Pandemic: Beginnings

The Pandemic Series, Book 1

By: Bobby Akart

Narrated by: John David Farrell, Kris Adams

They attack with impunity, and without prejudice.

Their goal - to destroy you, from within.

A merciless enemy, just one-billionth our size.

Welcome to the next global war.

A new dystopian, post-apocalyptic fiction series from author Bobby Akart (the Blackout Series, the Boston Brahmin series, and the Prepping for Tomorrow series). The events depicted in the Pandemic Series are fictional. They are, however, based upon historical fact.

Beginnings:

Terrorists kidnap and blackmail a young French scientist in Western Africa. The outbreak of an ancient disease kills everyone in a village located in a remote jungle of Guatemala. US government operatives uncover a secret biological laboratory in Trinidad. An isolated death at the hands of this killer virus is discovered in Greece.

Is there a connection, or are these simply a string of coincidences?

Dr. Mackenzie Hagan, a highly-educated, well-respected epidemiologist at the CDC-Atlanta, is called to Guatemala. As the daughter of a retired commanding general of the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Mac often says infectious disease is in her blood. While no infectious disease outbreak is routine, this particular hot zone in Guatemala has its own set of complications - including a mysterious operative sent there by the Department of Defense. Events unfold and Mac is sent around the world investigating new cases involving this same, rare disease.

Nathan Hunter, a covert operative within an off-the-books project for the DOD, tracks down terrorists before they strike. As Hunter unravels a villainous plot with tentacles spanning the globe, his investigative path crosses with Mac's. Was it fate, or something else? Mac and Hunter work together to analyze the disease and to identify the source. But they soon learn that the biggest challenge they'll face is right at home.

©2017 Bobby Akart Inc. (P)2017 Bobby Akart Inc.

Horrible narrator

good story but had to stop audio and read myself. Disappointed, hope author doesn't use in next one or I probably won't bother.

Not a bad plot but pretty terrible writing and performance

The use of two narrators was just weird. I couldn't stop visualizing a live action video game where lines are read off during some unskippable dialogue. It was just weird. Plus the writing itself was pretty bad. I think my favorite line was this ridiculous simile that went like "Hunter moved to mac's side of the table faster than a vampire on True Blood " ???? What? What IS that? Also was the romance even necessary as a sub plot. It was so cringey I physically grimaced listening to it.

The overall idea of a bioterroist attack is good, the plot had potential, but the dual narrators was awkward and strange and God the writing was terrible.

Utterly Terrifying and Incredibly Enjoyable

I'm going to add a disclaimer to this review.  I LOVE Medical Thrillers/Bio-Thrillers.  I've taken a liking to them ever since reading Michael Crichton as a kid, and then Richard Preston as a teenager.  My fiction and non-fiction reading trajectory was paved with Medical Thrillers.  Because of this, I was genuinely worried that one of my favorite authors was going to let me down by writing a book about a potential outbreak and not do his research. I have never been happier to be wrong in my life. Akart was able to write a book that is both utterly terrifying and incredibly enjoyable at the same time.  I didn't even think that was a possibility.

With my disclaimer at the beginning, if you're not a bio-thriller or medical thriller fan (Robin Cook, Richard Preston, Michael Crichton, etc), you could still enjoy this book.  This book, in particular, didn't go too "sciencey" making it unapproachable for the average reader (or even just an Akart fan from his other two series).  It's a thriller where one of the main worries is a contagious and incredibly deadly disease. So it's action/thriller first and medical/bio second.  

But, knowing that Akart was writing this series had me waiting with bated breath until it was released on audio.  Then, I found out that he was going to use a dual narration for it.  My excitement level (which was already high) skyrocketed.  Usually, when that happens, the book is just okay, or average since I want it to be so good, I'm usually harder on it.  But, as I said above -- I shouldn't have doubted Akart, he absolutely knocked this book out of the park.  

Pandemic: Beginnings is a brilliant book that combines basically every aspect of a good thriller with great main characters and throws it into a washing machine with terrorism, bio-weapons, and diseases.  Turns it on "heavy soiled" and lets it go.  What comes out is a perfect mixture of all the best aspects of what I mentioned above and the ability to scare the heck out of a reader.  Seriously, shake someone's hand after reading this... I dare you.

"Mac" the doctor in this was a great main character who is both powerful and smart.  A great combination for a female protagonist.  She was also really funny and a few time when I wasn't scared for my life, Mac had me cracking up with the way that she thought of or approached things.  

Akart, who didn't set out to be a Medical Thriller author has written a book that will stick with me for a long time.  Easily comparable to Crichton, Cook, and Preston as one of my top bio-thriller books I've ever read.  And the best part is that he's just getting started.  I hope that what follows in this series will follow some of the same blueprints that he's already laid out in Beginnings. 

The dual narration was interesting.  I've heard this done well and terribly.  This was right in the middle.  In the beginning, I was worried because the female narration parts are only for talking parts.  Mac's internal thoughts were still narrated by Farrell.  At first, this really bugged me.  It just didn't seem to make any sense why it would work that way, but as I continued in the book and listening to it intently, I noticed that it didn't bother me anymore.  It made a little more sense.  Farrell is the main narrator who will give most of the talking parts, internal monologues, and "stage direction" (scene setting and stuff like this) while Adams (who has an AWESOME voice) will voice any female directly spoken parts.  It worked better than I first thought it would and honestly it made this book fly by.

I received a free copy of this book. It has not affected my review of my opinion.

If you enjoyed this review, please vote for it! Every vote helps. If you'd like to see more books like this please check out BriansBookBlog DOT com.

Awesome Team

Makenzie Hagan a doctor with the CDC, Nathan Hunter a officer with a special unit of the DOD, keep crossing paths until a spark flies, actually more than one spark, but they finally figure out they are working on the same case but in different ways. It seems her outbreak and his terrorist are linked but now the race is on to save the worlds population, and their selves.

This is a awesome book that is very entertaining but can also make you think if you are so inclined, and if you do will you still do the same things you have always done? Do you still shake hands, take your neighbors soup when they are sick with the flu, or even wipe your kids nose? Do you start stock piling water and food in a shelter, or just take things as they come? This book is well researched, action packed, and suspenseful right up until the end where you can't help but rush for the next to see what happens.

I had the audio version with narrators John David Ferrell and Kris Adams who tag teamed the male and female roles and brought the book alive, they were great, they made you part of the team like you were there with the guys helping them, providing cover, running tests, doing what needs to be done. And it was these fine narrators teamed with a really good author that made that possible.

A great read!

The book is wonderfully narrated and contains enough real-world perspective to make one sit up and take notice of the possibilities.

Amazing...

Can't wait until volume 2 comes out in audible... Love the characters, especially Max and Hunt... Excitement for the next part of the story line... Thank you

slow start

Got all the books in this series; First listened to October 2018. When I listened again in June 2020, stopped after 4 hours. I redid my rating

another great Bobby Akart series

if you have never had the chance to read a Bobby Akart story you do not know the Great Joy a fantastic well-written intellectual series can be

another great story

An excellent and timely story. Recommended reading for all. Best to read it now instead of waiting for later.

almost too realistic

wonderful book. just enough technical verbiage to be informative... a real page turner as it were