Rating: 
Summary: fascinating, at times beautifully written
Review: The Third Pandemic is a novel about the current emergence of antibiotic-resistent bacteria. I've read several books of this genre, and this is certainly one of the best. The book is at times very well written. Noteworthy is that the author employs bizzare kind literary egalitarianism as an interesting literary device: Disease is narated by ALL its participants -- bacteria living in meat, a fly landing on the infected meat and contracting he disease, an infected mouse biting on a person, that person sleeping with someone else and infecting her, etc.This is not Camus' The Plague; If the author had some profound message to share with his readers, he sure didn't develop it here, but it is a nice and interesting novel nevertheless.
Rating: 
Summary: very good
Review: This book was much better then The Blood Artists. There were no slow parts and the way he describes the bacteria is amazing. I am a nurse and I learned something about bacteria.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and very thought-provoking
Review: This is my favorite science fiction suspense novel. (Yes, even better than the Michael Crichton novels I love so much.) It is well-written and weaves together a number of riveting plot lines. What I loved the most is the chilling possibility -- quite realistic -- of the premise ... that a superbug could spread havoc on humanity. Although this possible future is different from the one proposed in the movie The Matrix, it is equally compelling and thought-provoking. Not only did this book entertain me thoroughly, but it has kept me thinking. Bravo! ....
Rating: 
Summary: Pre-SARS Prediction
Review: This novel was written several years before the SARS panic in 2003 and illustrates what could happen if a new virulent bacteria manages to get loose in the world population. I think that the recent response to SARS illustrated how the world in general would react. The main problems I had with the novel were (1) a few too many subplots running in parallel and (2) a lot of digression into excruciating details of bacteriology, computer engineering, telephone message scrambling, etc. (far more than what is needed for the main plot). The author seems to be trying to show off his technical knowledge to the point where the average reader might be left a little glassy-eyed. It reminds me of old expression about asking someone the time, and having the person tell you how to build a clock. Most of the white hats survive, and the main black hats are eliminated. The novel treats the bacteria as characters in the story, and some bacteria always survive.
Rating:
Summary: Pre-SARS Prediction
Review: This novel was written several years before the SARS panic in 2003 and illustrates what could happen if a new virulent bacteria manages to get loose in the world population. I think that the recent response to SARS illustrated how the world in general would react. The main problems I had with the novel were (1) a few too many subplots running in parallel and (2) a lot of digression into excruciating details of bacteriology, computer engineering, telephone message scrambling, etc. (far more than what is needed for the main plot). The author seems to be trying to show off his technical knowledge to the point where the average reader might be left a little glassy-eyed. It reminds me of old expression about asking someone the time, and having the person tell you how to build a clock. Most of the white hats survive, and the main black hats are eliminated. The novel treats the bacteria as characters in the story, and some bacteria always survive.
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