The Genius Plague

By: David Walton

Narrated by: Nick Thurston

The contagion is in your mind

In this science fiction thriller, brothers are pitted against each other as a pandemic threatens to destabilize world governments by exerting a subtle mind control over survivors.

Neil Johns has just started his dream job as a code breaker for the NSA when his brother Paul, a mycologist, goes missing on a trip to collect samples in the Amazon jungle. Paul returns with a gap in his memory and a fungal infection that almost kills him. But once he recuperates, he has enhanced communication, memory, and pattern recognition. Meanwhile, something is happening in South America; others, like Paul, have also fallen ill and recovered with abilities they didn't have before.

But that's not the only pattern - the survivors, from entire remote Brazilian tribes to American tourists, all seem to be working toward a common, deadly goal. Neil soon uncovers a secret, unexplained alliances form between governments that have traditionally been enemies, and Paul becomes increasingly secretive and erratic. Paul sees the fungus as the next stage of human evolution, while Neil is convinced that it is driving its human hosts to destruction.

Brother must oppose brother on an increasingly fraught international stage, with the free will of every human on earth at stake. Can humanity use this force for good, or are we becoming the pawns of an utterly alien intelligence?

©2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc. (P)2017 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Amazing

This book was an amazing listen. I was constantly alert while listening and in awe at the information and the details that poured through.

Predictable and Tedious

This felt fairly uninspired, I would not waste your time, money or energy on this book. I say that as a lover of science fiction, fantasy and even non fiction. A protagonist NSA agent, an antagonist mycologist and an Alzheimer’s patient all within one family group. If any other character was important in the story I’m sure they would have ended up being a close relative as well. Groan.

Summary of this book (slight spoilers)

Short review: this book proves that while mushrooms are jerks, people are worse. That’s about it. I liked the narrator but hated his accents. Story was pretty good though.

Evolution, Co-Opted

Like author David Walton's previous books, Superposition and Supersymmetry, The Genius Plague is high-energy, high-velocity intrigue. With ingredients like Amazon adventure, brain-boosting mushrooms, shadowy NSA activities, fluid global alliances and even some good-old brother-against-brother challenges thrown in, The Genius Plague is a potent brew and will draw in and transfix even the most casual listener. Highly recommended!

Awfully Generic Plot and Characters

I struggled to finish it, and it took me 3x as long as I would have another book of the same size. I found the characters bland and severely underdeveloped.

The plot was nothing unique, but still interesting enough to hold me throughout my listening.

The main antagonist organization felt more the good guys than the main POV. I also found the main character to be the stereotypical Good Will Hunting genius caricature with a mix of misogyny. I honestly couldn't care less how attractive he finds every woman he meets.

The book's prose was would be suitable for high school audiences, with just enough hand-held technobable to make the reader feel like the book is sci-fi and the characters' solutions are clever. Everything is laid out in a straightforward manner, with consice and unimaginative description.

I will end this by saying before reading this I had just finished The Midnight Library (5 ⭐), To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (4 ⭐), and all 14 Wheel of Time books (5 ⭐). Just so you know how reading those books has affected how I viewed this one and point out any biases.

There's a fungus among us!

Excellent hard sci-fi. I'm not going to post too much information here, because it will be more fun for you if you don't have any preconception of what's going on before you start enjoying this book. Suffice it to say that this book is well written around an intriguing and original concept. The Audiobook performance is not the best I've heard, but the narrator grows on you and is appropriately nerdy for the main character. His female voices aren't bad either. The hard sci-fi aspects are built around an emotional core of losing a family member to Alzheimer's, but the book is not overly sappy either. It's also got some good spy tech going on. And like all good hard sci-fi, you may actually learn something - in this case, about mycology! Highly recommended! I look forward to the author's next book!

Unique, wonderful when combining fact and fiction

Well developed story. Eases you into the leaps from realities of known biology onto a constantly changing edgenof your seat story.

Interesting biological info, NSA operation and Ft. Meade Amsid?

Interesting fight against fungus infections. Narrators voice clear and very understandable, but I little whines.

the main character was horrible

Good premise. Interesting idea. But the character development was horrible. First, the NSA is an intelligence agency. WHY IS THIS KID TELLING EVERYONE he works for the NSA? It's supposed to be secret. WHY IS HE TELLING EVEN THE PEOPLE HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE WATCHING? That makes no sense.

In the book the protagonist goes up to some girl and basically starts divulging classified information he shouldn't be. Like... WHY. It wasn't even relevant to the plot. At all.

Like don't get me wrong. The concept itself was very interesting. But the protagonist was absolutely CLUELESS. I found myself screaming at the protagonist while listening to the audiobook in traffic because his actions were so nonsensical. And the other people in the cars around me probably thought I was crazy.

And then the ending doesn't make a lot of sense either. I don't want to give away spoilers. So I won't. But the ending doesn't quite fit the premise.

I Caught The Plague Will You

You may have have read books with brain fungi before but not like this. This novel is equal parts science fiction, mystery, and thriller. It has a bit of a slow start but a strong finish, it will keep you guessing until the end. The story is refreshingly realistic with a lot of introspection into the interaction humans have with each other and the world around us.