Victoria liked a trivia question:
Which of the following are not part of David Leigh Eddings Belgariad series? see if you know the answer »

Victoria read and liked John Fabry's review of Patient Zero: A Joe Ledger Novel:

"After finishing this book, I'm not entirely sure what to make of it. As far as just zombie literature is concerned, I feel that Patient Zero was a cut above most, falling in the same vein of some of the awesome zombie novels by Max Brooks. However, I...more After finishing this book, I'm not entirely sure what to make of it. As far as just zombie literature is concerned, I feel that Patient Zero was a cut above most, falling in the same vein of some of the awesome zombie novels by Max Brooks. However, I also felt like a lot more could have been done to make this a truly solid book, rather than just above average. Here are some of my pros and cons with what I came away thinking was a fairly mixed bag:

Pros

Maberry is gifted with a great writing style. I found Patient Zero to be very easy to read without ever feeling like it was too simplistic; he had a good balance of style and content. His witty writing style also meshed well with Joe's personality. Speaking of which, Joe's personality was another treat; his smart-ass one-liners commonly made me laugh out loud, something I find most books fail to accomplish, so serious points to Maberry for that.

To a degree, I was also reminded of some of R.A. Salvatore's work when reading this in regard to the combat, as Maberry proved himself to be very good at choreographing his fights. When Joe locks horns with someone, I was never left with a vague idea of the encounter and forced to fill in the blanks myself. Maberry paints a vivid, clear picture of the violence.

Overall, I found the plot to be enjoyable. The number of twists, turns, and double-crosses made for an exciting read that kept me on my toes. Unlike a lot of books which seem to be praised for their plot twists, like The Da Vinci Code, I was unable to predict who was actually aligned with who, which is something I always appreciate.

Cons

I almost feel bad calling these "cons" since they aren't cons so much as areas where I just felt that the book had an opportunity to shine but which it didn't take. My biggest gripe is that Joe almost seems too badass to be believable. He's a venerable John Rambo of killing zombies. While that's not totally unrealistic (if I'm already accepting that there are zombies, of course) the fact is that nothing in his character indicated that he had the means to be such a killing machine. He was in the military but never saw serious action. Then he was a cop in Baltimore. Sure, he went through some promotions and was supposed to be moving to the FBI, but how does that make him better in any combat situation than soldiers from some of the most elite units in the country? It just seemed like way too loose of a plot hook.

By the same token, I felt the same way about many of Joe's Balitmore friends randomly getting into DMS without any solid reasoning. Jerry may be a good detective, but how would some Baltimore PD detective just so happen to be infinitely better than the best that the DMS could muster up? It just seemed like a weak hook to get more of Joe's friends in the unit for later books. Rudy especially stood out like this for me. Why he was ever even accepted into DMS was never detailed beyond a basic "We need a psychiatrist and this guy was already here so we could pretend we were going to shoot him. Let's use him!" I feel like Maberry tried to counter Joe's overt level of being a hardass by using Rudy to bring up the emotional impact of DMS operations. While he had some good, meaningful dialogue at the end of the novel, though, most of his interactions in the middle of the book (especially when he interacted with Church) just seemed preachy and really out of place.

My finaly complaint lays with Grace. Again, it's not so much a complaint as an area where I feel like something more could have been done to take Grace to the next level. Rather than really developing her as a character, though, her facade quickly melted and left her playing the stereotypical weak female role. I was especially peeved when, after she went into Joe's room and broke down crying to him, she asked him to make love to her. It was just such a stereotypical thing that it ruined some of the style and feel that had developed at that part of the novel. Developing characters like Joe and Gault well made developing Grace so poorly really stand out. I feel like having a strong female character would have helped the novel go to new places rather than falling into a drab pattern used by so many works before it.

Conclusion

As a whole, if someone is even remotely interested in zombies, this is a worthwhile read. The writing style is excellent, making for an exciting read that is simultaneously relaxing since the book flows so easily. Some surprising plot twists are in abundance to keep readers on their toes; they just shouldn't expect it to break any molds.(less) "

Victoria read and liked Steve's review of Patient Zero: A Joe Ledger Novel:

"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 Depa...more 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's ass, and his head is full of men's self-help book archetypes. He can alternately be the Cop, the Warrior or the spell-casting Wizard. Okay, I mock a bit.

In a sub-ghetto of a ghetto-genre, this book must seem like a masterpiece, rising its rotting head and shoulders over the undead army of George Romero imitators. Unfortunately, that doesn't make it a great novel. Most of the characters are two-dimensional, the romantic interactions are awkwardly written/ unbelievable, and the novel grinds along without much in the way of surprises or innovations. It seems to be formulaic: zombie apocalypse meets war on terror. It's totally Mad Libs after that.

I wanted it to end about three-quarters of the way through. Maberry is a good writer but some of the dialogue in the book sounds like parody. If anything, it's proof that the zombie sub-genre isn't dead, yet. But it's beginning to get a little ripe.(less) "