Infectious

[altariel]

I finished the post-9/11 spy thriller Due Preparations for the Plague by Janette Turner Hospital last night, and it depressed me and gave me slight nightmares. I was really very impressed with it - particularly the pace of it and its ambitions - although I was left uncertain about the fate of two characters (intentionally ambivalent, I think), and also I thought the end was a bit artificial. But very effective despite this; I have had to read some Alexander McCall Smith No 1. Ladies' Detective Agency books to get me back out of the rather bleak mental place it put me into.

Comments

[the-wild-iris.livejournal.com]

It always seems hard for the ending of any suspense-type novel to live up to its build-up - perhaps the reader's imagination gets too much play in between - so it must be a pretty excellent book if it impressed you nonetheless. Better than Pestilence, anyway :)

[altariel.livejournal.com]

The bit where the suspense plays out is actually one of the best bits of the book; she's quite cunning in the way she structures this so that you can't guess what's going to happen to the characters at this point (although I cheated and flipped ahead). And she makes very good use of flashbacks. The artificiality came in having a link made between two characters at the end which doesn't seem to add anything to her themes - unless I've missed something obvious (distinct possibility).

I think I've managed to get away without spoiling anything here, should you ever choose to read it...!

Pestilence... *shivers*