Rating: 
Summary: A Plague that Fails to Engage
Review: American readers have always had a fondness for thrillers that involve a conspiratorial or historical basis: tales such as intelligent werewolves eating humanity from the dawn of history (WOLFEN) to a secret cabal that has directed world events for centuries (CAPTAINS AND KINGS). Now Paul Levinson gives us a world that has suffered from incipient bouts of recurrent amnesia that have caused the decline of civilizations ranging from the Phoenicians to the Mayans to the current day. In THE CONSCIOUNESS PLAGUE, the hero is NYPD forensic expert Phil D'Amato, who is trying to solve a series of killings of women while at the same time uncovering the threads of memory loss that happen to nearly everyone in his life. Now there is nothing wrong with either plot device, but the problem with THE CONSCIOUSNESS PLAGUE is that author Levinson places the dramatic center of his book on the killings but seems to have no logical place to hang his peg of worldwide collective amnesia. Had Levinson stuck to using D'Amato's considerable forensic skills to catch the killer, then he would have written a conventional detective novel. However, even on that level, the interaction between his hero D'Amato and the victims and killer are forced, laborious, and unthrilling. It was painful for me to see how Levinson attempts to meld his paper-thin detective plot with a subplot that simply cried out for more screen time. If this world has been afflicted with recurring bouts of mass amnesia, then I would expect a plot to more seamlessly integrate this memory loss with the other plot elements. No more than a few dozen pages were devoted in a serious way to extended discussions of memory loss. Further, Levinson's prose style is all too reminiscent of the kind which forces all but the most dedicated of readers to skim pointless discussions to get to the parts where some really interesting things happen. In THE CONSCIOUSNESS PLAGUE, the really interesting things were few and far between. Based on the advertising blurbs, I expected a book about some earthshaking revelations about humanity's collective history that would be revealed by a subplot of murder and mayhem. What I got was the reverse, and that is why I do not recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: A great read and a mnemonic of communications estorica
Review: Dr. Phil D'Amato, NYPD forensic detective is a character who is easy to like. Smart, witty and well connected, he immediately becomes a person who the reader cares about. He is a worthy twenty-first century heir to my favorite, Sherlock Holmes.The story is an engrossing mystery that weaves together serial strangulation murders of young college women in Manhattan and mysterious memory gaps triggered by a new antibiotic that seems to attack unknown microorganisms that unify the bicameral human brain.
The reader comes away entertained and educated in such diverse (yet related by the author's erudition) subjects as communication via the channels of the left and right brain, Marshall McLuhan, the essence of art, the successive (possible) rediscoveries of America by the Phoenicians, Irish (Celtic) monks, and Vikings, and a popular brand of perfume. Most of the action occurs in New York City but the West Coast, the Midwest and Europe are included as locales. We learn about the importance of Lindisfarne, where one of my favorite illuminated manuscripts, the Lindisfarne Gospels, originated. We are introduced to the hypothesis that the Phoenicians, on their way to North America, taught the Celts to write.
Each revelation, no matter how esoteric, enriches the weave of the mystery, and draws the reader in deeper. Thus this excellent page turner also triggers awareness of many fascinating areas of communication. There is also a well developed supporting cast including police, academics and a politician or two. I came away feeling enriched and entertained. The Consciousness Plague is a good read. Buy it.
Rating:
Summary: Murder, Memory and the Beach Boys - What's not to love?
Review: Even if you're like me and you've never read the previous Phil D'Amato stories, The Consciousness Plague will draw you in. It's an engaging, intellectually thrilling novel. The basic plot is this: a new antibiotic wreaks havoc with the brain's ability to remember, thus hampering a complex murder investigation. But to summarize it like that is to do the book an injustice. It's a story torn from the headlines and balanced on the cutting edge of modern memory science. Levinson mixes disparate items into a seamless plot. Things like a police investigation into a serial strangler, copy-cat murders and the fascinating theory that a bacteria-like organism in our brains has given rise to our consciousness form a compelling, exciting yarn that stretches from the ancient Phoenicians in England (and possibly America!?) to modern-day New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Levinson's writing is easy and thought-provoking - his character, D'Amato, speaks directly to the reader, as in the best noir tales - drawing on all aspects of Western culture, from Beach Boy songs to medieval monks, with discussions of the blood-brain barrier and northern Italian cuisine thrown in for good measure. Yet he somehow ties it all together with a satisfying conclusion that leaves you hungry for more. By the end of The Consciousness Plague, you'll want to catch up on all the Phil D'Amato you may have missed!
Rating: 
Summary: A promising premise buried under pedestrian prose
Review: I really wanted to like this book. Paul Levinson's novel promised great things: 1) it has an intriguing premise 2)I've liked mixed genres books before 3)The setting and science is interesting. Unfortunately, Levinson's book fails to take off the way I had hoped. The characters seem as if they've been pulled from mediocre mystery movies. The dialogue comes across as second rate Hammett or Chandler. The narrative too many coincidences. It seems ready made for a sale to Hollywood.
The novel has some redeeming factors. Levinson has the core of a fascinating character in Phil D'Amato. His fascinating story idea needs more narrative development but comes across pretty well. The science seemed pretty valid if a bit far fetched. I haven't read any of Levinson's other novels or short stories so can't comment on how this compares to his other stuff but he does show promise as a writer.
The major flaw with The Consciousness Plague is that it comes across as a treatment for a science fiction movie but one that might be a Sci-Fi original program with a limited budget and scope. Levinson's editor David Hartwell should have worked with the author at refashioning the novel and fleshing out the characters. It also would have helped to reduce the coincidences that crop up throughout the book and the easy narrative breadcrumbs that lead Levinson along the way to his conclusion.
Rating:
Summary: What a pleasure to read at the end of a long day!
Review: I tend to work long, long hours in the software industry. I can be hard on books. I like creative and complex stories. I get that with some books but they don't really stay with me during the day. There isn't this anticipation about getting through the daily routine to see what happens in the next chapter. Not so with this book. It was an absolute pleasure to have "The Consciousness Plague" to read at the end of the day. I found myself thinking of the mysteries and nature of memory throughout the day. It is smart, compelling and a bit scary. Once again, Levinson blends mystery and science fiction beautifully. While I would not wait to go on vacation to read "The Consciousness Plague", it is the perfect book to read on the beaches of Cape Cod or on a quiet summer night listening to cricket song.
Rating: 
Summary: by the numbers
Review: In addition to his seeming clumsiness with words, this is
modern science fiction by a white, middle aged writer who
is now using the standard template of comtemporary SF by PC
science fiction writers. As Sawyer did, in his travesty 'hominoids', these aging white writers seem to be transfixed with inter-racial sex between a black male
and a very young white woman, and let the story wander all over
the place, with dead dialogue, idiotic plots - somehow hoping,
perhaps, that the Mandingo Sex in the book will save it.
Big Clue: - it doesn't. Just as in Sawyers most recent still-birth, this book just sucks outright and even the sex can't save it. No sense of wonder, no sense of awe, nothing. Now you
know why Arthur C. Clarke and Asimov and Reynolds did not have to stoop to the shuck and jive sex routines - they didn't need them -they wrote the poetry of the future. Levinson, if you
need a sexual fantasy - please, please keep it private.
Rating:
Summary: Unmemorable story of memory.
Review: NYPD forensic detective Phil D'Amato encounters a frightening loss of memory while assisting on the homicide investigation of a series of stranglings. The loss is not profound, but his short bout of amnesia is unnerving and causes him to forget an important telephone conversation. Apparently, he's not the only one who is becoming forgetful either. Several people around him have experienced the same strange losses of memory. With a few curious questions, D'Amato finds they all have something in common: Omnin, the new antibiotic prescribed by their physicians to combat the flu. The secondary story of the homicide investigation is disjointed from the main plot line. What the characters forget seems to have little relevance to the investigation, though author Levinson tries to force it anyway. Almost from the onset, D'Amato's character believes the memory loss phenomenon is related to the Riverside stranglings, and so Levinson sets out to prove it. Unfortunately, he fails to make the connection. Even at his finest moments, it is quite a stretch to see the effects on Omnin in the murder investigation. It is sheer coincidence that the people his detective queries in his memory investigation end up being criminally involved in the killings. The discussion of how the human brain relates to memory and how memory affects history was as close as Levinson got to intriguing. The medical aspects and police investigation were definitely lacking. His writing style is flat and the plot has too many weaknesses to be enticing. The climax is anything but climactic and the story just winds down to a conveniently opportune ending. Perhaps Levinson fell victim to his fictional adversary-memory loss-as this book is anything but memorable. Reviewed by Maili Montgomery, Mystery Ink
Rating:
Summary: McLuhan, Phoenicians, Viruses, and more
Review: Paul Levinson mixes all sorts of goodies together to produce this triumphant return of Phil D'Amato: the origins of the alphabet, theories of consciousness, viral plagues, and more. It's a great fun, mix, for both sci-fi fans and mystery readers. Let's hope there's more of the amiable Phil to come.
Rating:
Summary: McLuhan, Phoenicians, Viruses, and more
Review: Paul Levinson mixes all sorts of goodies together to produce this triumphant return of Phil D'Amato: the origins of the alphabet, theories of consciousness, viral plagues, and more. It's a great fun, mix, for both sci-fi fans and mystery readers. Let's hope there's more of the amiable Phil to come.
Rating:
Summary: deft sf/mystery mix
Review: Phil D'Amato returns in this sharp, enjoyable, sometimes
superb novel. Levinson weaves together the search for
a serial murderer (police procedural) with a baffling
series of memory losses that may be related to the very
basis of our consciousness (science fiction). One of the
problems I often have with novels that try this kind of mix is that the science fiction is lumpy -- it doesn't really fit well
with the mystery part. But The Consciousness Plague handles
that beautifully -- Levinson serves the mystery with one
hand, the science fiction with another, the blend couldn't
be more natural. I think that this novel is, in many ways,
a better introduction to Phil D'Amato than The Silk Code
(though parts of that novel may be more profound).
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