The King of Plagues: A Joe Ledger Novel

The third of the Joe Ledger books by Jonathan Mayberry. This has been one of my favorite series that I have encountered lately, tightly written and completely engrossing. A delightful blend of SF, horror and action with a bit of detective work mixed in, it is sometimes hard to figure out where this book will lead you.

Joe is both the luckiest and unluckiest Department of Military Sciences employees. Lucky to be alive, but cursed with some of the worst events to occur during his watch. He has encountered zombies, genetic super-monsters, and had his girlfriend die in his arms. And this has all happened in less than a year. The novel picks up several months after the events of the Dragon Factory (there is a short story out there that details him working with his new furry partner Ghost taking down the man who killed Grace). It begins with the destruction of the London (gigantic London Hospital) in a massive terrorist event and it only gets worse.

The new villains of the series (looking to see more) appear to the be the un-before mentioned Seven Kings, which now includes a familiar villain as well. And their plot is devious.

Later in the novel Joe links up with Echo team, his psychologist buddy and a new female character on this wild ride. I cannot wait to crack open the next book!

Maberry does it again with another thrilling story with the DMS. He really tests your detective skills on what is happening and why things are happening. Through out the entire story I was trying to guess who was in the shadows doing what and when I figure things out I yell out "I KNEW IT!!" and when I don't see a twist coming it leaves me so surprised I actually am sitting there with my jaw on the floor. Not to mention the the possibility of supernatural events leaving goosebumps all over. Porter portrays all of the characters perfectly and really keeps the tension going with his narration.

OMG I am totally addicted to this series!! I Love all of echo team so much, especially Ghost, Top and Bunny, Mr Church, and of course the infamous and lovable psycho hero Joe Ledger!!! ? Best series I ever heard!!

Maberry's latest and 3rd installment in the Joe Ledger series is yet another hallmark in terms of sheer solid storytelling and pretty deep characterizations.

Although, in our humble opinion, this is not the best book thus far in the series, (Dragon Factory being our fav!), this does not mean - by any means! - that this was a bad book. Overall, quite excellent, in fact.

King of Plagues begins with a beaten and battered Joe Ledger, who has quit the DMS and is trying to get over the recent death of his combat companion, Grace Courtland. In the last book she saved the world, but had to sacrifice herself in order to do it.

But with the reemergence of an arch nemesis from the 1st book - Patient Zero - Ledger is quickly drawn back to the shadow company of the DMS and battling another shadow terrorist group that seemingly has its tentacles everywhere.

After a terrorist attack that is bigger than 911, followed by other, stranger plots of biblical proportions, Ledger and the DMS are truly drowning in conspiracy and large-scale death, racing against time to thwart the kings organization around the globe.

Maberry masters the turning away from the typical bad guy cliches, giving the reader something new and fresh in terms of villains just not being plain villainous. Plus he injects some new characters for Joe to interact with, both on the side of Good and Evil, that makes this novel an exciting and interesting read.

Although the action scenes were good, they just didn't seem to match or beat the first 2 books. Just our personal opinion. But the King of Plagues is more than worth the read. We love the mysterious DMS boss, Mr. Church. (If that is even really his real name, having numerous ones.)

But you also find out something new about Church in this 3rd installment, along with a new bad-ass hottie for Joe Ledger to play with.

Get your hands on the King of Plagues. You won't be sorry.

The blast at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel left thousands dead and many more injured. One hour after the deadly explosion, retired Department of Military Science agent Joe Ledger arrives to investigate the carnage caused by the terrorist attack and un-retires in a rage at the lunatics who caused this horrific violence. Not long afterward, Joe and his team are attacked by assassins of the Seven Kings who plan to rule the world with iron fists.

In Fair Isle in the Shetlands, a viral research facility is breached releasing Ebola. As other terrorist attacks raise the death toll around the world, Joe knows nothing about the Seven Kings except they seem to have much more resources than the nations of the world as this group uses modern weapons to release the Ten Plagues of the Old Testament to destroy the global economy.

The third Ledger case (see Patient Zero and The Dragon Factory) is a great action thriller that grips the audience from the opening sequence and never loses the reader's attention until the final explosive confrontation. Clearly over the top of the Wall Street-German merged exchange, the London Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange combined; fans will relish this fast-paced modernizing of the Passover plagues. Jonathon Maberry satirizes the stock exchange-military-religious complex; as Joe learns politicians and other world rulers are expendable purchases on a ledger sheet.

Harriet Klausner

I really enjoyed this installment of the Joe Ledger series. It's like watching a favorite uncle that really loves his job, and is the best at, but it's totally killing him.

The London Event as described in the blurb doesn't even compare to what unfolds. True, the end might have wrapped up kind of fast after the dots were connected but I think, in all, the author delivered another winner. Ledger was a broken man.

He lost his lover, Grace Courtland (in The Dragon Factory, Book Two). So he was ready to quit the DMS but his boss, Mr. Church, was able to bring him back in. Yet again. This case was bigger than the first or second Joe Ledger book. I think with any series the attempt to out-do the last is the driving force but thank goodness the main character and whatever lessons he learns, isn't lost.

I can't give much of a review without spoiling the entire plot. Other than to say the rest of the book makes the beginning one hell of a bonfire. The intensity of anguish felt by Joe was as real as any citizen that's ever witnessed terrorism, and in this lifetime, who hasn't. Joe Ledger may be just fiction but and it gives us a chance to "tune in and check out" while he kicks ass and takes names, we can root for him. But if this were something really happening I couldn't enjoy it half as much. I mean I know somewhere and somehow it does but as long as it stays in Joe's world and he can defeat the bad guys by the end. I'm happy.

Joe Ledger is back! He has faced zombies, madmen manipulating genetics and lots of people who just plain want to hurt him. Now he is facing a group who is trying to re-create the ten biblical plagues of Egypt, but why?

Staying true to form, Maberry wastes absolutely no time getting into the action. Much like "Patient Zero" and "The Dragon Factory," you'll find yourself immediately immersed in something crazy. And it won't let up. There is always something happening, and it always seems crazy. This is easily one of the best parts of the Joe Ledger series as a whole. You never find yourself getting bored, wondering what the relevance of a certain section is. The story just keeps flowing along.

As a whole, I loved this third installment of the series. Much like the first two books, I had trouble putting the book down, and ended up reading the last half in one sitting. Maberry's writing style in this series keeps you enthralled from start to finish. If you haven't read it, you definitely should!

A number of things wrong with this book, the series and the character of Joe Ledger. Really? A psychiatrist on staff that the hero needs to call in the middle of an op? Super duper at combat just because he was a grunt years ago? I know, everything is over-the-top in books like this, but this stretched too far.
Then, he goes and starts playing politics in this book. He was commendably neutral in his first two, but Mayberry decided to send a message in this one. I'm done with his books and which he never got a penny from me for the first two.

After a promising start with Patient Zero, and a plodding run through cartoon land with Dragon Factory, Maberry apparently felt he needed to Get Relevant with King of Plagues. The result is endless rehashing of secret societies controlling the world pablum mixed in with massive doses of 9-11 trutherism and frankly anti-American Huffington Post talking points trumped as The Real Reason for America's long conflict in the Middle East.

The first warning signs of trouble come when the almost nonexistent amount of anti-Muslim "backlash" violence was made a major plot-point and the "epidemic of blind unthinking hatred against innocent Muslims" was credited as part of a master stroke by a secret cabal.

A few hours later, the same secret cabal is reciting a vast litany of slanders against both everyday Americans and its soldiers--all put down as unwitting dupes of their nefarious blood-for-oil ways.

Yeesh.

Worse hackneyed politics than an MSNBC rant in what should have been a thriller.

I enjoyed the previous joe ledger novels. This one however read like Maberry has run out of steam. A little action, a little character development and a whole lot of filler. Preachy conspiracy theory filler. Also not a fan of the back and forth timeline....particularly when there is no reason for it...felt gimmicky. Skip this one and hope Maberry regains his writing mojo. The 2 stars are for the few times the author reverted to his better self.

This is probably my most favorite book from the Joe Ledger series, although they are all fantastic. Packed with everything under the sun, and reappearances by old bad guys, there's never a dull moment for the entire book. I liked learning more about Mr. Church. Even though it was just a tiny blip in the complexity of his character, it was good to learn the connection. I can't wait for the next Joe Ledger adventure!

I love the Joe Ledger novels. Jonathan Maberry is kind of a genius when it comes to writing out fancy action thrillers that stink of conspiracy theories. I also love that the big bad evil has been maintained and throughout the novels in a believable way. This book is just so much fun to read and you can't help but root for the main characters.

I really liked the two previous Joe Ledger novels. I did not even finish this one. It is as if the author, Mr. Maberry, had made a bet as to how many references to pop culture and current events he could fit into the first half of a novel (it could be for the whole - 3/4 is as far as I got). I didn't pick this novel for an after school special message, either, and the thing just felt too preachy. If you like lots of current celebrity names and repeated statements about how Democrats are good and Republicans would like to destroy the world, then you may make it through the whole thing.

I picked this book up browsing because I like books that mix military action and horror. It had some good scenes, and the Joe Ledger character and the Military Sciences department were interesting, but I thought there could have been more going on. It's possible I missed something since I started with this one even though this is not the first book in the series, but I felt some of the characters should have been more fleshed out. I will read more by the author, though.

The latest installment of the Joe Ledger story disappoints relentlessly. There are only two excellent action sequences--about one-tenth of what you're expecting. The finale is a three-ring flop. The bad guys are either retreads or clowns. Rudy Sanchez is reduced to a Hispanic cliché (Dios mio!) We meet Aunt Sallie (You'll gag.) And the rest of the DMS team gets brief and lazy treatment. The only new character that Maberry bothers to develop is Joe's dog, Ghost. His cat gets a mention, too, but then so does Bono--who thanks Joe for his service--about 50 fellow thriller writers, Prince William, the Bush daughters, and a shipload of other celebrities. This time around, Maberry has restricted his efforts to miles and miles of bad dialogue. If you're crazy enough to buy the book, you'll slog through endless passages in which nothing happens at all. Characters on both sides make speeches that rival anything Mussolini ever delivered for length and inanity. By the end of the story, Joe and I were both wondering: "Is this my life?" Don't let it be yours.