When you have to kill the same terrorist twice in one week there's either something wrong with your world or something wrong with your skills... a...
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reviews
Nov 16, 2011
Lou
rated it: 
With the protagonist Joe Ledger I am thinking of a blend of The characters James Bond, John Rambo and Jack Bauer from 24. The story actually is serving up a good slice of entertainment in the the hole that 24 and Jack Bauer no-more has left. It starts off the first half more of a cerebral approach of a thriller. Maberry writes with this story as if it has been ripped from today's headlines incorporating terrorism and political battles from across the shores. A good story that incorporates More...
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Dec 12, 2010
Mike (the Paladin)
rated it: 
How can a book about zombie terrorists be boring? I wrote a review here (an earlier book)where I noted that I can at times read at a fairly fast rate and I do that especially when I have a large number of library books waiting to be read. In that review I noted that sometimes I regretted it as there were/are times I'd like to linger over a book....this isn't one of those books.
The book caught my interest initially and I had hopes for it. It "was/is" another "zombies ar More...
The book caught my interest initially and I had hopes for it. It "was/is" another "zombies ar More...
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(7 people liked it)
Oct 18, 2011
Kristin
rated it: 
Posted at http://thespinecracker.blogspot.com/
“Patient Zero”,by Jonathan Maberry, follows smart-mouthed Baltimore cop Joe Ledger who, after joining a secret government agency, the Department of Military Science, or DMS, races to stop a plague from destroying the country, except this plague makes Ebola look like child’s play. This plague kills you, then re-animates you, zombie-style. Except the "zombies" in this book are not your traditional zombies. The “plague”, is, in fact, More...
“Patient Zero”,by Jonathan Maberry, follows smart-mouthed Baltimore cop Joe Ledger who, after joining a secret government agency, the Department of Military Science, or DMS, races to stop a plague from destroying the country, except this plague makes Ebola look like child’s play. This plague kills you, then re-animates you, zombie-style. Except the "zombies" in this book are not your traditional zombies. The “plague”, is, in fact, More...
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May 24, 2010
Steve
rated it: 
I usually steer clear of series fiction, but the Peter Straub blurb made me pick this one up. It's a fast-paced, somewhat cartoonish zombie-thriller involving Joe Ledger, the hard-boiled detective who is recruited by the super-super-ultra-secret Department of Military Sciences. There is plenty of action and the book is well-plotted (if by-the-numbers), but it does have a lot of howlers in it, particularly when protagonist Joe begins to feel patriotic or amorous. Joe can kill anyone, kick anyone'
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Feb 03, 2010
Miriam
rated it:
What seems to be a straight-forward police raid quickly takes a turn for the bizarre when officer Joe Ledger is shown the man he killed in the raid, now reanimated as a zombie! The zombies is are not supernatural creatures but victims of a deliberately engineered virus which terrorists are testing for use on the populace. Ledger is recruited to a secret joint American and British effort to stop them.
This is an entertaining read with an interesting protagonist and plenty of action. V More...
This is an entertaining read with an interesting protagonist and plenty of action. V More...
Mar 12, 2010
Rusty
rated it:
This book is essentially an action thriller. There is a new global threat emerging involving terrorism, a multi-national corporation, biological weapons, and some zombies. Joe Ledger, while a bit short on military/law enforcement experience, is long on ass–kicking ability. So a secret government agency (the DMS) headed by one mysterious Mr. Church, recruits him to help combat the threat. As the DMS sends in Joe and his team to fight the zombies, they try to identify the bad guys and stop the
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Jan 26, 2009
Alfonso
rated it:
Joe Ledger was sent to America to kick platypus ass and kill zombies!! And there ain’t no more platypuses on this continent! So watch it zombies cuz this “man” can kick the shit out of a room full of special forces members in less than 6 seconds!! Yes you read right! 6 seconds, he can make a last stand against dozens and dozens of zombies without even getting a scratch, this man is like the Chuck Norris of zombie slaying!! I swear to god I kept expecting him to grab a zombie by the arms rip em’
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28 comments
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(8 people liked it)
Jan 15, 2009
Greg
rated it:
Excusing all my derogatory comments about light / beach / vacation reading, I finally get it. If you have basically a cookie cutter action / thriller novel and it's about zombies I totally understand the appeal. If this had been merely about terrorists attacking America with some unstoppable hero going about shutting them down I'd think it was crap, but when the terrorists are spreading a zombie plague, now that I can get interested in and want to read. I'd probably still rather watch this as
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Apr 10, 2009
Schnaucl
rated it:
Although this novel does involve zombies, it's much closer to a spy thriller than it is a typical post-apocalyptic zombie novel. The outbreaks are very isolated and contained rather than affecting the entire planet.
The zombies are made through a disease that was created as a bioweapon and each generation of the strain is more infectious than the last. Joe Ledger, a cop about to turn FBI, is recruited into a super secret branch of the government to head one of the teams trying to st More...
The zombies are made through a disease that was created as a bioweapon and each generation of the strain is more infectious than the last. Joe Ledger, a cop about to turn FBI, is recruited into a super secret branch of the government to head one of the teams trying to st More...
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(2 people liked it)
Feb 23, 2011
Jason (FNORDinc)
rated it:
its been about a month since i read this book. since i finished, i have stew over it and passed it on to at least two other people. i guess this means i need to write about it too, as i obviously enjoyed it.
ZOMBIES, but not your typical variety. There was no alien flyby or radiation leak that caused these undead to rise and eat flesh. At no point did hell fill up and the souls of the damned rise to retake the earth.
Patient Zero is pure science. science and violent horrific t More...
ZOMBIES, but not your typical variety. There was no alien flyby or radiation leak that caused these undead to rise and eat flesh. At no point did hell fill up and the souls of the damned rise to retake the earth.
Patient Zero is pure science. science and violent horrific t More...
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(1 person liked it)
Sep 01, 2011
I have thoroughly enjoyed doing dramatic readings of the Joe Ledger chapters of this book in as gravelly a Christian-Bale-as-Batman voice as I can muster (which isn't all that gravelly, because I am, after all, a girl). This book lends itself perfectly to that kind of parody.
Because it is a parody.
A parody of a parody.
It's cliched in the worst possible of ways...
You've got main character/hero Joe Ledger who walks with a big stick and supposedly has a bigge More...
Because it is a parody.
A parody of a parody.
It's cliched in the worst possible of ways...
You've got main character/hero Joe Ledger who walks with a big stick and supposedly has a bigge More...
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Dec 28, 2008
J.D.
rated it:
This book is pure, kick-ass fun. Joe Ledger's a great action hero, and the story zips along at a great clip. I read the whole thing with a big sloppy grin on my face. I highly recommend it.
2 comments
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(5 people liked it)
Aug 04, 2011
Dalton
rated it:
Well, let me start off by saying that I didn't want to give this book a 4 star rating. I would have preferred something along the lines of 3.5 or 3.75. But because I don't think it deserves to be rated as low as a 3, I'm forced to rate it higher than I personally think it deserves.
I'll start off by talking about what I liked about the book - the plot and action were pretty well-developed, imo. There was certainly no amount of time that I was bored while listening to the events unfold. This would More...
I'll start off by talking about what I liked about the book - the plot and action were pretty well-developed, imo. There was certainly no amount of time that I was bored while listening to the events unfold. This would More...
Apr 14, 2011
Molly
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
To view it, click here
Dec 15, 2011
Nicole
rated it:
Other reviews of this book makes it seem hit or miss, but in reality isn't anything really that way. You have a 50/50 chance of enjoying things in life you either do or well... You don't. This for me is one of my favorite books. I am and have always been a huge zombie fan. I told a guy friend of mine how much I loved the zombie cult and he said to me "oh you love zombie stuff you should read patient zero" and my brain instantly went this is the same idea of a zombie virus breaking out
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Nov 04, 2011
J9
rated it:
Jonathan Maberry bring us the start of a new series where war and biological warfare take on a whole new aspect and the government is willing to do anything to stop it.
Joe Ledger knows that it is going to be an interesting week when he is forced to kill the same terrorist twice, and he knows that there is nothing wrong with his ability to kill. Joe is Balitmore Police detective who is about to get offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to become part of a sercet government agency, More...
Joe Ledger knows that it is going to be an interesting week when he is forced to kill the same terrorist twice, and he knows that there is nothing wrong with his ability to kill. Joe is Balitmore Police detective who is about to get offered a once in a lifetime opportunity to become part of a sercet government agency, More...
Nov 03, 2011
Dylan
rated it:
I chose this book on a whim. I was browsing the horror section, looking for something to creep me out on my bus rides home from work. I picked up Jonathan Maberry's book, and from the very beginning I was completely enamoured.
I cannot overstate how absolutely floored I was by the gorgeous flow of Maberry's writing. In Joe Ledger, I have found one of the most impressively characterised leads I have ever encountered; in fact, every character in Patient Zero is a fully-formed and wonderfu More...
I cannot overstate how absolutely floored I was by the gorgeous flow of Maberry's writing. In Joe Ledger, I have found one of the most impressively characterised leads I have ever encountered; in fact, every character in Patient Zero is a fully-formed and wonderfu More...
Aug 04, 2011
AudioBookFans
rated it:
Originally posted at http://www.audiobookfans.com
Story: This was one of those audiobooks that I had been eagerly anticipating. I had been going through an “undead” marathon recently and “Patient Zero” seemed right up my alley. So as I got started with this book I felt like I was in the right mindset and the standard zombie expectations were ready and willing to be met.
Fortunately the old tried and true zombie story lines were left in the dust. Patient Zero is fast paced, More...
Story: This was one of those audiobooks that I had been eagerly anticipating. I had been going through an “undead” marathon recently and “Patient Zero” seemed right up my alley. So as I got started with this book I felt like I was in the right mindset and the standard zombie expectations were ready and willing to be met.
Fortunately the old tried and true zombie story lines were left in the dust. Patient Zero is fast paced, More...
Jul 05, 2011
Procrastinador
rated it:
A história principal deste livro, não parece ser muito original - terroristas islâmicos a tentar destruir os Estados Unidos através de armas biológicas. Nada que já não tenha sido explorado em centenas de filmes, livros e séries de televisão.
No entanto, basta olhar para a capa e título do livro, para percebermos que este conceito de terrorismo, vai ter bastante mais TERROR do que o normal. Sem querer desvendar muito do enredo, é óbvio desde o inicio que os vilões desenvolvem algo mai More...
No entanto, basta olhar para a capa e título do livro, para percebermos que este conceito de terrorismo, vai ter bastante mais TERROR do que o normal. Sem querer desvendar muito do enredo, é óbvio desde o inicio que os vilões desenvolvem algo mai More...
Jun 29, 2011
William
rated it:
It is probably the fault of the publisher, but based on the image from the book's cover, you would think this is quite a zombie epic. However, although it is fairly sizable in scope due to the international threat created by author Maberry, if you count the actual number of pages containing the undead, it would not total more than 35 or 40 pages out of over 400+ pages.
I enjoyed the first third a lot more than the last two thirds because once the setup was put into place, most of the More...
I enjoyed the first third a lot more than the last two thirds because once the setup was put into place, most of the More...
Apr 15, 2011
Dave
rated it:
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, one of the things I love about my job as a writer for Comic Book Resources is that it puts me in touch with a lot of cool and creative people. It also has introduced me to the work of a lot of fabulous prose novelists who go on to pen comics. My CBR work introduced me to the novels of Richard K Morgan, and Charlie Huston. It also introduced me to the work of another writer whose quickly becoming another one of my favorites, Jonathan Maberry.
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Apr 14, 2011
Becky
rated it:
Joe Ledger has some really rough patches in his past. You could say he has some scars on his psyche. He's kind of dealt with those psychic scars by becoming a bit of a badass. Okay, he's become the biggest and best badass there is. Good thing he's on the side of the angels, huh?
As Patient Zero opens, Joe is being forcibly recruited by a super-secret government agency called the DMS--the Department of Military Sciences. Run by a mysterious and apparently uber-powerful man called, usua More...
As Patient Zero opens, Joe is being forcibly recruited by a super-secret government agency called the DMS--the Department of Military Sciences. Run by a mysterious and apparently uber-powerful man called, usua More...
Apr 05, 2011
Jason
rated it:
Joe Ledger is good, really good, usually when he puts someone down, they stay down, but like the story starts "When you have to kill the same terrorist twice in one week there's either something wrong with your world or something wrong with your skills... and there's nothing wrong with Joe Ledger's skills."
In that first paragraph I was "all in". Patient Zero grabbed hold and never let go. Maberry is relentless, he latches on to your greatest fears, shows you peop More...
In that first paragraph I was "all in". Patient Zero grabbed hold and never let go. Maberry is relentless, he latches on to your greatest fears, shows you peop More...
Jan 29, 2011
Mark
rated it:
Patient Zero definitely benefits from the extensive research Mayberry conducted for Zombie CSU – especially the medical and research professions, the military and civil security forces, and his practical background in martial arts. Out of the ‘non-fictitious fiction’ seemingly came the fiction – all of these elements comprise the DNA of the main character, Joe Ledger, a life-and-battle-weary detective with the Baltimore Police Department, ex-army and a martial arts expert; skills that come in ex
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Dec 12, 2010
cecilia
rated it:
I think Jonathon Maberry had the right idea when he opens with a quote of Part One:
A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
I'm not sure if Emerson is die-hard Team Zombie, but in this instance, he certainly captures the essence of Joe Ledger. Furthermore, I don't know if Emerson elaborates, but I am fairly certain that five minutes can definitely change a person. I mean, wouldn't it be safe to say that after More...
A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is braver five minutes longer.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
I'm not sure if Emerson is die-hard Team Zombie, but in this instance, he certainly captures the essence of Joe Ledger. Furthermore, I don't know if Emerson elaborates, but I am fairly certain that five minutes can definitely change a person. I mean, wouldn't it be safe to say that after More...
Nov 08, 2010
Pamphiliawrites
rated it:
I was the wrong audience for this book, but I had heard great things about the author's writing, which made me pick it up. PZ has a compelling premise and the references to the Middle East and its culture adds to the book's credibility. JM clearly researched a bit of science before writing....prions anyone?
However, I found the pacing to be inconsistent. It had a great start, then seemed to get bogged down with repetitive, detailed fight scenes, which aren't my thing. Some of the sc More...
However, I found the pacing to be inconsistent. It had a great start, then seemed to get bogged down with repetitive, detailed fight scenes, which aren't my thing. Some of the sc More...
Nov 05, 2010
Patrick
rated it:
Joe Ledger is a Baltimore cop who has just taken down a terrorist in a joint operation with several different agencies. While he is coping with killing someone he is recruited into a new top secret organization, the DMS, or Department of Military Sciences. There he discovers that the same terrorist, snapping and biting at him in an interogation room.
Joe has just discovered that terrorist organizations are plotting the downfall of the United States by cooking up a brand new form of weapon, More...
Joe has just discovered that terrorist organizations are plotting the downfall of the United States by cooking up a brand new form of weapon, More...
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Oct 24, 2010
Kristopher
rated it:
REVIEWS OF UNUSUAL SIZE -
Re: A zombie book by the new modern master of the undead. Jonathan Maberry has written a few books on zombies now, including a "nonfiction" examination of them, this military style thriller and a young adult novel. He must like the staggering suckers, and he does a great job writing about them.
Outstanding: Last time I reviewed Patient Zero, about a year ago, I praised it for its lighting pace and the twist on zombies. Re reading More...
Re: A zombie book by the new modern master of the undead. Jonathan Maberry has written a few books on zombies now, including a "nonfiction" examination of them, this military style thriller and a young adult novel. He must like the staggering suckers, and he does a great job writing about them.
Outstanding: Last time I reviewed Patient Zero, about a year ago, I praised it for its lighting pace and the twist on zombies. Re reading More...
Aug 06, 2010
Lit Fest
rated it:
Tom Clancy meets Night of the Living Dead!
Okay, I love a good horror novel. But, after picking up Jonathan Maberry's book "Patient Zero" I wonder if I'll ever see horror in the same light ever again. This novel takes off in the first chapter and will not let you go. The suspense and build up is not unlike a Tom Clancy thriller, leaving you curious enough to accept zombies in the international world of terrorism. The main character is crude, funny, and downri More...
May 17, 2010
I thought this book was awesome. There were even some plot twists that were surprising (except I always read the last couple of pages of every book). If you don't cheat like I do, you'll be surprised.
This book is very well written. Although he jumps between 1st to 3rd person a lot, he does it using Chapters with names and date/times so you can keep up. He uses this method as an interesting tool, as the main character, Joe, is written in 1st person, so you get his perspective most More...
This book is very well written. Although he jumps between 1st to 3rd person a lot, he does it using Chapters with names and date/times so you can keep up. He uses this method as an interesting tool, as the main character, Joe, is written in 1st person, so you get his perspective most More...
