So I sat down to read this without realizing it was the third in a trilogy. Enjoyed the opening so much I went back and purchased the first two and then read all three. A good mix of action and medicine.

A bit too long and not as much fun as the first two books in the trilogy. ( )

Pandemic's the final in a trilogy of books including Infected & Contagious

Despite the 6 year gap from start to finish Pandemic is every bit as good as the first two books, this, without a doubt, has to be one of the best multiple book story lines I've ever read. Each book in its own right has been outstanding and the plot arc across the lot is likewise outstanding.

If you haven't read any Sigler, do yourself a favour and order the first book, Infected. You can pickup secondhand first edition hardcovers for under $10 and they're well worth the money as you'll be wanting to read it again no doubt! ( )

Pandemic by Scott Sigler is the third and final book in his Infected trilogy. This is a satisfying, highly recommended conclusion to the science fiction/horror series started in Infected and Contagious.

After the first two books I wasn't sure exactly what direction Sigler could possibly take to bring this series to a conclusion. Although Sigler has a prologue to summarize the story so far for readers it doesn't really do justice to everything we've all been through to reach this point. I never would have guessed the events in Pandemic. If you've read the first two you know you will be reading this one. If you haven't read the first two, then you'll need to get started now.

Not wanting to spoil the story for anyone, it's safe to say that the alien threat is not quite over and Doctor Margaret Montoya is being called back into action to serve her country. The real question is if she is up for the task. Her marriage may be ending and she's frozen in a depression, obsessively checking out social media for negative comments about her previous actions. She has saved the world once already but may not be up to the new threat.

Sigler understands social media and his astute choice to include it in his novel gives Pandemic a cutting edge, up-to-date feel that can sometimes be lacking in new releases set in present times. There is one hole is this final novel of the series and that is a main character that we love. There simply wasn't a character to take the place of Perry Dawsey and Dew Phillips - although Tim Feely came close. The narrative is told from the point of view of several different characters, but it was easy to keep track of who was who. Mostly it is all about the strategic maneuvers, confrontations, and violent conflicts this time around.

Be forewarned that there is a lot of blood and guts and language and horrific actions here so the series is not for the squeamish or the faint of heart. If you can't get through the opening pages (which has a young crew member cauterizing the end of her cut off arm with a blow torch) then it is best to not continue.

Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Crown Publishing for review purposes. ( )

I don't know why more people don't read Sigler. This trilogy [Infected/Contagious/Pandemic] is a brilliant take on alien invasion fiction, and aside from the "Wool" trilogy, it's the best horror I've read in the past ten years. I wasn't sure what to expect from this finale, since there were plenty of high stakes and murderous mayhem in the first two books. But this one is about nothing less than a desperate group of people vs. the extinction of humankind. It's a page-turner, with several plot twists I didn't expect. There's no way to guess who will live and who will die, but there are definitely people to root for. When the **** hits the fan, the characters I expected to be cannon fodder or bad guys turned out to be heroes. And one character whom I was certain would be a hero ended up ... well, quite the opposite. I love the way Sigler plays with reader expectations. And those former-humans-turned-monsters are, once again, creative and totally memorable. ( )