that read like a letter to Penthouse magazine.Okay, now that I have had a little vent.  I did read the whole book, and there were parts I thoroughly enjoyed.  The reason I have been harsh in both my rating and my review is I think this book could be so much more.  A careful proof read would help, many of the mistakes are obvious so it wouldn't take a professional proof reader to correct them.  Also, maybe update the expressed view on women.  No I am not being a lefty femo, but this book could appeal to a wide readership.  The dated views on women limits that readership.This was an okay read.  It will appeal to lovers of PA fare but just be prepared to be irritated by typos and whinny weak women.