Publisher: Katherine Tegan Books
Publish Date: April 5th, 2011
Source: Purchased
Goodreads

Rating: 4/5 Flying Snakes

Synopsis: It’s been eight months since all the adults disappeared. GONE.

They’ve survived hunger. They’ve survived lies. But the stakes keep rising, and the dystopian horror keeps building. Yet despite the simmering unrest left behind by so many battles, power struggles, and angry divides, there is a momentary calm in Perdido Beach.

But enemies in the FAYZ don’t just fade away, and in the quiet, deadly things are stirring, mutating, and finding their way free. The Darkness has found its way into the mind of its Nemesis at last and is controlling it through a haze of delirium and confusion. A highly contagious, fatal illness spreads at an alarming rate. Sinister, predatory insects terrorize Perdido Beach. And Sam, Astrid, Diana, and Caine are plagued by a growing doubt that they’ll escape – or even survive – life in the FAYZ. With so much turmoil surrounding them, what desperate choices will they make when it comes to saving themselves and those they love?

Plague, Michale Grant’s fourth book in the bestselling Gone series, will satisfy dystopian fans of all ages. -Goodreads

Review: Michael Grant does it again. During the same time frame I was reading Plague, I was also reading a zombie apocalypse book and Michael Grant’s story was easily 3x as dark. Things in the FAYZ are still looking pretty grim, and baddies that seemed to have been taken care of are back with a vengeance. As usual Sam is doing his best and resenting every minute of it, Astrid is contemplating this, that and Little Pete, and everyone else is just trying to survive, except Caine who is living large on a fancy island.

Right away things seem to go from bad to worse and that pattern keeps going until the point where you’re not sure everything could possible get resolved by the end of the book. Throughout this entire series there is very little reprieve which can make these books emotionally exhausting to read and Plague is no exception. Obviously the main focus of the book is the deadly flu that is sweeping it’s way through the FAYZ. Kids are literally coughing their lungs out and there is no way to stop it. I actually read it while I had a chest infection which made me feel super warm and fuzzy inside.

Even beyond that of previous books, the imagery of the abominations evolving throughout the book reached a new peak of grotesque. I kind of wish I could experience reading this book as a thirteen year old boy, no doubt I would love it that much more. For me, it’s all just pretty disturbing and adds a lot to an already bleak situation. Just think about little mouths that grow out of your skin before turning into full grown insects that climb out of your body. Ooo, boy.

The character collection is pretty much the same as past books with only one new addition (who has a really cool power!) and the whole cast continues to come together in fantastic ways to shape a plot arc you can never really see coming. There is always a lot, a lot going on but there’s no question the author has a plan and everything will explode in a cloud of awesomeness at the end of the book.

This series is killer, and I love that I’m not quite caught up yet. I’m insanely excited to read Fear but will probably wait a bit so I can pace myself before the last book in the series (Light) comes out. If you haven’t read these books yet, I very much recommend you give it a go. Michael Grant has a great imagination that everyone should experience.

Buy Plague
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Second Opinions:
@The Book Smugglers 
@The Random Geek Blog
@Owen’s Book Blog