Plague War
Authors: Jeff Carlson
Plague War
Plague
Book II
Jeff Carlson
Synopsis
Researcher Ruth Goldman has developed a vaccine with the potential to inoculate the world's survivors against the nanotech plague that devastated humanity. But the fractured U.S. government will stop at nothing to keep it for themselves.
Advance Praise for
PLAGUE WAR
“A breakneck ride through one of the most deadly—and thrilling—futures imagined in years. Jeff Carlson has the juice!”
—Sean Williams,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Earth Ascendant
Praise for
PLAGUE YEAR
“An epic of apocalyptic ‚ction: harrowing, heartfelt, and rock-hard realistic. Not to be missed.”
—James Rollins,
New York Times
bestselling author of
The Last Oracle
“Unlike anything I’ve read before.”
—Kevin J. Anderson,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Metal Swarm
“Frightening, plausible, and action-packed. One of the best debut novels in years.”
—David Brin,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Sky Horizon
“Jeff Carlson debuts boldly and strongly, providing a thrilling, fast-paced novel that’s sure to be gulped down in a single sitting by avid readers.”
—Paul Di Filippo,
Sci Fi Weekly
“
Plague Year
proposes a frightening new nanotech catastrophe and uses it as a crucible to explore the best and worst of human nature. Tightly written and well-told.”
—Robert Charles Wilson, Hugo Award–winning author of
Axis
“
Plague Year
is exactly the kind of no-holds-barred escapist thriller you would hope any book with that title would be. Jeff Carlson’s gripping debut is kind of like
Blood Music
meets
The Hot Zone
. It might also remind some readers of Stephen King’s
The Stand
. . . He keeps the action in ‚fth gear throughout.”
—SF Reviews.net
“This is a book and an author I’m very excited about. [
Plague Year
] is gruesome, dramatic, and exhilarating.”
—Lou Anders, Hugo Award–nominated editor of
Fast Forward 1
“An engrossing story that pulls the reader in quickly. If you’re looking for a good science ‚ction read that’ll make you think, fret, and hope for intelligence in the future, this is a good book.”
—
SFScope
“Jeff Carlson is a terri‚c writer, and
Plague Year
is a marvelous book full of memorable characters, white-knuckle scenes, and big ideas. Get in on the ground †oor with this exciting new author.”
—Robert J. Sawyer, national bestselling author of
Rollback
“Unique. I look forward to seeing what he comes up with next.”
—
Bookgasm
“There is considerable talent at work here.”
—Don D’Ammassa,
Critical Mass
“Carlson has crafted an exceptional, gripping debut that exposes the worst and best of humanity while maintaining a constant tension level that will keep the pages turning to the very end. The personal and political machinations are credible, the characters are well-developed, and the climax satisfying. This apocalyptic view of nanotechnology provides plenty to think about.”
—
Monsters and Critics
“
Plague Year
is a masterful debut novel that has me putting Jeff Carlson on my must-read list without a second thought... Carlson’s character development is meticulous, with believable characters alert to all the nuances of human behavior. Please, sir, send more!”
—
SFRevu
“The fascination with
Plague Year
is how fast humanity becomes beasts with survival all that matters. Exciting.”
—
Midwest Book Review
“Carlson’s debut grips the reader from its opening sentence. A strong, character-driven tale, it contrasts people’s heroic side with their basest instincts. Delving into fears regarding technology, weapons of mass destruction, and political intrigue, this book is both chilling and timely.” —
Romantic Times Book Reviews
PLAGUE WAR
JEFF CARLSON
Copyright
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
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This is a work of ‚ction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used ‚ctitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
PLAGUE WAR
An Ace Book / published by arrangement with the author
Copyright © 2008 by Jeff Carlson.
Maps by Meghan Mahler.
Interior text design by Laura K. Corless.
ISBN: 1-4362-4416-1
All rights reserved.
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Ace Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
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This one is for her, too.
North American Combat Theater
Central Colorado
Ruth kicked her way through another tangle of bones, stumbling when her boot caught in a fractured chunk of ribs and vertebrae. Interstate 80 was a graveyard. Thousands of cars packed every mile of the wide road, each one full of slumping ghosts— each one pointing east.
Always east, toward the mountains.
Ruth hiked in the same direction, huf‚ng for air against her face mask. Her movements were less like walking than dancing. She lunged and sidestepped through the wreckage, because many people had also continued on foot as far as they were able. Everywhere their skeletons huddled among endless garbage. Some still held boxes or bags or rags or jewelry. Most had gathered in clumps wherever the standstill traf‚c pinched too closely together, blocking the way.
Each step was made more dif‚cult by her broken left arm. The cast affected her balance. Worse, she never wanted to look down. The skulls were a silent crowd. Ruth tried to avoid their gaping eyes, so she blinked constantly and glanced sideways and up as she walked, letting her gaze move like a pinball. In three days, that dizzy feeling had become normal. Ruth barely remembered anything else. It helped that she always had Cam in front of her and Newcombe behind, walking single ‚le through the ruins. The steady clumping sound of the men’s bootsteps were markers for her to follow.
Then they came to a clot of vehicles that had burned and exploded, throwing doors and bodies into the confusion. The spaces in between the cars were thick with splintered bones, steel, and glass.
Cam stopped. “We need to try something else,” he said, turning his head from the raised Interstate toward the neat, sprawling grid of the city below. All three of them were wrapped in goggles and face masks, so Ruth couldn’t tell exactly where he was looking, but the streets were even worse in the downtown areas. The neat lines of the city were deceptive, full of traps and dead ends. The carnage was unimaginable. The human debris ‚lled hundreds of square miles just here in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, mixed with dogs and birds and every other warm-blooded species.
“This way,” Newcombe said, pointing past the blackened cars to the downward slope of the shoulder.
Ruth shook her head. “We’d be better off pushing through.” Several drivers had tried to escape by ramming the guardrail, only to overturn on the hill below. She didn’t want to start an avalanche of cars.
“She’s right,” Cam said. “We’ll just take it slow.”