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After “reading” through Earthcore, The Rookie and Ancestor – I had become a full-blooded Sigler-Junkie… I placed an order for the print version of, and downloaded the audiobook-version of Infected. It's a page-turner… Wait… Chapter-clicker… No… Podcatcher-updater… Ah, h*ll… It's genuine Scott Sigler.

“Across America a mysterious disease is turning ordinary people into raving, paranoid murderers who inflict brutal horrors on strangers, themselves, and even their own families.”

The premise is promising, and knowing what that sick bastard Sigler can do with themes such as mining, american football and cows – I knew I was in for a ride with diseases… Or two rides. No – wait, actually three.
There's the ride with CIA operative Dew Phillips where he hunts down victims of this strange disease.
There's the ride where CDC epidemiologist Margaret Montoya attempts to figure out what is causing it, where it came from and how to cure it.
And then there's Perry Dawsey…

Dawsey is a giant of a man who was battling demons way before he ever even became infected. He's fighting repressed memories of a violent father, he's fighting his disappointment from his failed football career, which turned into a desk-job in a cubical. And then there are the parasites in his body – they speak to him, and they aren't nice. Dawsey switches from moment of violent insanity to crystal clarity as he's trying to figure out and get rid of his uninvited tenants before they take complete control over both his mind and his body. How to kill something living within him, without killing himself.

The story is exceptionally well written as well as produced. Sigler reads the story himself, with subtle, and sometimes not-so-subtle effects and voices to distinguish the characters. Every episode (at least in the Podiobooks-com feed) starts with a plug for the sequel Contagious. That's understandable, but at the same time utterly unnecessary. The story itself is as good an advertisement for the sequel as ever is needed.

Sigler excels in describing gut-turningly bloody events. I don't think I've ever grimaced this much while reading a book (or listening to a story) before. I will never be able to look at a pair of chicken scissors again. Thanks a lot, you sicko! (Now you just have to read the book to know what I'm talking about…)

The book also ends just right for a sequel. The battle is won, but the war is still raging. The printed version of Contagious was released on December 30th, but hasn't reached my bookstore of choice yet. When it does, I'll place an order immediately. Although the audiobook has begun, I'll probably wait (if I can) until it's available in its entirety before I'll start listening, so that I can download the entire book at once and listen at my own pace. As I work in long shifts, I have more days off and more opportunities to listen through several episodes in a succession. I don't want to have to wait a week for the next chapter – Patience is a virtue, I know, but it's my memory that isn't good enough…

It's hard to write a good review of a book such as this without giving away too much of the plot. But if horror and/or sci-fi is up your alley, download the first chapter and give it a listen – it's free. Well, it just might cost you your soul, but other than that, it's free… This novel contains mature situations, language – and lots, and lots of violence!

“Infected will crawl beneath your skin and leave fresh blood on every page.”
No bout a-doubt it…