The old Woody Allen joke applies: “I liked your earlier funnier stuff”. I loved Six Bad Things. I really liked the other two in the trilogy. I really liked his other three novels, and I even thought his vampire novel was pretty good (I only read one though). This one, not so much. Clearly he wants to stretch as an artiste, so no blame there. The story is a picture of near-but-not-quite apocalypse, with violence and zombies (sort of). Sounds good, but the tone is introspective and languid rather than loose and hectic as one may have come to expect from Huston. This is a futuristic crime thriller depicting an America that is under martial law and in the midst of a pandemic: an incurable form of insomnia is afflicting -at the very least- ten percent of the world's population."Sleeplessness" as it is called leads to an inevitable and- after months of suffering- painful death.This novel is set in Los Angeles and alternates between third and first person narratives.The third person narrative details the personal and professional life of Parker Haas -an idealistic young LAPD cop who has gone deep-cover in a drug sting operation and whose wife is nearing the final stages "sleeplessness".The first person narrative is told from the point of a view of a mysterious, aging mercenary eventually referred to simply as "Jasper".The description of life as it is in this near-future America and Huston's in-depth exposition on the origins of the sleeplessness plague and his descriptions of the symptoms and physical and mental devastation that the disease wreaks on its victims are riveting.The world of on-line gaming figures into the plot prominently but as a non-gamer the less I comment on this aspect of the novel the better for all of us -gamer and non-gamer alike. What I will comment on is Huston's masterful way of describing gaming without embarrassing the total hell out of a non-gamer like me with over-the-top geekishness.This is a fascinating and exciting thriller and unlike anything else I've read by Charlie Huston.It is -like every other Huston crime thriller that I've read- excellent.
What do You think about Die Plage (2010)?
This was an interesting, well-written, and unique book. I would highly recommend this author
—Cierra
Standard Huston, but very entertaining. Can be read in 1 sitting.
—sarahbquigley
