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The Blood Artists
THE END OF THE WORLD WILL COME FROM WITHIN It first appears in Africa--hideous and unstoppable--an all-consuming terror unlike anything the world has ever seen. Two years later, it resurfaces to feed on the residents of a small New England town. Within days, only a handful survive--including one young woman whose blood is the serum of life--miraculously pared to bear witness to the plague's terrible wrath. Not even he dreaded Ebola possesses the apocalyptic power of this loathsome scrounge that devastates the flesh and the soul. Two brilliant scientists--now bitter rivals--contained it once using the most extreme methods. But thee virus that has reemerged is a thousand times stronger. . .and it is changing Noone is safe from the contagion that devours but is never sated, from the pestilence that walks like a man. Woe to the Earth. The Zero hour has come.
384 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
13 people are currently reading
409 people want to read
About the author
Chuck Hogan
49 books606 followersChuck Hogan is an American author. His story "Two Thousand Volts" appeared in The Best American Mystery Stories 2009. He is the co-author of The Strain Trilogy with Guillermo del Toro. His 2004 novel Prince of Thieves was adapted to film as the Ben Affleck directed The Town in 2010.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
August 11, 2014
"Four days, start to finish," he said in French. "First the headache. Flu-like symptoms, a general malaise. Then spasms, chills and onward." He rumbled a light cough into the dirty handkerchief. "Four to five days, fever to fulmination. Three weeks now. It set upon the camp like an eclipse."
Whatever was eating Jacqueline Moutouari, it was not the smallpox virus. It was something not yet encountered by human medicine.
Right now, the world is in a panic over Ebola, and the US is finally taking notice, worried that the disease isn't going to be just something that happens to people in another country. So, I thought it might be interesting to read a thrilling book about a worldwide pandemic. This, wasn't that book, though it did have its moments.
The story concerns two scientists: Pearse, a traditional humanitarian, and Maryk, a man who, though he believes strongly in saving mankind, cares little for any particular individuals. They clash, and their partnership falls apart, but the duo must reunite to fight a deadly virus that threatens to destroy all of humanity. There's a particularly chilling moment when they come to realize that
When it comes to sheer bloodcurdling horror, not much is more terrifying than watching those around you die a prolonged, agonizing death while knowing that the same fate is awaiting you. So, the book has that going for it. There are also plenty of page-turning chase scenes. I had a lot of trouble buying the fact that Melanie, the one person who is completely immune (and also one of the dullest characters ever created), whose blood will be needed to save the entire world, is NOT kept under lock and key, but allowed to roam the country. Maryk, however, is a delightfully complex character. He casts a cold eye upon the very creatures he is fighting to save, and admits, in a great speech near the middle of the book, that all his work will probably be for naught:
"Do you know how our time will be remembered?"
"As a flash of light between great periods of darkness. If our so-called modern age is remembered at all. Earth is something like three and a half billion years old; mankind, a few million. We are infants crawling upon this rock, protozoa from a pond, who crawled out of the oceans, dropped down from the trees. Dinosaurs presumed the world was theirs as well. We are a fungus spreading over this planet, colonizing, warring, consuming. The Earth is a cell we are infecting. And nature is the Earth's immune system, just now sensing the threat of our encroachment, and arming itself to fight back. Macro versus micro. Viruses are the Earth's white blood cells. We are the Earth's disease."
Will Ebola be the pandemic that wipes most of mankind from the planet? (I think I hear Mother Nature saying, "YESSSS! Please, something help me get rid of these pesky humans!") Who knows? We are an incredibly vulnerable species. But then again, we're pretty persistent, too.
Stay tuned.
Whatever was eating Jacqueline Moutouari, it was not the smallpox virus. It was something not yet encountered by human medicine.
Right now, the world is in a panic over Ebola, and the US is finally taking notice, worried that the disease isn't going to be just something that happens to people in another country. So, I thought it might be interesting to read a thrilling book about a worldwide pandemic. This, wasn't that book, though it did have its moments.
The story concerns two scientists: Pearse, a traditional humanitarian, and Maryk, a man who, though he believes strongly in saving mankind, cares little for any particular individuals. They clash, and their partnership falls apart, but the duo must reunite to fight a deadly virus that threatens to destroy all of humanity. There's a particularly chilling moment when they come to realize that
When it comes to sheer bloodcurdling horror, not much is more terrifying than watching those around you die a prolonged, agonizing death while knowing that the same fate is awaiting you. So, the book has that going for it. There are also plenty of page-turning chase scenes. I had a lot of trouble buying the fact that Melanie, the one person who is completely immune (and also one of the dullest characters ever created), whose blood will be needed to save the entire world, is NOT kept under lock and key, but allowed to roam the country. Maryk, however, is a delightfully complex character. He casts a cold eye upon the very creatures he is fighting to save, and admits, in a great speech near the middle of the book, that all his work will probably be for naught:
"Do you know how our time will be remembered?"
"As a flash of light between great periods of darkness. If our so-called modern age is remembered at all. Earth is something like three and a half billion years old; mankind, a few million. We are infants crawling upon this rock, protozoa from a pond, who crawled out of the oceans, dropped down from the trees. Dinosaurs presumed the world was theirs as well. We are a fungus spreading over this planet, colonizing, warring, consuming. The Earth is a cell we are infecting. And nature is the Earth's immune system, just now sensing the threat of our encroachment, and arming itself to fight back. Macro versus micro. Viruses are the Earth's white blood cells. We are the Earth's disease."
Will Ebola be the pandemic that wipes most of mankind from the planet? (I think I hear Mother Nature saying, "YESSSS! Please, something help me get rid of these pesky humans!") Who knows? We are an incredibly vulnerable species. But then again, we're pretty persistent, too.
Stay tuned.
Read
April 12, 2020*** Seems appropriate to re-read at this time. Still scary as hell.
March 4, 2019
Scary book that reads very fast..the proverbial page turner. Characters from Zero to Melanie are very real and the medical stars are total heroes. What if something like Plainville did actually happen!
November 4, 2017
One of the best books I've read in a long while. Well written, insanely gorey and well focused, this novel renews my hope for the plague sub genre. There is a very genuine story behind all the science and disease that thrives on great character development. It's rare you can find a book as smart as this one (with a few tiny exceptions) that pulls no punches when it comes to violence and gore. Awesome, awesome read.
June 20, 2018
Mr. Hogan, if you're reading this, please get a new copy editor!
I enjoyed this book immensely. If you are the kind of reader who nearly cried when Michael Crichton died, I strongly suggest checking out Chuck Hogan. Complex story lines (but not so complicated that you have to start using index cards to keep it all straight), well-researched science, interesting characters, well-paced suspense - it's all there.
However, no writer is perfect (with the possible exception of Jane Austen), and Hogan's weakness is a propensity to use words almost but not quite correctly. On the second page of the first chapter, he writes, "Peter and I distinguished each other in our fields of specialization", when he actually means "complemented" or "balanced." He uses "breath" instead of "breathe," "pericardium sac" when he means "pericardial sac" or simply "pericardium", misuses "expedient", and straight-up invents a plant (a salt marsh of waving "spartina", which is not a thing). There are at least a dozen more instances like these. He adores similes and metaphors, and they occasionally get away from him, most memorably in a paragraph which uses "as though" five times in six sentences.
A good copy editor would fix all of this. I hope he finds one.
I enjoyed this book immensely. If you are the kind of reader who nearly cried when Michael Crichton died, I strongly suggest checking out Chuck Hogan. Complex story lines (but not so complicated that you have to start using index cards to keep it all straight), well-researched science, interesting characters, well-paced suspense - it's all there.
However, no writer is perfect (with the possible exception of Jane Austen), and Hogan's weakness is a propensity to use words almost but not quite correctly. On the second page of the first chapter, he writes, "Peter and I distinguished each other in our fields of specialization", when he actually means "complemented" or "balanced." He uses "breath" instead of "breathe," "pericardium sac" when he means "pericardial sac" or simply "pericardium", misuses "expedient", and straight-up invents a plant (a salt marsh of waving "spartina", which is not a thing). There are at least a dozen more instances like these. He adores similes and metaphors, and they occasionally get away from him, most memorably in a paragraph which uses "as though" five times in six sentences.
A good copy editor would fix all of this. I hope he finds one.
Read
April 1, 2025Content Warnings:
Body horror
Medical terminology
Sickness described
Suicide described
Representation:
Blind
Claustrophobia
Endometriosis
Plus-Size
Various races mentioned
Vitiligo
Words that may bother some readers:
A
Anorexic - 1 time
B
Balls - 1 time
C
Christ (not religious) - 1 time
Christ (religious) - 1 time
D
Damn - 1 time
G
God (not religious) - 7 times
God (religious) - 5 times
H
Hell - 1 time
Helluva - 1 time
J
Jesus (religious) - 1 time
L
Lord (not religious) - 1 time
N
Nipple - 1 time
O
Orgasm - 1 time
P
Piss - 1 time
R
Rape - 1 time
Rapist - 1 time
S
Shit - 1 time
Suicide - 4 times
Body horror
Medical terminology
Sickness described
Suicide described
Representation:
Blind
Claustrophobia
Endometriosis
Plus-Size
Various races mentioned
Vitiligo
Words that may bother some readers:
A
Anorexic - 1 time
B
Balls - 1 time
C
Christ (not religious) - 1 time
Christ (religious) - 1 time
D
Damn - 1 time
G
God (not religious) - 7 times
God (religious) - 5 times
H
Hell - 1 time
Helluva - 1 time
J
Jesus (religious) - 1 time
L
Lord (not religious) - 1 time
N
Nipple - 1 time
O
Orgasm - 1 time
P
Piss - 1 time
R
Rape - 1 time
Rapist - 1 time
S
Shit - 1 time
Suicide - 4 times
January 14, 2020
It was really really good!Blood , infection , thrills and a bit of science,what more could I ask for? If you love dark thrillers you should get your hands on this one . There is attention to details and if you have a general fear of hospitals and surgical and related procedures then it should give you one hell of a scare.He has stuck himself with realistic horror here.Everything seems possible here and by considering the fact the he has written it way back in 1998,the story seems very prescient. I had a good and satisfying scary time.Hope it gives one you too!
April 28, 2020
It does not matter how many times I read this book, I still enjoy it. In the current world of quarantine and fear of disease, there are parallels between this book and current time. Small details like individuals wearing gloves and masks as part of their normal life, the fear that each person could make you sick, but the possibility of science and logic being able to stop the downfall of mankind still resonates with me.
February 4, 2018
GOOD BOOK
May 6, 2020
Very appropriate for our current situation - a fast paced virus tale!
January 20, 2021
well written, sophisticated, complex plot but easy to follow events which are not prdictable.
February 11, 2025
I might be a little biased as this is my the novel that brought me back to reading (just over half way through but I'm determined to finish), and I'm almost 30! I've re-gained my passion for reading thanks to this book, so I suppose it will always have a special place for me.
That being said, I am genuinely enjoying reading this book. It isn't exactly a very "hard" read, although I have found myself googling words a couple of times, and ultimately learned a couple of new ones. It kept me interested and by the third or fourth chapter, I found myself wanting to continue rather than trying to force myself. There is quite an emphasis on the medical setting, but nothing too confusing and not too much medical jargon the average person might not understand. Will definitely finish this before starting one of my next books!
EDIT: Started a new fantasy series but I have not DNF'd this. Just reading what I'm in the mood for right now (and I am REALLY freaking enjoying the InkWorld series by Cornelia Funke right now). It is easy to not get the plots, characters and setting mixed up since they're so vastly different.
That being said, I am genuinely enjoying reading this book. It isn't exactly a very "hard" read, although I have found myself googling words a couple of times, and ultimately learned a couple of new ones. It kept me interested and by the third or fourth chapter, I found myself wanting to continue rather than trying to force myself. There is quite an emphasis on the medical setting, but nothing too confusing and not too much medical jargon the average person might not understand. Will definitely finish this before starting one of my next books!
EDIT: Started a new fantasy series but I have not DNF'd this. Just reading what I'm in the mood for right now (and I am REALLY freaking enjoying the InkWorld series by Cornelia Funke right now). It is easy to not get the plots, characters and setting mixed up since they're so vastly different.
January 29, 2011
My first time reading Hogan turned out to be a fun romp through mystery and science, a chase for the virus that spreads though blood, one commodity that is rare to keep and difficult to obtain. Blood is the river that links all the lakes in this story, all the characters have something in common, the latest epidemic of outbreaks that kill in a horrific way has to start somewhere, two brilliant scientists who are at the center of it all end up enemies, both have dome some questionable things, who is the bad good and who is really good?
This is the basis for the tale, add some sneaky backstabbing characters, a nasty virus that does some really icky things with its new favorite host; the human body, making you an expert at recognizing and diagnosing mortality rates after you learn about the blister sores and blood ratio on the victims and it makes you want to wash your hands, close the windows and not go outside, I love these types of books, they will cheer you up on the rainiest day, once you put them down of course, the moment when you feel safe after having a front row seat at a macabre show of man versus disease. This might be "Outbreak" lite but it still packs a punch, I enjoyed for what it was and had a good time reading it. Basically the story evolves around two people; Doctors Stephen Pearse and Peter Maryk. They work at the Bureau of Disease Control and have time and money to devote to doing fantastic research, they get tangled into a doomsday scenario upon truing to help victims in an isolated Congo village, where one of them though an act of mercy begins something that will haunt not only them but the world forever. They reunite as enemies two years later in America where the same virus they tried to eradicate keeps sprouting up all over the country, and it seems to have some human help, the questions that rise are great, the answers terrifying, the story begins!
This was not without flaws but I enjoyed the story and I'm glad I go to read it, I have a soft spot in my heart for all sorts of science thrillers, especially the super viral ones, they seem to shake the reader harder than any monster could ever try.
- Kasia S.
This is the basis for the tale, add some sneaky backstabbing characters, a nasty virus that does some really icky things with its new favorite host; the human body, making you an expert at recognizing and diagnosing mortality rates after you learn about the blister sores and blood ratio on the victims and it makes you want to wash your hands, close the windows and not go outside, I love these types of books, they will cheer you up on the rainiest day, once you put them down of course, the moment when you feel safe after having a front row seat at a macabre show of man versus disease. This might be "Outbreak" lite but it still packs a punch, I enjoyed for what it was and had a good time reading it. Basically the story evolves around two people; Doctors Stephen Pearse and Peter Maryk. They work at the Bureau of Disease Control and have time and money to devote to doing fantastic research, they get tangled into a doomsday scenario upon truing to help victims in an isolated Congo village, where one of them though an act of mercy begins something that will haunt not only them but the world forever. They reunite as enemies two years later in America where the same virus they tried to eradicate keeps sprouting up all over the country, and it seems to have some human help, the questions that rise are great, the answers terrifying, the story begins!
This was not without flaws but I enjoyed the story and I'm glad I go to read it, I have a soft spot in my heart for all sorts of science thrillers, especially the super viral ones, they seem to shake the reader harder than any monster could ever try.
- Kasia S.
September 11, 2014
Chuck Hogan is a Terrific writer, he has The Prince Of Thieves (The Town) also known as the movie The Town with Ben Affleck.
The book started with to friends who work at the CDC who drift apart over time and become enemies
But along the way meet back up and go along just like nothing was wrong,
It was a spine tingling, smart, that got better and better with every turn of the page
With GREAT twists and turns that leave you flipping back to think "did that just happen"??.....
I will be buying more of Chuck Hogan in the very near future, Probably will be buying EVERYTHING!!!
Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del toro
Chuck Hogan
February 2, 2011
Pleasantly surprised at this read. Basic story about man versus virus, thrown in a little gore, a couple large ego's and the "end of humans as we know it" concept and it seems like just another cliche. What I found instead of the cliche was a well written compelling story that had a twist I didn't expect.
Initially I was going to give this 3 stars due to the back and forth writing between point of views and a little too in depth description about viruses and blood. However, the author mentioned the "Enterprise Church" which provided unexpected out-loud laughter. For this particular it garnered an extra star.
Recommended for fans of Preston-Child and Stephen King- just don't expect a happy and tidy ending.
Initially I was going to give this 3 stars due to the back and forth writing between point of views and a little too in depth description about viruses and blood. However, the author mentioned the "Enterprise Church" which provided unexpected out-loud laughter. For this particular it garnered an extra star.
Recommended for fans of Preston-Child and Stephen King- just don't expect a happy and tidy ending.
October 28, 2012
This novel is a cut above other novel's of its genre. Not to denigrate Michael Crichton, Tess Geritsen, or any other author that works with similar plots, but Chuck Hogan has a way of fleshing out characters that's really extraordinary. The plot (a wildly imaginative virus that's being spread by a human vector) is compelling in its own right, but the depth that Hogan gives to his characters makes "The Blood Artists" compulsively readable.
February 6, 2014
Hogan's sophomore effort rips along with a fine premise and compelling characters. I forget if biological thrillers were all the rage back then, but if so, this one has held up very well. The generalized use of tablets, for instance,fits right into today, which is when the story is set, more or less. The science is sound enough to pass muster and the threat very real.
If one is looking for a 'page-turner' and does not play concert piano, then this book fills the bill.
Highly recommended.
If one is looking for a 'page-turner' and does not play concert piano, then this book fills the bill.
Highly recommended.
September 11, 2014
I am always fascinated by pandemics and pathogens, and probably know more about BSL 4 suits than I should so I was eager to read Chuck's take on this. And I found that I was really interested in how the story evolved and what he was able to do with a virus. Something that you normally wouldn't see in this realm. A good read with plenty of mystery and action. I quite enjoyed this foray into this genre.
December 23, 2008
"Everything that begins, begins with blood." In the 21st century, clean blood is a precious commodity. Two doctors who developed a synthetic form of blood become directors of the Bureau for Disease Control and must battle a mutating virus that threatens to wipe out human existence in 2010.
Futuristic sci-fi elements. Well-plotted. Different.
Futuristic sci-fi elements. Well-plotted. Different.
July 19, 2012
Overall I enjoyed this one. It's a solid medical/science fiction thriller. There were parts that dragged and others that weren't very realistic if you gave it a lot of thought but there was enought action and twists in the story that I was interested in seeing it through.
October 1, 2012
Read this one over the course of a few days. Excellent science fiction/thriller/medical novel, with a hint of horror to it. I personally think it would make a great film. Got it at a thrift store, and now I'm hooked on Hogan.
May 23, 2008
You can tell its a first novel, good thoughts, poor execution.
February 23, 2009
Spectacular medical/sci fi thriller.
July 2, 2009
Didn't finish. Ostensibly a thriller, it is the very un-engaging tale of two scientists working for the CDC, trying to stop horrifyingly infectious and virulent disease.
October 2, 2010
Longer than it should have been. Other than that really enjoyed it. Would love to see this made into a movie, it would be totally gross!
January 7, 2011
High intensity drama related to catastrophic viral infection that comes too close to almost eradicating everyone--enjoyable (but more so if you don't focus too intently on the science)
August 13, 2011
This is very different from his first book, but just as good. This reminded me of Michael Chriton. I am looking forward to reading more of his stuff.
December 10, 2011
You wouldn't think one could take this premise and make it boring, but yes - yes - you certainly can do so. Slogged through it as best I could.
June 16, 2014
I love the book. I discoverd this book long ago by accident, and once I began reading I couldn't put it down. Scientis saving lives while trying to stay alive.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews