Tras la plaga de nanorobots y el fin de la guerra desencadenada entre las grandes potencias para controlar el remedio contra la misma, Ruth Goldman y Cam Najarro parecen haber encontrado algo de paz en un aislado pueblo de las montañas Rocosas. Pero los intentos por hacer de la nanotecnología un arma han continuado y pronto América se ve sacudida por una nueva epidemia. Con el apoyo de los pocos supervivientes, Ruth y Cam deberán descubrir el origen de la nueva plaga si no quieren que la raza humana desaparezca para siempre.

Plague Zone is the third and final book in the plague trilogy by Jeff Carlson, if you enjoyed the first two books then it's safe to say you'll also enjoy this one.

The story continues, this time commencing with Cam, Ruth, Allison & a handful of the others living in a small village/township called Jefferson. It's here they are eking out a living from an unforgiving landscape ravaged by the nanotechnology plague & unrestrained insects who have virtually no predators left. Suddenly a woman lumbers into the outer perimeter of Jefferson carrying a new plague that quickly decimates a number of the survivors and causes the others to flee with what they can carry.

They soon find out that Jefferson is not the only place that has been struck, but rather the surviving remnants of the United States has been struck by China's new nanotechnology weapon and the remaining survivors must band together with the remnants of the Grand Lake military base.

The story is good, on par with the earlier two books, shifting once again to be slightly more survival based than the second's heavily military oriented story line, although such does form a reasonably large part of this, just with the primary focus being more on Ruth/Cam/Deborah and company.

I felt it was a good way to round out the trilogy. ( )

Set 15 months after Plague War, Carlson again messes up the lives of his characters, the uneasy truce between Americans, Russians, and Chinese, and, even the Earth’s ecosystem. And, as with real life, that means a few things just aren’t going back to normal. Characters are going to die, and dilemmas remain unsolved.

A cabal of the Chinese government, anxious to cement their occupation of North America and repopulate the world with Chinese, unleashes a “mind plague” that leaves its victims mindlessly seeking their old haunts and friends in order to infect them. The word “zombie” is actually used a few times, but these aren’t Romeroesque zombies that want to feast on human flesh.

The settlement where Cam and Ruth, protagonists of the trilogy live with Allison, Cam’s wife, is overrun by the infected. Thus starts a series of events that take place over, maybe, just a week though this is the longest book of the series. With this and his recent Interrupt, I’ve come to think of certain things as trademarks of a Carlson novel: well-done science and technological extrapolation, a realistic depiction of military life and tactics – even if the militaries contain conspiracies and cabals, situations of escalating desperateness where no one is safe, and satisfyingly worked out romances.

That’s the plus side. On the negative side, the feats of his nanotech designers are accomplished in what seems to me an improbably short amount of time. But what would I know? I’m not a nanotech designer.

Also, I sometimes think the explanations offered at critical moments of the plot are a bit vague. I also find that some of his action scenes and physical descriptions are hard for me to imagine. But I suspect that’s more a quirk of my mind, the circumstances I read the novel in, or my faster than normal reading speed – ‘cause Carlson is pulling me through a story I don’t want to stop with rumination. And, as far as descriptions go, Carlson is even conscientious enough to put maps in his books. And his explanations do make more sense if you re-read them carefully.

The Plague books are the ones that rightly made Carlson’s reputation. You could do a lot worse than going with Carlson as he kicks over the traces of our world and sends his characters scurrying. ( )

Jeff has done it again!!! I will not put in any spoilers but this is a must read keep an eye on this author nothing but GREAT seems to flow from his work. ( )

(Warning: This review may contain spoilers about the previous books in the series)

The final book in the Plague Year series starts off innocuous enough. World War III is over and the few survivors are attempting to rebuild America. Farming is difficult with the massive insect swarms, and at any given moment a wave of ants could emerge from the ground and consume everything in its path, including people. If things weren't bad enough, it seems a new nanoweapon has been unleashed. One that infests the brain, causing the infected to wander aimlessly around seeking other humans to infect. Essentially, they're zombies. Yes, really. Zombies...

For the most part, if you liked the previous book you'll enjoy this one. Cam and Ruth's relationship is as infuriating as in the previous books, there is plenty of suspense and tension, and the aerial combat is on full display once again.

The ending could have been a bit more conclusive, at first I thought the series wasn't over but the author does call it a trilogy in his acknowledgements, so I assume he's just leaving it open, which is a little unsatisfying.

Still, overall I enjoyed the series, and I'm glad I read them even if I would only recommend it to sci-fi and apocalypse fans. ( )