Rating: 
Summary: Great thriller because it is possible!
Review: Everyone knows how easy it is to find things on the Internet nowdays like how to make a bomb. Obviously this is a big problem since we have so many young men using the Net as a means to hurt others. The authors of this book put in a little blurb in the forward that they changed things around so as not to provide the wackos out there with the means of doing the kind of seriously scary things that the 'bad' person in this story was pulling off. Unfortunately, it wouldn't take much for someone to read this book and correct the sometimes obvious mistakes they made to cover their tracks...it is all too easily available on the Net now. I enjoy books by those who have some idea of what they are talking about, but I always worry that they will give someone who is on the verge of psychological illness the push he/she needs to take their perceived problems to the next step. Like a couple of other reviewers, I noticed some inconsistencies in the writing...which I wasn't sure if that was bad proofreading, or done on purpose to throw someone off. The plot was great and plausible, character development needed work, and the inconsistencies should have been spotted before printing. Since this was a first book, and there is obviously going to be a sequel...maybe they can fix these problems before they get to the next one. Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh, klsst23@pitt.edu
Rating: 
Summary: Worth reading despite its shortcomings
Review: When the first two pages had the dates of a Sunday event and the preceding weekdays mismatched, I had forebodings of plodding through another poorly edited book, but it was interesting for the various scenarios. Now John Case has a book so similar in plot that I have to wonder what went on. The John Case book has fewer gee-whiz facts, but is more compelling reading. If you've time, read both!
Rating:
Summary: Bible-plague-mold-oh, my!
Review: I had just finished reading an article in the paper about how mold can be DEADLY! Right, the deadly MOLD! And then I started reading "The 11th Plague." Wow, this book made me realize how many deadly viruses, molds, etc. are out there. I'm sure that the authors were totally on target as to the killer viruses, molds, bacteria, and everything else that can kill us. It wasn't even a Biblical read. It became an up-to-the-minute testament of how nature can affect us. I was totally engrossed. I think we need to examine these killers more closely. Made me think twice!
Rating: 
Summary: LMPG
Review: This was an exceptional book it was put together in a manner to keep you wanting more. From my standpoint this book was very good and it is comparable to The Hot Zone (another great read). The ideas were well thought out and it was not incredibly hard to read. For example the last paragraph of the book reads,"Dr. John Bryne didnt need 'LMPG'(Le My People Go)on the screen to understand that the Eleventh Plague was still to come. He realized he was now about to battle with a dead man." I would definetly reccomend this book to any one who likes to think.
Rating:
Summary: The best book for everyone who likes to read
Review: When we read books they can sometimes be filled with made up facts and not so real outcomes. Some books are full of nothing but boring facts and words that we can not pronounce. This is not the case for The Eleventh Plauge. John Baldwin does an excellent job incorporating the facts that the obviously highly intelligent Dr. John S. Marr gives. All the while the reader learns while they enjoy the insight into the mind of a diabolical serial killer. What makes The Eleventh Plauge so interesting is the reality of it all. John Baldwin and Dr. Marr make it seem so possibile for this to really happen. We live in a society where if a person is fired from their job they may decide to kill their boss or former co-workers. What makes it so scary is that it could really happen. The toxins are there. They always have been. This is proven by the biblical twist. I found the incorporation of the Book of Exodus to be the b and end all for the book. It gave it such reality. We have all heard of the child who was instilled with such strong Christian beliefs that it actually turned them into someone sinnful and capable of heinous crimes. I enjoyed the way the author chose to build his storyline into the book. In many novels it always ends up that the lead character hooks up with the girl. Here, we have a situation where the lead character, Jack Bryne, does not let the attractive woman get the better of him, even though we are aware of the past sexual tension between them. It was intriging to see what would happen next, not only with the plauges but with Jack and his past and personal agenda. Jack, like the book, is not the stereotypical lead character who has not experienced loss, pain and the realities of life. It makes it very easy for the reader to relate to Jack as a human caught inbetween personal life and work. I enjoyed every bit of The Eleventh Plauge. I especially enjoyed the way that the biblical, medical and storyline portions were all tied in. I thought it was a very interesting book that made you think everytime you put it down (although that was not often). Definitely a book the mystery,science-fiction and all-a-round book lover would enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: Insulting Dreck
Review: Despite an interesting premise, the writing itself in this book is the worst that I've ever read. Example: Three little girls have their balloons tied to their wrists so that they won't lose them to the "troposphere". Thank you gentlemen. Now we know you're very smart. The dialogue is worse. Example: When a mother is told that lymphoma hasn't been ruled out as a diagnosis for her son's condition, she replies "Oh no, not cancer". Thank you. Now we know you think we're idiots. Writing advice, don't bring out your fancy words and assume the reader won't understand you. IT'S INSULTING! Better yet, as Billy Wilder said, "If you tell your audience two plus two, you don't have to tell them four." Out of the hundreds of books that I've read in my lifetime, this one has the proud honor of being only the fifth that I've not finished and the landslide winner for fewest number of pages I've been able to stomach. Buy something else. Stop these people before they write again.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as it could have been.
Review: This book had all the right elements but they were put together without a clear outline of what the authors wished to accomplish. I got the feeling that each author wrote a little bit of the book here and there and then they collated the pages in an effort to put a chronology to their project. The story was disjointed and at times confusing. The characters didn't come alive for me. They were vague and formless at times and seemed to do what the authors wanted them to do rather than what they wanted to do themselves. A little more detail about some characters and a little less about others would have been appropriate. Tell us about Dr. Kameron first, how he became and why. Give his early relationship with Dr. Bryne more depth and then use their relationship to pull the reader through the story. The characters need more character. There are some dynamic and intelligent individuals in the story but the puppeteering was obvious. I enjoyed the story in spite of all of this, however. I found the premise to be a good one and liked the technical development of the "plagues" as well as the implementation used to inflict them. As strange as it may seem I found the book to be too short. I would have liked to learn more about the characters and to have seen more of them as the story evolved.
Rating:
Summary: Maybe the Screen play will have a better ending!
Review: I agree with a previous review that this book starts with a bang but ends in a fizzle. I recently read "The Cobra Event" and got the feeling that the authors may have exchanged notes about the premise. By the middle of the book, notwithstanding the lack of development in some of the supporting characters, I was saying that I liked this much more than "The Cobra Event." That is until it ended with an anticlimactic finish and the obvious set up of a sequel. Maybe the screen play will be better!
Rating:
Summary: This is one great book!
Review: This book is really hard to put down. I had many bleary eyed days at work because I kept telling myself, "Just one more chapter", while reading this book at bedtime each night. I appreciate it that the author didn't try to "dumb down" the writing. Using enough true medical terms and facts that I learned a few new things and a new word here and there (i.e Gran Mal seizure).
Rating:
Summary: Lurid and badly written
Review: Two overworked ideas combine in this exploitation effort: the serial killer (yawn) and the out-of-control disease. In the hands of a talented writer, peopled with believable characters, sprinkled with good, intelligent writing, it might have worked. But it doesn't at all. It comes over as a deeply tired idea trotted out by people who should know better. I've read a number of medical/biotech thrillers in recent years and this would have to be among the worst.
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