Review: Michael Crichton fans are in for a treat!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 10, 2014
ARIA: Left Luggage by Geoff Nelder is a page-turning thriller with a good blend of science, mystery and adventure.The unique premise surrounds an alien virus that’s spreading through the human population at a catastrophic rate. The virus causes amnesia that wipes out more memories every day. A group of scientists figures out what’s going on and bands together to find a solution to the problem and to determine whether there are other survivors.Fans of the television show, The Walking Dead, will enjoy the parallels between the way the world slowly dissolves into chaos and fear in ARIA compared to the zombie apocalypse. In both scenarios, infected people must be avoided and food, weapons and other necessities have to be found under dangerous circumstances. Nelder includes a number of gripping scenes to demonstrate the horror and sadness of the human race slowly losing track of who they are, what they do, and eventually, as the disease takes its mind-numbing course, how to speak. One particularly chilling chapter tracks an airplane flying across the Atlantic with infected pilots. In another, a mother has to deal with two young children gradually regressing to an infant state. Every day the ARIA-infected inhabitants wake up with less of their memory in unfamiliar surroundings, a world that’s radically changed and, sometimes, with people they don’t recognize.  In between the action,this is also a book that challenges our assumptions about what it means to be humans and what is required of a civilized society.I enjoyed the story and Nelder’s writing, and I recommend ARIA: Left Luggage for anyone who enjoys the suspense and adventure with a touch of real science as well as science fiction. Michael Crichton fans, in particular, will love this book!