The black death

by gwyneth-cravens-john-s-marr, John S. Marr

Black Death is a grim romp through Europe set during a fantastic version of its religious wars. Disease, damnation, musket fire, holy relics and landsknechts - it's all here. Roll up a character, drop some groschen on a zweihander and buff coat, and set out to make a fortune ... or maybe just survive. All you need is a pencil, some paper, this book and some good old fashioned

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Science Fiction, Medieval

92 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read that could have been better, but still one that evoked all kinds of memories of the 1970s and NYC. Remember with NYC was almost forced to declare bankruptcy? The Jimmy Carter administration? The Warren Commission and the Pentagon Papers? Why do I mention these things here? Well, because The Black Death has two major threads, the first being an outbreak of the plague in NYC and the second being a detailed exploration into the US federal government's handling of the outbreak. Hence, if you are just looking for a thriller about the black death erupting in a major US city, you may be disappointed here, as much of this novel concerns the politics of the era.

This kicks off with a young woman returning to her parent's luxury Upper East Side condo from some trip (she arrived on a bus via Port Authority) and not feeling very well. You guessed it, she brought the plague from somewhere. While the authors explore in detail the manifestation of the plague on the human body (pretty gruesome to be sure!), they focus more on the health authorities in NYC, and this is a pattern throughout. Our main protagonist, Dr. Hart, heads up an agency in NYC that deals with preventable diseases. When he finds out about the strange death of the young woman and investigates it, he quickly discerns that yes, this is the plague. Yet, his attempts to deal with it are frustrated at every turn by first the hospital's administration, then the Mayor's office, and eventually by the Feds...

While we do get some detailed explication of the plague, how it spreads, what it does to the body and so forth, the main focus is on the politics. We have some asshole, Cosgrove, who leads the 'deep state' and currently works as the national security advisor to Jimmy Carter. When he learns of the plague, he first assumes it is the Cubans and we spend lots of time with him and his corrupt, unsavory deals to maintain power and prestige; while elected officials may come and go, he and a handful of others really call the shots.

I do not want to go further on the plot here, but I will say that the authors have a deep suspicion that the US government is secretly up to no good. The 1970s was when the US government when from being popularly seen as the heroes of WWII and the golden age of US capitalism to being, as Reagan campaigned on, 'the problem'. Part of this was their inability to deal with stagflation, but Watergate and the publication of the Pentagon Papers (and other incriminating documents), cast many doubts on the Federal government. Remember the old bumper sticker "it is 11:00 PM; do you know what your government is doing?" That is exactly the sentiment evoked in this book. Quite a time piece to be sure! Trying to pack this into a thriller about the plague was a bit too much for one book, however. 3.5 black stars!!!

[The Local Spooky Hermit · Rating 4 out of 5]

what if the bubonic plague showed up in New York in the gritty grimy 70's?
panic, riots, mass death, looting, government cover up and the gangs of new york fighting back
citizens vs big gov *chef kiss* its a mad house at the end and i love it

[Fonch · Rating 1 out of 5]

"That plague destroyed the human inhabitants of towns and cities, of castles and villas, so that there was hardly a man to live in them. The plague was so contagious, that whoever touched a sick or a dead person would immediately become infected and die and the penitent, and the confessor would be taken together to the grave... I'm waiting for death to come... Therefore I have put these things in writing, and in case the writing perishes with the writer and the work with the artificer, he left parchment, to continue the work, if fortunately someone survives, and if fortunately someone of Adam's race is spared from this plague." JOHN CLYN, Friar Minor of the Convent of Kilkenny, A.D. 1349

Ladies and gentlemen. This is one of the books, which seemed to me that it could be one of the readings of the year because of the subject it deals with, and how well written it is, and the second reason why it could have been is because this book had a very good idea, which unfortunately has been failed for three reasons 1° How badly written it is, and the lack of a uniform style (it has been noted, that it was written in two hands with a very evident disparity of styles). I got so bored with this book, I wanted to finish it, and I read it too quickly to finish it as soon as possible, because I was unable to bear it. 2° The second failure that I see is the main character David Hart (sometimes it happens, that the main character you do not like, and it hurts the plot. It happened to me with Katniss from "The Hunger Games" by Suzanne Collins https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...), which I did not like at all. You have to thank him, that he wants to end the plague pandemic in New York, but deep down you realize that he is a misanthrope who dreams of destruction, and of a post-apocalyptic world. There is a moment when he tells his father to die. While the epidemic is killing people, he is more determined to sleep with the beautiful Hispanic nurse Dolores Rodriguez, than to focus on ending the epidemic, and 3rd Just like what happened to a very bad novel called Miko by Eric van Lustbader https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... , which in a plot of ninjas got the fight between Russians, and Americans. Here it is also spoiled by the political plot they mount in which a hard-line far-right military (a Falcon) Samuel Cosgrove (I would have removed that plot from the novel, and he would have won) wants to take advantage of the pandemic to obtain power, and blame a hostile power in this case Fidel Castro's Cuba for having caused the plague as the Tatars did in the fifteenth century, and of course sacrifice New York City, to prevent the disease from spreading decide to kill New Yorkers (you have to know the circumstances in which this novel was written in the seventies, after Watergate, and before the election of Jimmy Carter. I am no supporter of the Castros, and their puppets, in fact, detested it, and I wish I saw the island free of communism, but I find the idea of assuming that they could spread the plague throughout the United States excessive.) You can see the political sympathies of the authors very close to liberalism (understood in an American key) (Hart is very close to that environment, and that makes Cosgrove suspect, who investigates him, following the line of Hoover, Spootwell, or Haig. The intervention in Chile against Allende is very present, although we could remember others such as against Leonidas Trujillo, Chombe, and against President Diem in South Vietnam https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... , during the Kennedy administration for talking about someone else, other than Richard Nixon). With that praise to Walter Cronkyte, who did not come out very well in "Sons of Cain" by my friend Val Bianco
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... .
The good thing is the way the plague spreads through a girl named Sarah Dobbs, who infects a pimp named Flash, and the doorman Domingo Ortiz (Cuban exile, and who allows the Cuban subplot in the novel, and it would have been better to eliminate that subplot). The disaster is caused because contact with the pimp was not taken into account. The image of Hispanics, and other racial minorities, is not bad. It shows how the epidemic could spread through New York City, and the moral chaos in which both the United States and New York find themselves after the defeat in the Vietnam War, and Watergate (it is rare, that this moral and spiritual decline suffered by the United States, and especially New York City, that until the time of Rudolph Giuliani did not recover, and now seems to be returning to chaos. In that group by the ghttos, and the rivalries of Puerto Rican racial minorities, African-Americans, Jews, Italians. It is strange that they are not associated with hippysm, and other nihilistic and destructive cultural currents, which were already before, but, that emerged in the 60s sexual liberation, legalization of abortion, is the end of the American state of life, the military of the Vietnam War is despised, emergency of ecoterrorism, it does not finish ending the mafia, serial criminals like zodiac, the Boston strangler, Manson are popularized. It is a time to analyze, and since the destruction of the Twin Towers we are witnessing a similar phenomenon with antifa, me too, the woke boom and other movements with a deep ideological charge, which are polarizing American society. In this novel (the Shah has not fallen) so I suspect that the President is Gerald Ford (the one who puts himself as a very short person, and who is easy to manipulate). It also shows you the racial conflicts of the city with the Puerto Rican community, and African-American. Reminding me of Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... (in fact Weinstein reminds me a lot of the mayor, who appeared in the novel of the late Wolfe, with that point of political correctness, and demagoguery controlled by lobbies of progressive ideology, who look more for their private interests, than for the groups to which represents). With a mayor Weinstein who is very populace, and who employs the old trick of not calling a spade a spade, so as not to cause chaos, and fear. In the end he will do something very similar to Porfirio Díaz, which is to turn the gangs into a police force. It's a pity that Lipskey the first doctor to come out is not the protagonist (he was more interesting than Hart, although he was wrong in the diagnosis). Sarah Dobbs' convalescence is described by reminding me of Virchow's "The Cellular Republic" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., or Albert Barillé Once Upon a Time the Human Body https://www.goodreads.com/series/1501... . Also very interesting is the history of the plague, the damage it has caused, and what it could cause in the future. Like the shocking return of the Ratus Ratus, which returns (although it is propagated by the flea) (the norvegicus rat, which expelled it in the seventeenth century seems to have given a truce to humanity). The end of the plague is logical. The normal thing is that the plague appears, and disappears suddenly. When Hart gets sick, the novel becomes chaotic, and it gets out of control, and I didn't like the taunts of Alan Katz, Dolores Rodriguez, and Hart when the mayor starts reading the book of Revelation. The humor of the novel is eschatological, in very bad taste, and borders on sacrilege. I am not going to tell you the end, but it is left open, and with the feeling that as in the elections (in which all political parties try to take the credit for victory) the plague has been won by all. My grade is (1/5). PS. A disaster. Ideas without facts. I leave you this quote from the beginning, which for me is the best of the novel. Other novels dealing with the plague "Cristina Daughter of Lavrans" by Sigrid Undset https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... , "Eifelheim" by Michael Flynn https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... , "The Bride and Groom" by Alessandro Manzoni https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5... , "The Plague" by Albert Camus https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... , and that of "Diary of the year and the plague" Daniel Defoe https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4....

"Aquella peste destruyó a los habitantes humanos de pueblos y ciudades, de castillos y villas, de modo que apenas se encontraba un hombre que viviese en ellos. La peste era tan contagiosa, que quienquiera que tocase a un enfermo o a un muerto se infectaba inmediatamente y moría y el penitente, y el confesor eran llevados juntos a la tumba ... Yo estoy esperando que llegue la muerte... Por consiguiente, he puesto estas cosas por escrito, y por si el escrito perece con el escritor y la obra con el artífice, dejó pergamino, para continuar el trabajo, si por fortuna sobrevive alguien, y si por fortuna alguien de la raza de Adán se libra de esta peste" JOHN CLYN, Fraile Menor del Convento de Kilkenny, A.D. 1349

Damas, y caballeros. Este es uno de los libros, que me parecía que podía ser una de las lecturas del año por el tema que trata, y lo bien escrita que está, y la segunda razón por lo que podría haberlo sido se debe a que esté libro tenía una idea muy buena, que por desgracia ha resultado fallida por tres razones 1° Lo mal escrita que está, y la carencia de un estilo uniforme (se ha notado, que estaba escrito a dos manos con una disparidad de estilos muy evidente). Me aburrí tanto con este libro, que deseaba terminarlo, y lo leía muy rápido para acabarlo lo antes posible, porque era incapaz de soportarlo. 2° El segundo fallo que yo le veo es el personaje principal David Hart (a veces pasa, que el personaje principal no te gusta, y perjudica a la trama. A mí me pasó con Katniss de “Los juegos del hambre” de Suzanne Collins https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... ) , que no me ha gustado nada. Hay que agradecerle, que quiera poner fin a la pandemia de peste de Nueva York, pero en el fondo te das cuenta de que es un misántropo que sueña con la destrucción, y con un mundo pos-apocalíptico. Hay un momento en que le llega a decir a su padre, que se muera. Mientras la epidemia está matando gente está más empeñado en acostarse con la bellísima enfermera hispana Dolores Rodríguez, que en concentrarse en poner fin a la epidemia, y 3° Igual que le pasó a una novela muy mala llamada Miko de Eric van Lustbader https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show..., que en una trama de ninjas metió la lucha entre rusos, y americanos. Aquí también se estropea por la trama política que montan en la que un militar (un Halcón) de línea dura de extrema derecha Samuel Cosgrove (yo esa trama la habría quitado de la novela, y se habría salido ganando) quiere aprovechar la pandemia para obtener poder, y culpar a una potencia hostil en éste caso a la Cuba de Fidel Castro de haber provocado la peste como hicieron los tártaros en el siglo XV, y por supuesto sacrificar a la ciudad de Nueva York, para evitar que la enfermedad se extienda deciden matar a los neoyorquinos (hay que conocer las circunstancias en que esta novela fue escrita los años setenta, después del Watergate, y antes de la elección de Jimmy Carter. Yo no soy ningún simpatizante de los Castro, y sus títeres, de hecho, lo detestó, y desearía ver a la isla libre del comunismo, pero me parece excesiva la idea de presuponer, que podrían extender la peste por todo Estados Unidos). Se ven las simpatías políticas de los autores muy cercanas al liberalismo (entiéndase en clave americana) (Hart está muy cercano a ese entorno, y eso hace sospechar a Cosgrove, que le investiga, siguiendo la línea de Hoover, Spootwell, o Haig. La intervención en Chile contra Allende está muy presente, aunque podríamos recordar otras como contra Leónidas Trujillo, Chombe, y contra el Presidente Diem en Vietnam del sur https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3... , durante la administración Kennedy por hablar de alguien más, que no sea Richard Nixon). Con ese elogio a Walter Cronkyte, que no salía muy bien parado en "Sons of Cain" de mi amigo Val Bianco
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... .
Lo bueno la forma en que se extiende la peste por medio de una chica llamada Sarah Dobbs, que contagia a un proxeneta llamado Flash, y al portero Domingo Ortiz (exiliado cubano, y que permite la subtrama cubana en la novela, y hubiera sido mejor la eliminación de esa subtrama). El desastre es provocado porque no se tuvo en cuenta el contacto con el proxeneta. La imagen de los hispanos, y de otras minorías raciales no es mala. Se muestra como la epidemia podría extenderse por la ciudad de Nueva York, y el caos moral en el que se encuentran tanto Estados Unidos, como Nueva York después de la derrota en la guerra del Vietnam, y el Watergate (es raro, que éste declive moral, y espiritual, que sufre Estados Unidos, y sobre todo la ciudad de Nueva York, que hasta la época de Rudolph Giuliani no se recuperó, y ahora parece estar volviendo al caos. En ese grupo por los ghttos, y las rivalidades de las minorías raciales puertorriqueños, afroamericanos, judíos, italianos. Es raro, que no se asocien al hippysmo, y otras corrientes culturales nihilistas, y destructivas, que estaban ya antes, pero, que emergieron en los 60 liberación sexual, legalización del aborto, es el fin del estado de vida americana, se desprecia a los militares de la guerra del Vietnam, emergencia del ecoterrorismo, no se termina de acabar con la mafia, se popularizan los criminales de serie como zodiac, el estrangulador de Bostón, Manson. Es una época para analizar, y desde la destrucción de las Torres gemelas se está asistiendo a un fenómeno parecido con los antifas, el me too, el auge woke y otros movimientos con una profunda carga ideológica, que están polarizando la sociedad americana. En esta novela (el Sha no ha caído) por lo que sospecho que el Presidente es Gerald Ford (el que se pone como una persona muy cortita, y que es fácil de manipular). También te muestra los conflictos raciales de la ciudad con la comunidad puertorriqueña, y afroamericana. Recordándome a "La hoguera de las Vanidades" de Tom Wolfe https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... (de hecho Weinstein me recuerda mucho al alcalde, que salía en la novela del difunto Wolfe, con ese punto de corrección política, y demagogiacontrolado por lobbyes de ideología progresista, que miran más por sus intereses privados, que por los grupos a los que representa). Con un alcalde Weinstein que es muy populachero, y que emplea el viejo truco de no llamar a las cosas por su nombre, para no provocar el caos, y el miedo. Al final hará algo muy parecido a Porfirio Díaz, que es convertir a las bandas en una policía. Es una lástima que Lipskey el primer médico que sale no sea el protagonista (era más interesante que Hart, aunque se equivoqué en el diagnóstico). La forma de describir la convalecencia de Sarah Dobbs recordándome a "La República celular" de Virchow https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2... https://www.goodreads.com/author/show... , o Erase una vez el Cuerpo humano de Albert Barillé https://www.goodreads.com/series/1501.... También es muy interesante la historia de la peste, el daño que ha causado, y el que podría causar en el futuro. Como el estremecedor retorno del Ratus Ratus, que vuelve (aunque sea propagada por la pulga) (la rata norvegicus, que la expulsó en el siglo XVII parece ser que dio una tregua a la humanidad). El final de la peste es lógico. Lo normal es que la peste aparezca, y desaparezca de forma repentina. Cuando enferma Hart la novela se vuelve caótica, y se descontrola, y no me gustaron las burlas de Alan Katz, Dolores Rodríguez, y Hart cuando se pone el alcalde a leer el libro del Apocalipsis. El humor de la novela es escatológico, de muy mal gusto, y roza el sacrilegio. No te voy a contar el final, pero se deja abierto, y con la sensación de que como en las elecciones (en la que todos los partidos políticos tratan de llevarse el mérito de la victoria) a la peste la han ganado todos. Mi nota es (1/5). PD. Un desastre. Ideas sin hechos. Os dejo esta cita del principio, que para mí es lo mejor de la novela. Otras novelas que tratan de la peste "Cristina Hija de Lavrans" de Sigrid Undset https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6... , "Eifelheim" de Michael Flynn https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4... , "Los novios" de Alessandro Manzoni https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5... , "La peste" de Albert Camus https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1... , y la de “Diario del año e la peste” Daniel Defoe https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4....

[Ben Eiynk · Rating 4 out of 5]

The recent bubonic plague deaths in Colorado reminded me of this book... which I really liked. It's from the late 70s, so be prepared for sexism and racism that's possibly shocking to our delicate modern sensibilities. There's probably a lot of smoking in it, too. If you're over 40 yrs old and get a kick out of 'reliving' the 70s, this could be a fun read. Well, 'fun' as a 'millions of people die from a horrible disease' book can be, I suppose.

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little book that was the basis for the movie QUIET KILLER. A little too much emphasis on hospital drama and not enough people hacking their lungs out of the sidewalk, if you ask me. While not Shakespeare, it did give the reader a sense of how easily, and how close to you, the next plague could happen.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

1977. Bubonic Plague in New York. I read this kind of book more to experience New York City in the seventies than for the plot. This one is especially good for the New York-o-phile as the characters are constantly going uptown and back downtown and the author calls out the streets they use frequently and the sights they pass fairly often too. A large section takes place in Central Park. Also a bonus to me was the involvement of street gangs. The Savage Shadows play a sort of vigilante role after the plague has destroyed the functional city. The plot was compelling. The government response to the problem was about as cynical and unhelpful as it could possibly be.

The racial stereotypes of the time period are thoughtlessly upheld by the author. Harlem in especially hard hit by the plague. Undocumented Cubans and Puerto Ricans mostly. One of the first victims however is a flashy black pimp named "Flash". Another black character is a janitor. Jews are in positions of power including the Mayor.

Nevertheless I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable and fast read.

[Julai · Rating 2 out of 5]

If you like rats, fleas, or sexist Puerto Rican jokes, this is the book for you!

[Michele Zoppardo]

RECENSIONE DEL ROMANZO “LA MORTE NERA”
di Gwyneth Cravens e John S.Marr

LA TRAMA
New York, anno 1978. La peste bubbonica si diffonde rapidamente nella megalopoli statunitense, portata da una ragazza che ha contratto l’infezione mentre si trovava in vacanza, probabilmente in seguito a un contatto con un animale selvatico. Il bacillo galoppa, veicolato da pulci e topi. Invade, dapprima i quartieri poveri, per poi diffondersi dovunque. È epidemia. Le autorità sanitarie cercano di arginare come possono il diffondersi della malattia, tentando di individuare e isolare le persone via via contagiate. I medici e gli infermieri sono in prima linea e pagheranno un grave tributo per la loro dedizione. Le autorità politiche e militari, chiuse nelle stanze del potere, discutono di ipotesi complottistiche e di possibilità di attacco da parte del nemico sovietico, data la vulnerabilità della nazione. L’epidemia dilaga e coglie vittime a migliaia. I cadaveri insepolti affollano le corsie degli ospedali, dove il personale sanitario è stato decimato, e le strade. Nella città è il caos; non c’è più legge e dominano le bande che se ne sono impossessate. Il diffondersi dell’infezione va arginato a ogni costo, perché non si può permettere che si estenda al resto del paese. Quale la soluzione? L’intervento della Guardia Nazionale per ristabilire l’ordine e soccorrere la popolazione, come sperano le autorità locali? Oppure una ben più tragica alternativa, fortemente voluta dalle autorità di Washington?
Tra i protagonisti del romanzo spiccano il dottor David Hart, direttore dell’ufficio Prevenzione Malattie del Dipartimento Sanità e Igiene di New York, e Dolores Rodriguez. Hart è un uomo disilluso “ Un tempo Hart s’era dedicato alla salute pubblica, nella convinzione che si potesse cambiare la natura. Adesso non credeva più a niente… Non credere lo aiutava a lavorare più sodo, senza sentimentalismi…”, che si porta dentro un grande dolore per la recente morte della moglie. “Lei era morta e lui era ancora lì. Era medico e non ce l’aveva fatta a guarirla. Adesso odiava la vita ma non sapeva come farla finita”.
Doleres è la bella infermiera di cui Hart si invaghisce “… il suo corpo caldo e pieno, i suoi zigomi da india maya gli fluttuavano nella mente… La bocca era morbida e rossa come un succulento frutto tropicale. Portava i capelli neri e lisci raccolti dietro le orecchie”.
Nell’atmosfera surreale della vicenda, si insinua la loro tenera storia d’amore.

LA RECENSIONE

Un romanzo, scritto nell’anno 1977, tristemente profetico alla luce della tragica emergenza sanitaria che il mondo sta vivendo a causa di un nemico invisibile e micidiale che ha stravolto la nostra esistenza. Una storia che solo un paio di anni fa sarebbe sembrata fantascienza e nella quale oggi, per molti versi, ci riconosciamo.
La scrittura, a quattro mani, scorre liscia come l’olio e le competenze dei due autori, Gwyneth Cravens e John S. Marr, giornalista lei, epidemiologo lui, si armonizzano perfettamente. Il romanzo non è un thriller ma ne assume le cadenze nelle tante circostanze in cui i due autori sanno creare tensione riguardo all’esito di situazioni, più o meno pericolose, in cui i protagonisti, e particolarmente il dottor Hart, si vengono a trovare coinvolti e, sopratutto, nell’attesa angosciosa per la scelta della soluzione finale.

Le mie considerazioni

Le analogie e le differenze tra la vicenda fantastica eppure realistica ( perché è pur vero che la peste bubbonica, a intervalli regolari, ha funestato l’umanità) e l’epidemia di Covid-19 dei nostri giorni, sono evidenti e mi sembra superfluo sottolinearle.
Ciò che è importante rimarcare è il messaggio di speranza nascosto tra le righe del romanzo.
Nella prefazione vengono riportate le parole scritte, nell’anno 1349, da John Clyn, “Frate minore del Convento di Kilkenny”, mentre era in punto di morte a causa “di una pestilenza così contagiosa che chiunque toccasse i malati o i morti era immediatamente infettato e moriva…” Lascio”, scrive il monaco “della pergamena per continuare l’opera nel caso che qualche uomo sopravviva e un rappresentante della razza di Adamo sfugga a questa pestilenza.”
È racchiuso in queste terribili parole il messaggio di speranza, perché i rappresentanti della razza di Adamo sono sopravvissuti a quella come a tante altre catastrofi epocali di ogni tipo che hanno colpito l’umanità da che conosciamo la sua storia e sopravvivranno anche alla peste romanzata del 1978. Sicuramente supereremo anche la pandemia dei nostri giorni, pur lasciando molti morti sul campo, e auguriamoci di poterne uscire migliori di prima.
Michele Zoppardo

[Wouter · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Sarah Dobbs returns from her holiday, she can't wait to see her boyfriend again...unknowingly she will succumb only a few hours after her arrival. Brought into the hospital she is being treated by the doctors, but they haven't gotten a clue what has got to her. It looks like she had a bad trip, E. coli infection, but the pneumonia and hemorrhagic rash tell a different story, or disease.

Meanwhile, for epidemiologist David Hart it looks like a gray day like every other. After his wife died a few months back, his life exists mostly out of work. In his office he gets a call from the lab at the Metropolitan hospital. They have found a unusual bacterium from one of their patients that died from a fatal case of pneumonia, and it is speculated it could be the very infectious disease Yersina pestis.

This page-turner throws you back to a turbulent 70's New York, where Cubans are still seen as a threat at every corner, the garbage strikes makes it for an incredible dirty city and the summer heat of the city can be felt through the pages.

However being from the 70's, the book makes it for an incredible interesting read with the current coronacrisis in mind, as there are quite a few similarities. The underfunded medical staff, a threat of what could be if things would go terribly wrong, the loss of common sense with the ordinary people and the downplay from governmental bodies.

This books reads like a train and will keep you on edge until the last few chapters of the book. The constant thread of everything going wrong without a foreseeable outcome makes it for a gruesome, but exhilarating read. When everything turns to shit and common sense seems to be thrown out of the window by man, how can tables be turned?

One of the books stronger points is the explicit and in-depth descriptions on medical details. I must say I had a lot too look up on and the book would also work without it, but I really appreciate it taking the time investigating into medical knowledge and putting it in the story. It shows the writers are invested in the writing of the book.

Negative points then. Like many thrillers thrillers this book is more about the story and plot and we get to know very little about the characters in the book, making most of them interchangeable decor pieces. And even when characters are getting a little more depth, it often feels characteristic and almost childish. And even our main character David Hart is a bland and stiff. There are a few emotions here and there, but most are only from sexual interests.

In the last few chapters of the book the story takes a turn and becomes almost it's own little version of The Stand, seeing they are published in the same year I wonder where they got their inspiration from...but wile in the former it's part of the story, here it feels like a cop-out for writing an end to the story. The gap between the first half of the book is too much. I am a huge fan of apocalyptic, unsettling books but nah, I'm not buying it here.

I wish I could give it 3 and a half stars, a decent 7, but that is not possible on Goodreads, hence the three stars given.

[Ashley Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve had this book for over ten years. I couldn’t remember much from the first time I read it. It’s from the seventies. There’s sexism and racism but it’s not overt. It’s really descriptive in combination with neighborhoods in New York. The book is still relevant. The heroes in the end are a diverse group of ppl. The media control and the government reactions are horrific and probably as close to real life reactions to a disease outbreak. I found this book because I wanted more info on the Bay of Pigs and the reactions to it. The way they tied in the info of the US taking unsanctioned actions that could be considered war crimes against Cuba and Cubans and then replaying those actions on US soil when citizens were in crisis is the best argument for rebuilding our government as a defensive entity rather than an attacker.

[Saqueador · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nunca lo terminé de leer. Le pongo 2 estrellas sobre lo que leí solamente, es insoportable.

La lectura se hace cuesta arriba, con 600 personajes diferentes, de los q te tiene q comentar desde la vida q tenían de chicos hasta el olor q desprenden. Amigo, no tengo tiempo para esas gilipolleces.

La idea atrapante sobre un apocalipsis se termina evaporando con tanto detalle mundano sobre cualquier cosa (desde el trayecto q el protagonista hace todos los días, hasta las fantasías sexuales q tiene con las mujeres negras).

Tostón absoluto. A la mierda.

[Hannah Mc · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am really interested in anything to do with the Black Plague, even more so now we find ourselves in a pandemic!

This novel starts off quite slowly, has a really fast paced middle and an abrupt ending, I felt a bit like I had whiplash 😂

I really enjoyed the story though, New York City is hit by plague and spreads uncontrollably, our main character races against time to stop it. There is a bit of everything in this book, the only reason I took a star off is because of the ending!

[Lee Rene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although I read this novel decades ago, the crisp writing, tight plot, and terrific pacing stuck with me of the years. The subject is the horror of bubonic plague striking twentieth century New York with no warning. It helped that the co-author was a noted doctor who knew the ins and outs of pandemics. It's a terrific read and worthy of a reprint.

[Tomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Part history, part science...mostly boring.

[Kaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was just okay, the stuff in the actual city was solid but the government stuff got very boring.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the very first novel I had ever picked up and read. The book had sat on my family's hallway bookcase for years and as a child I had always been afraid to even pick it up since it had the picture of a giant rat sitting on top of a city and the fact that it had the words, "Black Death". I must had been 13 when I finally built up enough courage to pick it up and read it. And I must say I was completely taken by surprise to find out it was a really good read and it made me think. Really if a plague were to take place in a major city how would the government react? I hope they don't ever react like they did in the book. Because if they do we're screwed.

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gwyneth Cravens and John S. Marr, The Black Death (Dutton, 1977)

Mediocre disaster-of-the-week novel about (unsurprisingly) an outbreak of the Bubonic Plague in New York City. Relatively readable for a seventies thriller novel of its type, but the casual sexism and racism is far more shocking today than the actual subject matter. Still, if you're into the literary version of the disease-of-the-week TV movies of the seventies, there are certainly worse ways to pass the time than this. ** ½

[Jezza · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's really vague in the beginning but as I continued I understood more of it. Imagine if we were going through the Black Death now, in 2012, and that the Earth is going to last until 3000. Lots of people would die, everything would be in chaos. Be grateful for the things you have now, before it's gone.

[Nik · Rating 4 out of 5]

A girl on a bus seems to have the flu instead she carries with her the possibility of destroying a nation.
I read this book ages ago before all the movies came out about plagues in modern times and was truely captured by the concept.
Great story, great concept and a great read. I loved it!

[Charles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book about a modern day return of the plague. This is almost a subgenre of its own.

[Luigi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its been a long time since I read this, but I remember it being a good read.

[mart · Rating 4 out of 5]

This reads like one of the old made for tv movies from the '70s and '80s!

[Patri]

Gwyneth Cravens, John S Marr

[Robert Fontenot · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I love a disaster book, this one goes from zero to anarchy way too fast for believability.

[Mirjam]

Pros: good writing
Cons: racism