THE NEW ABNORMAL by Aaron Kheriaty #TuesdayBookBlog

 4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: recommendation

In a Nutshell: 'Dr. Kheriaty documents how technocrats abused power they never should have been granted and terrified people into surrendering their freedoms. The results of this malfeasance are ongoing. Fortunately, Kheriaty provides indispensable guidance for stopping an emerging biomedical security state from doing even more damage in the future.'

Aaron Kheriaty was a practitioner in California when he first began to suspect that something didn't quite ring true about the version of the pandemic that was being broadcast to the population.  The work is highly detailed, and every paper or source to which he refers is listed in the last 30% of the book.  He uncovers the way in which certain language was used to ramp up the fear, how citizens were encouraged to inform on each other for so-called misdemeanours, how those who wished to exercise their right to informed consent before considering taking the injections were demonised, and, most worrying of all, how anyone in the medical profession who was brave enough to say 'something isn't right' paid dearly for doing so.

He also uncovers the true extent and severity of the virus itself, the efficacy of the injections, how the extent of vaccine injury is being kept under wraps, including the truth about ADE (antibody dependent enhancement) that I read so much about when the shots were first rolled out.  He gives information about who does most of the funding for the WHO (no surprises there) and how the tools used to promote the new religion of 'Scientism' are the same deployed by totalitarian systems.  Kheriaty talks about what's to come and how it can be resisted.  The second half of the book goes too much into philosophy generally, I thought, and was a tad idealistic, but that was the only aspect I was not so sure about.

This is worth buying for the epilogue alone - a story written in the second person about 'you' in the year 2030 - a high level Microsoft employee who loves his biometric sensors that give his 'Social Responsibility Score' to anyone who needs to know it, that monitor his mood, physical exertion, every movement, suggest medication, dietary improvements, etc etc.  At first life seems all fine and dandy, but gradually the cracks start to show ... it's not without humour and is a real gem!

I highlighted loads of passages and could have written pages about this book, but I decided a basic overview would probably be more effective.  If you have any interested in the subjects outlined, I highly recommend this.

PLAGUED by Marie Keates @marie_keates

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon (universal link)
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: Twitter

In a Nutshell: WW1 soldier is invalided home after injury, only to face a feeling of alienation - and the Spanish flu epidemic.

An emotional family drama about one of the hardest times in the 20th Century, Plagued tells the story of Thomas, a soldier who gets a 'Blighty wound' during his time at the front during the last year of World War I.  Having changed in every way from the man who left so joyfully in 1914 - he and his friends thinking that they were setting off on glorious, honourable adventure - he finds integration back into 'normal' life beyond difficult.  Like his friends, he doesn't want his wife to know how hellish the war actually was, but at the same time feels alienated because he has been through appalling experiences that he can't talk about.

This is also the story of Thomas's wife Mary and her many friends who face the hardship of civilian life during a war, of fear that their husbands, sons and brothers will not come home, and finally of the Spanish flu that felled so many at that time.

This is a highly readable book and I looked forward to getting back to it each time I put it down.  So many aspects of the time are dealt with, and the research is evident without being intrusive.  I did have trouble remembering who was who in the large cast of characters - who was married to whom, which children belonged to which mother, but this didn't really matter.

I particularly liked the ending, in 1919, when Thomas and some friends stand by the site of the future cenotaph; it had a sadly poignant ring to it.  If you like wartime family dramas, you'll love this.

SURVIVOR'S CLUB by M K Martin @MKMartinWriter #RBRT

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

Genre: SciFi, genetic engineering, horror.

A brilliant young geneticist, Marius Tenartier, starts work at the top security Chrysalis Biopharmaceuticals.  It seems like he's landed a dream job, but is a bit perturbed by the excessive regulations and the way in which the company appears to expect full life commitment.  The first 20% was brilliant; I was totally engrossed.  It was clear that the author really knows her stuff, and was so well-written, and cleverly, subtly sinister.  Then Marius is sent on a mission to pick up one of the boss's daughters and pick up some samples, and the book turned into something else.  I felt as if it had switched genre from a terrifically convincing scifi thriller into comedy horror, with humans growing tentacles and damsel in distress Miranda's inner thoughts about how hot Marius is when she's strapped to a gurney by a mutating madman.

The book is more people-fighting-monsters-ish than I thought it would be, but of its type it's jolly good.  I liked the writing style a lot, although sometimes the quip-filled dialogue became a little irritating, particularly that of Miranda.  I notice that the author has a military type background and this is clear; this aspect of the novel was highly convincing, as was the medical.  I liked the ending very much; I love a book that surprises and leaves you up in the air in the last chapter, a perfect lead in to the next book.

If you like intelligent scifi/horror and have an interest in horrendous viral outbreaks, I'd most certainly recommend this book.