Year Zero
by Jeff Long

List Price: $7.99
Our Price: $2.99
You Save: $5.00 (63%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.01 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions

Book Summary Information

Book Reviews of Year Zero

Book Review: No Zero
Summary: 4 Stars

But that's only a small portion of this entertaining thriller, part adventure, part science fiction, part post-apocalyptic nightmare. It's primarily about a two-millenia-old virus unleashed upon an unsuspecting world, and its effect and aftermath.

Ho hum. Been there, done that. It was already old news when Stephen King did it with the "The Stand" (though he did it masterfully), and was appalling when Robert R. McCammon produced the carbon copy "Swan Song". So what else is there to say?

Not much, I'm afraid. I was drawn to "Year Zero" for two reasons: the cloning element, in which the scientists on the trail of the virus clone men who may have been carriers of the original virus in order to search for antibodies, and the writing - Long had impressed me a great deal with his earlier novel.

We are introduced to idealist archaeologist Nathan Lee Swift and his greedy mentor David Ochs after a devastating earthquake in Jerusalem. Because he is married to Ochs' sister, Nathan Lee reluctantly allows himself to be induced into a looting a mass grave uncovered by the quake. Later, Ochs frames Nathan Lee for murder, landing him in a Tibetan jail. When the virus breaks loose, Nathan Lee risks life and limb to get back to the United States and his estranged wife and daughter.

It took a long time for this novel to capture me. The opening adventure scenes were interesting enough, but nothing special, and the account of the virus's movement across the globe was no better than a hundred King imitators. It wasn't until a scene between young scientist Miranda Abbott and Nathan lee, in which each tries to reveal enough to seduce the other without allowing himself to become too vulnerable, that I really felt I was reading about real people and began to care about the outcome.

I was also interested in the Year Zero clones, a group of resurrected condemned men, reborn with their memories intact and no knowledge of the past 2000 years. Author Long imagines their reactions and presents them thoughtfully and carefully. Things go well until Ochs reappears and causes more grief for Nathan Lee and Miranda.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. Certainly, it has its flaws and the author is working in a genre that has been played to death, but he manages to bring some fresh ideas and tell a good story, too. If you're looking for a good beach book that will hold your interest and won't overtax your cranium, I can recommend "Year Zero".

Literature & Fiction Books

• Mystery & Thrillers
• Science Fiction & Fantasy