Patient Zero: A Joe Ledger Novel

Jonathan Maberry

Mar 2009 · Joe Ledger Book 1 · Sold by St. Martin's Griffin

About this ebook

When you have to kill the same terrorist twice in one week there's either something wrong with your world or something wrong with your skills... and there's nothing wrong with Joe Ledger's skills. And that's both a good, and a bad thing. It's good because he's a Baltimore detective that has just been secretly recruited by the government to lead a new taskforce created to deal with the problems that Homeland Security can't handle. This rapid response group is called the Department of Military Sciences or the DMS for short. It's bad because his first mission is to help stop a group of terrorists from releasing a dreadful bio-weapon that can turn ordinary people into zombies. The fate of the world hangs in the balance....

Ratings and reviews

Wow! This was very different from the Pine Deep Trilogy (_Ghost Road Blues_, etc.), but very good in its own way. Definitely an action-packed book, in places this reminded me of a more serious version of _Get Smart_ (though the DMS seems to be a lot more effective than Control), mainly because of the role of the mysterious but still paternal Chief (in this case he is called Chuch). I don't usually enjoy political, techno-thrillers, but I certainly like this book. I am excited that this is the start of a whole new series to follow, and I especially relieved to have the sequel already. Maberry is a talented storyteller, with a knack for both characters and pacing. While the plot's turns were largely predictable, it was so filled with excitement, that it hardly mattered that you were waiting for the main characters to catch up to your knowledge. All in all, this was a riveting read!

I found it to be a real descent page turner. Mostly due to the fact that I have a little bit of a thing for zombie based plots, even still I think people who like the genera will get a kick out of it.

I got this book from my school library to read on the plane ride home for Thanksgiving break. It was only a 3 hour flight, but I read the entire time. I couldn't put the book down. I didn't even get to read it on my flight back because I had already finished it over the few days I was home even though I had spent most of my time with family not reading. I'm not a normal zombie book or movie person so maybe my standards are lower, but I thought the story was very interesting and fast-paced. It definitely has my recommendation.

About the author

Jonathan Maberry is the multiple Bram Stoker Award-winning author of The King of Plagues, The Dragon Factory, Ghost Road Blues and Rot & Ruin, among others. He also wrote the novelization of the movie The Wolfman. His work for Marvel Comics includes Captain America, Punisher, Wolverine, DoomWar, Marvel Zombie Return and Black Panther. His Joe Ledger series has been optioned for TV by Sony Pictures. He has been inducted into the International Martial Arts Hall of Fame.