Children of the Plague

by Gregory Carrico

In the darkest corners of lower Manhattan, a battle like no other rages. The city is home to a hidden group of survivors of the nanite plague, and a brother and sister born to defend their race. With a touch that can destroy nanites, Lanni, sister of Alex, is their last chance. Can she save her brother? Can she protect mankind's only hope? Or will she be responsible for the destruction of the last humans on earth? It's going to be another long day...

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction, Apocalyptic, Young Adult, Post Apocalyptic, Fiction, Dystopia

183 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 15, 2013

About the author

Greg Carrico is a former Dental and Practice Management Consultant, software trainer, and salesdude. Enduring years of torture in the dental and technology industries uniquely qualified him for his new career of writing horror and dark science fiction stories.

When not creating new worlds and plotting their destruction, Greg reviews indie books at his blog, Live the Story (www.gramico.com/blog). He lives his story in Central New York, with his wife and three small canine overlords, who he faithfully serves by trying to educate people about the horrors of puppy mills, and the joys of adopting the dogs rescued from them.

Reviews

[T.W. Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here is what I took away from this book...

First thing is that I love it when somebody takes an established genre like zombies and goes their own way with it. There is as much science fiction as horror going on here and it works very well. As you know, I do not offer spoilers, I think you should be able to discover the twists, turns, and icky moments on your own. Just know that there is a very cool vibe and twist on the standard post-apocalyptic tale here that you won't regret discovering. Also, kudos on the strong female characters here.

Gregory does not "dumb" down his story. And I could be mistaken, but there is a noticeable lack of profanity which makes this a title that you can put in front of your younger house members and introduce them to some cool horror without all the cliches of gutter-speak that some might find offensive. Yes, it is still horror, but I can not explain it any more than to say it is handled in a way that opens itself up to young audiences as well as old.

I look forward to whatever Gregory has next and make this suggestion...get this book.

[Claire Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started reading this under the impression that it was horror, but it wasn't... It was more than horror. It was science fiction, fantasy, horror, it crossed categories until I had no idea which direction the story was going to go in...and that's a good thing. Most horror books are transparent in their plots, but this kept me guessing, and learning.

The horror, oh man the horror element rocked my world, with amazingly awesome visually graphic scenes.

Gregory has a beautifully descriptive prose which pulls you straight in to his world, and what a fascinating world he created. With all mew characters that had a brilliant twist on an old concept.
Recommended!

[chucklesthescot · Rating 3 out of 5]

*I received a free copy of this book from the author through the Making Connections Group in exchange for an honest review*

On the pdf copy there was a note from the author saying that this novel was based on and runs alongside a previous short story called Killing Tiffany Hudson, so I read it first.(The book it is in is called Apocalypstick) I would suggest reading both to give you the full story.

Aliens have unleashed a virus that alters humans-you might have all memories and thoughts drained from you, leaving you as a zombie creature(husks), you might be infected(hosts) and drain other humans to absorb their knowledge and become connected to the big alien brain, or you might be able to harness and partially control the virus to help you fight the enemy. Nightmare creatures born from human women and mutated by the virus roam and kill while small bands of humans try to survive. The only hope for the survivors is Alex, a partially turned host who uses the downloaded information in his head to find a way to defeat the aliens, and his sister Lanni who has the ability to destroy the virus particles by touch.

It is a grim and scary world the author has created and it is very imaginative. I hope the paragraph above correctly explains my understanding of the story! There is a wide range of deadly creatures roaming around this world that would give anyone nightmares, all described in vivid detail. I liked the range of them and the frequency that they appeared. It showed just how dangerous life was and how much they relied on Alex. I particularly liked Big Daddy and Junior, showing that all the creatures were different in thought and deed. It was also interesting to see two conflicting versions of Diane in the novella and novel. Lanni seems older than her years because of what she has been through but it explains her recklessness on the salvage mission where things go badly wrong. The whole idea of an alien plague instead of a man made disaster was good and different from what I usually read.

I admit that sci-fi is not my favourite genre and I struggle with the terminology of all things science so I trembled when the virus and its effects were being described. I had a very bad experience with a Michael Crichton book with nano thingmys-whatsits and it put me off that type of book forever. Thankfully this author managed to explain it all to me without my head exploding, though I probably had to put more effort into 'getting it' than most other readers!(my brain fogs over with technical stuff!) I also liked the fact that info dumps were kept to the bare minimum required and that the author did more descriptive work on the monsters and battles instead. The world building was excellent and the idea felt original and fresh.

A couple of minor negative points. I didn't fully connect with the characters in the book. We only get a glimpse of Alex as a strange boy at the start of the book, then we join him as a machine like Host. It made it hard for me to like him. To be fair, if the author had showed a gradual change in Alex and how they came to be at the prison, it would have made this a much longer book and would have slowed things down too much. I'd have liked to have seen a bit more of Lee earlier in the book as he was the one who interested me. We don't see a great deal of Diane either(which surprised me after the short story) until the big battle so sometimes I felt there was a bit too much focus on Lanni at the expense of others who could have brought more to the story. But that is just a personal opinion and doesn't detract from the story. The other thing I struggled a bit with is not knowing what was happening with the 'two Lanni's' and the husk training. I like to be able to easily follow what is happening so having some of it hidden behind Lanni's memory block was a bit frustrating. I'm assuming that this will become clear in the second book and if that is true, I can't really blame the author for my impatience with the way he sets out his plot! Like I said, minor niggles.

In general I did like the story despite some of the content going out of my comfort zone. I think if you enjoy science fiction and dystopian novels, you will really enjoy this book. I probably didn't appreciate it as much as others will because sci-fi isn't my thing, and that is no reflection on the author or his storytelling ability. No sexual content and our heroine Lanni doesn't like swearing so swearing is minimal.

Review of the book Apocalypstick to follow.

[Anton · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun book, and a very creative take on the a zombie apocalypse. The monsters were fleshed out with such vivid detail, and some of them had some really fun abilities and very innovative super-powers. I applaud Greg Carrico for his imagination here, and he created a monster story like no other. It's a must read for anyone that is into shows like the X-files, or stories like The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Stephen King's "IT" to name a few. The fast paced sweeping narrative was eloquently written, but unfortunately a bit anti-climatic for my tastes. The last 30% of the novel was all action, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. It just didn't lead to anything climatic in my opinion.

However, keep in mind that it did leave off in a cliff-hanger, and I would imagine that Carrico did not finish telling his story and there is much more to come! And so, I definitely recommend reading this.

[Ann Snizek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am definitely a new fan of Mr. Carrico! There were a couple places I got confused about who and where we were, but overall this was a fast paced, exciting read that trapped me in its Con. Lanni is a compelling character that is easy to relate too despite her completely unusual situation. I don't like giving away too much in reviews. The blurb was enough to pull me in and the story had no problem keeping me there!

I really enjoyed reading this book and am waiting on the edge of my figurative seat to read more about Lanni and her new companions. I will keep a lookout for more in this series as well as other books by Gregory Carrico!

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won't do a synopsis as that's already been done. I just want to say that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel. It's a great mixture of sci-fi and fantasy, with wonderful characters and fast-paced action. This book stands alone, but I'm hoping this is a series with more books to come. I'd love to find out what happens next in this post-apocalyptic world and its citizens. Definitely a new twist in the genre.

[Jennifer Ricketts (Donnie Darko Girl) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review for my stop on the blog tour at Donnie Darko Girl.

I loved what I read from the synopsis of Children of the Plague. I just didn't know how much I would end up loving the book! There's so much more to this story than I thought there would be. At first, I couldn't decide whether people were turning into zombies or aliens or turning into zombies being controlled by aliens. I liked not being certain of what was going on in the beginning - it made everything that much more eerie, and eerie is what I like.

Lanni and Alex are fourteen-year-old twins, yet I think they seemed older. I guess you have to grow up pretty quickly though when faced with the kind of plague they're battling. Lanni is a character easy to connect with and care about while Alex was confusing to me. Lanni mentioned he was sick, but I wasn't sure if it was from the plague or before the plague. I never connected with him because I didn't get a full picture of who he is.

I love science fiction and apocalyptic tales, and I think the author did an excellent job handling the science fiction aspect. If you tend to shy away from this genre because it can be filled with terms and ideas that are hard to keep up with, then you should still read this book because this isn't the case here. I had no trouble keeping up with the story line. Children of the Plague is a unique and fresh breath of air into the science fiction genre.

This world the author has built is scary - aliens have taken over, most of the world's population has been decimated leaving only a small number of human survivors, and if you've survived up until now, there's always the chance you might be drained of all your memories until you're nothing more than a husk. A range of different nightmarish creatures are running around, hunting down any humans still left, and there are some violent death scenes. The parts that really frightened me were not knowing what some of the creatures were and how they killed, not to mention being "drained" of my knowledge and memories.

On a side note, while I was reading this book, late at night I might add, a pounding at my bedroom door made me jump ten feet in the air until I realized one of my cats was trying to get in. My heart rate took over ten minutes to return to normal - that's how scared I was!

I'm interested to read the author's other books. He writes in an engaging way and with the world he has created in this novel, I'm looking forward to the worlds he has created for his other novels.

[Sabina Bundgaard · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nanite plague hits the world, and very few survive. And then most are turned into husks – empty shells, of once humans, controlled by Hosts. Everything is being controlled by the Con. And then there’re the offsprings… Some of the first victims in the plague, where the unborn children. The ones who survived clawed their way out of their mother, forever changed into something different.

Then we have the ones who survived the plague, children, teenagers and adults. The nanites have infected some of these survivors and altered them. Just like Alex and his twin sister, Lanni. Alex is getting closer to be a Host each day, and Lanni has a shield so strong, the nanites can’t penetrate it. Lannie can manipulate the nanites, stabilize the infected people. This is what she has been doing with a pregnant woman – humanity’s last hope for bringing normal children to life.

But can a fourteen old girl make any difference in this new and dangerous world, where the lines are about to be drawn and the war is coming very close?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The beginning was a bit confusing for me, I lost track of the timeline, due to some jump in time and place. But once the jumping settled down, I had no trouble following the story, and found it interesting.

The relationship between Lannie and her twin brother Alex is.. screwed. Alex is slowly turning into a Host, and all Lannie can do is sit back, try and stabilize the Con, manipulate the nanites, and then she know it isn’t going to cut it. At some point, she has to make the worst decision and kill her brother. At the same time, Alexis trying to buy himself and others, some time. A big war is coming, and everyone is needed.

There are so many mysteries in this book that didn’t get solved.

The fight scenes are beautifully made, the characters – well, only the surface has been scratched when it comes to them (in my opinion), and I’m curious about what will happen. All in all, the book is good, the series has great potential, the author is amazing, and I’m curious enough that I want to read the next when it arrives.

[Lori McKinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The world of Children of the Plague is a fascinating one. The twist on zombies and aliens and the apocalypse is excellent. But I felt as though much of it was left in the author's head and didn't quite translate onto the paper (or screen). The characters and the monsters and the setting were so enticing, I wanted to immerse myself in this world and live the horror of mutated babies and empty husks of humans controlled by some other intelligence. I wanted to crawl inside Lanni's head and see this world turned upside down and inside out through the eyes of a 14 year old who suddenly has powers of her own. I wanted to feel the despair as she wrestles with how to handle a brother who may be turning into a monster.

Have you ever gone to see a movie that's almost great but for various reasons doesn't quite get there? It's worse than if it was a bad movie because it has SO MUCH POTENTIAL.

That's how this book made me feel.

It was so close. The world is awesome. The monsters are frightening. The situations the characters find themselves in are harrowing.

But I felt lost for much of the story, trying to piece together what was going on and how this new world worked and why the characters were where they were. I could almost glimpse the huge, frightening, fascinating world Carrico created but it was a though someone had placed a memory block on my mind. Almost there, almost real, but just a little too fuzzy to fully realize.

The beginning of the book suggestions reading the short story on which this book is based. I decided not to because I wanted to see if it would stand alone. I'm thinking that may have been a bad decision.

If you'd like a glimpse into a creative post apocalyptic world with some really cool monsters and fight scenes, by all means, check out this book. But you may want to give the short story a read first and see if that leaves you a bit more grounded in the world of the Children of the Plague.

*Disclaimer: A copy of this book was provided in exchange for a fair and honest review.*

[Anna Erishkigal · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a fascinating twist on the usual post-apocalyptic or fantasy novel which features zombies or magic, Children of the Plague creates a world where aliens unleash a nano-particle plague (the Con) which overcomes humanity by altering humanities genetic structure. Depending upon which program-variation of the virus you have been infected with, either you are vulnerable to having your consciousness 'drained' by another human infected with the Con (hosts), you limp along surviving not knowing when you'll be turned or eaten, or you keep your faculties because mysteriously the consciousness's of other humans who have been taken are downloaded into your mind (exterminators) and it gives you the ability to harness the nanoparticles to use as a quasi-electrical/quasi-magic power. The alien intelligence directing this invasion remains largely unseen in this novel as humans fight to survive (barely) thanks to Lanni and a kind of partial immunity she has to being seized, but you have to question why the two variations of abilities? (and I won't say more because it's a potential spoiler). It's a fascinating world Greg Carrico paints and as the book ends, I hope there will soon be another installment so we can learn what happens next.

[Melanie Adkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lanni knew something wasn't right. Her mom was screaming so loudly and pain shot through Lanni's head. Alex, her twin brother was more disturbed than usual. Even his friend Jacob was being weirder than normal. Then Alex grabs Lanni and tells her they must run. Neither knew what they were running from though. Everything was happening so fast. Lanni and Alex would never be the same. They had to find a safe place, but where. Changes were apparent everywhere. Their world was different and adjusting to it meant growing up fast. The plague was back in a new way.

You'll be looking at people differently once you read this book. Perfect for the Halloween season, this is one terrific scare! Well written and descriptions that won't leave your head soon, this will become a favorite book right away. My favorite line in the book is.. "but Scarlett O'Hara, what was happening to her." The line sold me on this book.

I found no issues with this one.

I gave this one 5 out of 5 cheers because it gave me quite a scare. ~Copy of book provided by author in exchange for a fair review~

[K.C. Sprayberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alex and Lisa Ann (Lanni) are twins, and they're also pivotal in the upcoming plague that leaves them orphans. Alex is a burgeoning host, while Lanni is driven to help those still human. They work together, until she comes to the realization that her brother has become like the hosts she hunts and destroys.
The opening of this book was intense, drawing the reader immediately into the action. From the beginning, the reader experiences this plague haunting humanity, and the consequences for those without powers as the world awaits the birth of one child – holding their breath as to whether it will be human or monster.
Gregory Carrico presents a zombie style novel unlike any other. The good versus evil theme isn't clear cut, as Lanni discovers almost too late, yet she's a consistent individual, capable of making and holding to harsh decisions. I found the plot to be excellent, and the book well-crafted. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in it.
Note: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are 100% my own.

[Lucas Shouse · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was given me by the Author Greg. Solid read!
Not only an interesting take an Apocalypse but great texture and Descriptions of not only alien type monsters but the backgrounds, settings and ninja loves. I especially loved the liar in the MPC.!!!

[Holiday Caton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this, but by the end, I just wanted it to end. I didn't care about anyone in this book. Too bad, because the short story I read "Apocalypstick" made me read this "long version".

[The Jolly Elf · Rating 1 out of 5]

I won't finish this book.As far as I read it's ok...well actually I got bored so I'll give it 1★.I've seen this type of story in movies and there was nothing different here.At first I thought it had to do with zombies or with aliens but to be honest I don't quite understand who the enemy is.It keeps saying "the hosts" are the bad guys but where are they from?How this whole apocalypse thing happenned?Why is her brother a host?Why can she kill nanites?So many questions and no anwers. I don't recommend it.Even if you can read it from wattpad or from somewhere else for free,don't waste your time.