Review of Contagion by Erin Bowman (digital arc)

 

 

Contagion by Erin Bowman

 

Summary:

 

It got in us

After receiving an urgent SOS from a work detail on a distant planet, a skeleton crew is dispatched to perform a standard search-and-rescue mission.

Most are dead.

But when the crew arrives, they find an abandoned site, littered with rotten food, discarded weapons…and dead bodies.

Don’t set foot here again.

As they try to piece together who—or what—could have decimated an entire operation, they discover that some things are best left buried—and some monsters are only too ready to awaken.

 

My thoughts:

 

My review probably won’t be the best because I don’t want to give away any spoilers.  I think it’s best to go into this one without knowing too much.

 

There is a young crew that answers a distress call.  Dr. Lisbeth Tarlow is the oldest and she needed help from a young intern, Thea.  Thea is a foster kid that has worked her butt off to try to get into a good school.  She thought this simple internship would help, but had no idea she would end up on a mission.  They are being sent to Achlys.  Lisbeth had been there before when she was a young child.  Her parents died and she was the only survivor.

 

The captain, Dylan, is looking for her father.  He was on Achlys and she’ll do anything to get to him.  Even if she has to lie and puts her entire crew in danger.  Nova is her pilot and she also has feelings for Dylan.

 

Once they arrive, they can tell quickly that something was wrong.  They kept finding bodies from the other crew.  These were not natural deaths.  They find one man who took his own life.  He left them a note.

 

It got in us and most are dead.  Decklan flew for help.  Don’t trust the kid.

 

One member of the crew was trying to bring a body for autopsy when he was scratched by something.  This is when everything starts to go wrong.  The infected wake up.  This contagion is spread by blood, and very quickly.  The host loses all control and starts to attack everyone.

 

Thea is separated and finds a boy that is alive.  His name is Coen and he says he is the only surviving crew member.  He saves Thea, but she struggles to trust him.  Is he the kid that the man was talking about?

 

From there, the pace really picks up.  I cannot talk about anything else.  Not everyone survives and the ending was a big cliffhanger.

 

I gave this book 4 stars.  Thank you to the publisher and Edelweiss for providing me with a copy for review.

 

Have you read Contagion yet?  What are some other sci-fi books that you’ve enjoyed?