Pandora: Outbreak (A Pandora Thriller #1) by Eric L. Harry @KensingtonBooks #bookreview #scifi #thriller #fantasy

Title: Pandora: Outbreak

Author: Eric L. Harry

Publisher: Rebel Base Books

Publication Date: January 23, 2018

Page Count: 288

My rating:  4 stars

About the book:

“Harry’s vision of an apocalyptic plague is as chilling as it is plausible. This masterful thriller will leave you terrified, enthralled, and desperate for the next entry in the series.”
—Kira Peikoff, author of No Time to Die and Die Again Tomorrow 

“After a devastating epidemic that changes the very nature of humans, two sisters, an epidemiologist, and a neurobiologist hold the key to humanity’s survival.”—Library Journal
 
BEGINNING OF THE END
 
They call it Pandoravirus. It attacks the brain. Anyone infected may explode in uncontrollable rage. Blind to pain, empty of emotion, the infected hunt and are hunted.  They attack without warning and without mercy. Their numbers spread unchecked. There is no known cure.

Emma Miller studies diseases for a living—until she catches the virus. Now she’s the one being studied by the U.S. government and by her twin sister, neuroscientist Isabel Miller. Rival factions debate whether to treat the infected like rabid animals to be put down, or victims deserving compassion. As Isabel fights for her sister’s life, the infected are massing for an epic battle of survival. And it looks like Emma is leading the way . . .

“Harry has a first-rate speculative mind, well grounded in current science. The ideas he puts forth are extremely engaging.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A good storyteller . . . harrowing stuff!” —The New York Times Book Review

“Like Crichton and H.G. Wells, Harry writes stories that entertain roundly while they explore questions of scientific and social import.” —Publishers Weekly

Pandora: Outbreak by Eric L. Harry is the first book in the new Pandora Thriller series. The story is a bit of science fiction fantasy that’s also quite the thriller. The story starts with Dr. Emma Miller being called in to investigate the outbreak of a new virus but when she contracts the virus herself she becomes the one being studied.

After Emma survives the Pandoravirus which kills roughly fifty percent of those that contract the virus it becomes clear that those that survive are changed. Dr. Isabel Miller who is a neuroscientist is called in to help study the virus and her twin sister Emma when it becomes clear that the survivors have had parts of their brains damaged and are now impervious to pain and lack all emotion.

The story switches the point of view between Isabel while she is in a secret lab working with other scientists and her infected sister and then Noah who is the brother of Isabel and Emma while he prepares for the oncoming pandemic to hit the U.S. With the POV changing between the siblings readers are able to follow the top secret happenings that are hidden from the public and that of those on the outside as fear begins to hit the nation.

I found this story to actually be quite an engaging one as I read along. We all know that it seems there are always new scares in the news with new diseases being found all the time, Ebola anyone? The only thing really that brought the book down a bit for me was when it became a bit overly scientific at times.

Now don’t get me wrong the author did a wonderful job making things clear enough to me not being a doctor or familiar with science but there were times it made it drag a bit going a bit too far in my opinion. I won’t say if which part of the brain controls what and the effects were all realistic because I wouldn’t know myself but the author certainly made it all sound plausible.

I would also warn to readers too that rape is mentioned in the story although just a mention and not graphically described. The violence is also done without getting too overly graphic considering the content with the infected becoming violent and the defense of them doing so. The book also ends in a cliffhanger leading into the next book in the series without a definitive resolution to the story just yet which has me quite ready for the next book already and will certainly be reading when it comes out.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online: 

Goodreads  /   Amazon

About the author:

Raised in a small town in Mississippi, Eric L. Harry graduated from the Marine Military Academy in Texas and studied Russian and Economics at Vanderbilt University, where he also earned a J.D. and M.B.A. In addition, he studied in Moscow and Leningrad in the USSR, and at the University of Virginia Law School. He began his legal career in private practice in Houston, negotiated complex multinational mergers and acquisitions around the world, and rose to be general counsel of a Fortune 500 company. He left to raise a private equity fund and co-found a successful oil company. His previous thrillers include Arc Light, Society of the Mind, Protect and Defend and Invasion. His books have been published in eight countries. He and his wife have three children and divide their time between Houston and San Diego. Contact him on Facebook or visit him online at www.EricLHarry.com.