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384 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 24, 2010
Coldplay--the most innocuous band since Al Stewart. It wasn't bad music, it was just so aggressively vanilla that blandness was the only objection you could make about it: music as plain, boiled oatmeal. It probably kept you regular.My reaction to this was:
Matt’s blue eyes shifted nervously between Roan and him, as if he knew he didn’t have a shot in hell at this, but he was far too committed to back out now. (Also known as the Iraq war strategy.)Roan is like a
First, I have to admit that I’ve just finished reading the 8th and final book of the Infected series and I decided that I just had to step back and write a review of the first book. Why? To encourage everyone to invest the time and read the series.
The were-cat virus appeared out of no where. For three or four days every four weeks, the infected transform into a big cat. If you’re infected young enough and you’re strong enough your body might be able to endure the stress of the transformation but you’re not expected to live past 30 years of age. If you’re over 30 when you get infected that first set of transformations will most likely kill you.
Ex-cop Roan McKichan works as a private detective trying to solve crimes involving other infecteds. Born infected with the lion-strain Roan has a unique view of the virus that for those infected is basically a death sentence.
Andrea Speed has created a fascinating world, where Roan and his tiger-strain infected partner, Paris, work to solve cases in a world that either hates and fears their kind or worships them.
Infected: Prey is one of the best books I have ever read. I instantly became invested in the characters. Their reactions to a world dealing with the spread of the were-cat virus are completely believable. There are hate groups that want to round up all infected and quarantine them. Even a cult leader that encourages teenagers to become infected because it’s the next step in human evolution. Despite how crazy all that sounds, in the world of the were-cat virus, you know that would actually happen.
If you finish this first book and don’t immediately reach for the second, I’ll be shocked. I know I did. As I progressed through all eight books of the series, I just got more and more invested in the characters. This world really sucked me in and I loved it. Definitely one of my favorite series and I know that at some point in the not to distant future I’ll have to re-read it.
For those who see that this is a gay themed series and say, “no thanks,” please reconsider. If you pass this series by simple because of that you’ll miss out on a great story. The main character Roan is of course gay but he’s also infected which is what the story is about. Obviously, other characters in the book are also gay, but there are also, bi, straight and even an asexual character. I never found the books to be “in your face” regarding the whole gay theme. If nothing else I think the series gives those with little or no contact with the issues surrounding being gay, a better understanding of the challenges it presents. But most importantly, Andrea Speed, has proven that a series of books doesn’t have to be set in the cookie cutter world of the heterosexual to be great.
My ratings for the eight main books in this series ranged from four to mostly five stars. The whole series rates a firm five stars. Have you ever finished a series and realized you’re going through a brief grieving process because you know there won’t be anymore books to read? Well, that’s how I felt after finishing Infected: Epitaph. It’s a great series of books and I highly recommend it to all readers age 14 and up.