The Deep Zone [with Bonus Short Story Lethal Expedition] (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
The main character is athletic, an expert scuba diver and cave explorer, beautiful, and a brilliant microbiologist. Hey, so what! It's a great summer romp!Hallie Leland is the only person who can save the world from an epidemic worse than the black plague and more lethal than Ebola. I happened to read this story as an Ebola outbreak in Africa is threatening to become pandemic. (About 1,000 victims so far...) Perhaps this made the story a little more relevant than it would have been otherwise.Hallie is fighting for her life for most of the book as she evades nature's worst dangers and more malevolent forces even among her trusted friends as she bravely risks everything to find a cure for the ACE (Acinetobacter baumanii) epidemic and save the world.While I admit that it is gratifying to find a strong, capable woman in the lead role (yes, I am a long-time Modesty Blaise fan), one must really stretch one's imagination to think that all those desirable attributes could be found in any single human package. If I were prone to nitpick (and, really, aren't we all?), I would complain that the author resorts to a love connection with the two central characters to spice things up. I can enjoy a good romance (e.g. Max Guevara and Logan Cale), but this one just seemed to detract from the main action without much justification. WOW oh Wow.This was an incredible read. The start was a little slow but once I got into the swing of the story I was utterly captivated and frequently horrified by the goings on in this high action adventure.I loved the character Hallie Leland, she was awesome and appears to have more lives than the proverbial cat. I also was delighted by the romantic element that wound its way through the latter half of the novel, it was beautifully done.This story is essentially about an antibiotic resistant bacteria that threatens to become a pandemic. Yet it is also a story of captitalism at its worst, greed, lies and betrayal, yet is also filled with hope, determination, friendship and faith as well.A warning there are some violent and gross scenes that may disturb some readers.Still, I loved this book. I really did, and if you want to read something that leaves you frantically turning pages, whilst offering plenty of food for reflective thought, then it's a must read for you.
What do You think about The Deep Zone [with Bonus Short Story Lethal Expedition] (2013)?
The book was ok, but not outstanding. This is a debut novel and the author shows great promise.
—lexie17
This was a very good book. Couldn't put it down. It will definitely be one I'll read again.
—dylanhanke
I couldn't put the book down, it has deep caves and a thrilling plot.
—Mute
Excellent mix of medical thriller and adventure.
—ayumi_kim
