The Consciousness Plague

Rating:
Summary: Levinson's newest is his best
Review: The Consciousness Plague is Levinson's best novel
so far. Like all of his stories featuring New
York forensic detective Doctor Phil D'Amato, this
science fiction novel is so close to fact that
sometimes you can't recall if you actually read a news
story talked about in the novel or not. This time,
D'Amato investigates the possibility that our brains
work the way they do because of bacteria communicating
between themselves in our brain -- because of this, a
new kind of antibiotic begins to make people lose their
memories. And the loss of memory messes up an ongoing
investigation of a series of stranglings in Riverside
Park in New York City. The result is a bio-thriller,
police mystery, science fiction story all rolled into
one. I've been a fan of D'Amato since the beginning.
In fact, I heard that a movie was made of "The Chronology
Protection Case" -- a short story -- and I can't wait to
see it. In the meantime, I've got The Consciousness Plague.

Rating:
Summary: by the numbers
Review: The science was credible enough to sustain the story. The writing wasn't. Ham-handed exposition and dialogue that belies a tin ear for conversation are just two of the things that made this a weary-making slog.

Rating:
Summary: Writing Plague
Review: The science was credible enough to sustain the story. The writing wasn't. Ham-handed exposition and dialogue that belies a tin ear for conversation are just two of the things that made this a weary-making slog.

Rating:
Summary: A lovely little book
Review: This is the first book I've read by this author and it's a sequel, although this didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book. The first half or more is a nice combination of SF with modern police procedural. As the book progresses, though, the writer seems to lose an idea of where to go (and to some extent he's painted himself into a corner).

I liked the forgetfulness problem, although frankly Phil Dick has done this far better (FAR more frighteningly and effectively) in books like Ubik (if you like this one, Ubik will blow your doors off). Still, for a little novel, I enjoyed it, read it in about two sittings.

I agree with much of the criticism in other reviews here, but can't be too hard on the book. The writing is reasonably well crafted, if methodical, and I enjoyed it, even if suspending disbelief got harder at the book progressed.

Rating:
Summary: Starts well, goes off track
Review: This mystery has an interesting scientific premise: a medication is killing bacteria that enable the brain to remember. The characters start having memory lapses, blanks in their recollections of conversations and other events, including deaths that may be murders. The premise could have been developed as a science fiction idea with vast implications. Unfortunately, the novel evolves into an increasingly conventional detective story, and the memory loss issue fades until it seems like an afterthought. This may be a case in which mixing two genres in one book did not work.

Rating:
Summary: Starts well, goes off track
Review: This mystery has an interesting scientific premise: a medication is killing bacteria that enable the brain to remember. The characters start having memory lapses, blanks in their recollections of conversations and other events, including deaths that may be murders. The premise could have been developed as a science fiction idea with vast implications. Unfortunately, the novel evolves into an increasingly conventional detective story, and the memory loss issue fades until it seems like an afterthought. This may be a case in which mixing two genres in one book did not work.

Rating:
Summary: A triumphant return, if only the characters can recall it...
Review: Well, Phil D'Amato and Paul Levinson have done it again. I was a big fan of Levinson's first novel, The Silk Code, which introduced NYPD investigator D'Amato - a sharp forensic detective who always seems to get involved with cases a little out of the ordinary... There Phil pursued the hidden truth about the last of the Neanderthals and about modern-day Amish who might be more than they seem, and Levinson deftly distributed his fast-paced action over rural contemporary Pennsylvania, the streets of New York, and ancient Central Asia, addressing some pretty deep issues along the way. In The Consciousness Plague we get an even more immediate and unrelenting tale, as the novel follows D'Amato through a crazy six months trying to track down a serial killer on New York's Upper West Side and simultaneously get to the bottom of a peculiar memory loss syndrome which crops up everywhere he looks. As usual Levinson balances the hardboiled, action-packed mystery side of his creation with the thought-provoking speculative science fiction part, all the while keeping his story just within the realm of plausibility and perhaps even probability; he has a rare talent for crafting an exciting potboiler that really stimulates the mind. The subject of memory loss has become something of a popular one lately, what with excellent films like Memento and novels like Jonathan Lethem's Amnesia Moon; it's a phenomenon that never fails to intrigue the imagination, and I heartily recommend The Consciousness Plague for anyone who's enjoyed those explorations as well as anyone looking for a tense, intelligent bit of suspense.

Rating:
Summary: For the mystery reader who hasn't tried Sci-Fi
Review: What do forensic science, ancient Phoenicians, a New York serial killer, and amnesia all have in common? These are the ingredients of the latest Phil D'Amato adventure from Paul Levinson. This blends the science-fiction/mystery genres into one page-turner of a read. The science-fiction part deals with chemical and forensic sciences. The mystery angle is who's been killing all of these young ladies in New York? And the fact that most of the characters lose their memories at least once because of some FDA-approved anti-biotic that gets into the brain while trying to cure the flu definitely is not conducive to solving this mystery. See how D'Amato and company get around this problem to solve the mystery. I liked the story. I liked the humor. I liked the book. Try it.

Rating:
Summary: For the mystery reader who hasn't tried Sci-Fi
Review: What do forensic science, ancient Phoenicians, a New York serial killer, and amnesia all have in common? These are the ingredients of the latest Phil D'Amato adventure from Paul Levinson. This blends the science-fiction/mystery genres into one page-turner of a read. The science-fiction part deals with chemical and forensic sciences. The mystery angle is who's been killing all of these young ladies in New York? And the fact that most of the characters lose their memories at least once because of some FDA-approved anti-biotic that gets into the brain while trying to cure the flu definitely is not conducive to solving this mystery. See how D'Amato and company get around this problem to solve the mystery. I liked the story. I liked the humor. I liked the book. Try it.