'When you have to kill the same terrorist twice in one week, then there's either something wrong with your skills or something wrong with your world. And there's nothing wrong with my skills.'
Police officer Joe Ledger, martial arts expert, ex-army, self-confessed brutal warrior is scared. The man he's just killed is the same man he killed a week ago. He never expected to see the man again, definitely not alive, and definitely not as part of the recruitment process for the hyper-secret government agency the Department for Military Sciences. But the DMS are scared too: they have word of a terrorist plot straight from a nightmare - a bid to spread a plague through America - a plague that kills its victims and turns them into zombies.
Time is running out and Joe has shown he has the abilities they need to lead one of their field teams.
And so begins a desperate three-part mission - to contain the zombie outbreaks, to break the terrorist cell responsible and to find the man in their own team who is selling them out to the terrorists.
Patient Zero is astonishingly fast moving, incredibily violent and down-right terrifying thriller - a new breed of thriller of techo-thriller that plays on our fears of mad science.
**
Review
“I had a fine old time reading PATIENT ZERO. Jonathan Maberry has found a delightful voice for this adventure of Joe Ledger and his crew: while the action is heated, violent, and furious, the writing remains cool, steady, and low-key, framing all the wildness and exuberance in a calm rationality (given an almost comic edge) that renders it as palatable as your favorite flavor of ice cream. This is a lovely feat, and Maberry has written a memorable book.” ― Peter Straub
“Patient Zero is high-octane excitement from beginning to end, and the start of a fabulous new series. Joe Ledger and the DMS have my vote as the team to beat when combatting terrorist threats on a grand scale.” ― David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of FIRST BLOOD and CREEPERS
“Scary, creepy, and gripping--PATIENT ZERO is 'Night of the Living Dead' meets Michael Crichton.” ― Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of Power Play
“A fast-paced, creepy thriller that as prickly as a hospital needle and sounds a little too convincing. This guy is good.” ― Joe R. Lansdale
“Brutal action, insanely intelligent, and so real that the hair on the back of your neck stands up!” ― L.A. Banks, The Vampire Huntress Legends Series, New York Times Best-selling Author
Review
"24-with-Zombies. The plot is simple but completely gripping. The pace breakneck. One of the most exciting thrillers we've read in years and arguably the greatest zombie novel." -- Sam Ashurst SFX "A well written, often insanely paced and utterly compelling piece of entertainment. But the real joy of this novel is the plot: occasionally implausible, but unfailingly gripping, it makes for the same sort of breathless guilty pleasure as reading a James Patterson novel." -- Steve Robinson DEATHRAY "To state that, with Patient Zero, Jonathan Maberry has written an excellent thriller with horror trappings is misleading. On the other hand, to say he's composed a fine horror novel with thriller aspects isn't quite right, either. Perhaps, it is most appropriate to simply conclude: The man has succeeded in his goal." FANGORIA "Patient Zero is a terrific action/horror novel that effortlessly and absolutely satisfies the requirements of both genres. It's also, and I say this without making light of the fact, a truly post 9/11 zombie novel, and all the more terrifying for it." HORRORSCOPE "Patient Zero is definitely a zombie story for the twenty first century, it has big ideas and it's right there in your face (trying to bite it off). If you like zombie fiction then I reckon you'll enjoy this." GRAEME'S FANTASY BOOK REVIEW "An accomplished thriller which overcomes its dafter aspects to become an enjoyable novel." SFF CHRONICLES "Patient Zero ticks all the turn-the-page buttons with action blasting into being at exactly the right junctures. Patient Zero does feel like something new, but in reality it's a hybrid that revolves around Maberry's ability to successfully incorporate horror elements into a contemporary post 9/11 hotbed of political intrigue, global corporate aspirations and military/national wills." BOOK GEEKS "Fits well into the Tom Clancy techno thriller world: it just happens to be zombies not terrorists who are the enemy! The action is well written, with some very tense sequences that don't stint on the necessary gore. If you're after a fast-paced action thriller with a high violence quotient, Patient Zero fits the bill." DREAMWATCH TOTAL SCI-FI "Patient Zero is a fast-paced thriller that's amongst the best of its genre, and which will win the writer many new readers, plaudits and perhaps awards - and deservedly so." STRANGE HORIZONS
Description:
'When you have to kill the same terrorist twice in one week, then there's either something wrong with your skills or something wrong with your world. And there's nothing wrong with my skills.' Police officer Joe Ledger, martial arts expert, ex-army, self-confessed brutal warrior is scared. The man he's just killed is the same man he killed a week ago. He never expected to see the man again, definitely not alive, and definitely not as part of the recruitment process for the hyper-secret government agency the Department for Military Sciences. But the DMS are scared too: they have word of a terrorist plot straight from a nightmare - a bid to spread a plague through America - a plague that kills its victims and turns them into zombies. Time is running out and Joe has shown he has the abilities they need to lead one of their field teams. And so begins a desperate three-part mission - to contain the zombie outbreaks, to break the terrorist cell responsible and to find the man in their own team who is selling them out to the terrorists. Patient Zero is astonishingly fast moving, incredibily violent and down-right terrifying thriller - a new breed of thriller of techo-thriller that plays on our fears of mad science. **
Review
“I had a fine old time reading PATIENT ZERO. Jonathan Maberry has found a delightful voice for this adventure of Joe Ledger and his crew: while the action is heated, violent, and furious, the writing remains cool, steady, and low-key, framing all the wildness and exuberance in a calm rationality (given an almost comic edge) that renders it as palatable as your favorite flavor of ice cream. This is a lovely feat, and Maberry has written a memorable book.” ― Peter Straub “Patient Zero is high-octane excitement from beginning to end, and the start of a fabulous new series. Joe Ledger and the DMS have my vote as the team to beat when combatting terrorist threats on a grand scale.” ― David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of FIRST BLOOD and CREEPERS “Scary, creepy, and gripping--PATIENT ZERO is 'Night of the Living Dead' meets Michael Crichton.” ― Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of Power Play “A fast-paced, creepy thriller that as prickly as a hospital needle and sounds a little too convincing. This guy is good.” ― Joe R. Lansdale “Brutal action, insanely intelligent, and so real that the hair on the back of your neck stands up!” ― L.A. Banks, The Vampire Huntress Legends Series, New York Times Best-selling Author
Review
"24-with-Zombies. The plot is simple but completely gripping. The pace breakneck. One of the most exciting thrillers we've read in years and arguably the greatest zombie novel." -- Sam Ashurst SFX "A well written, often insanely paced and utterly compelling piece of entertainment. But the real joy of this novel is the plot: occasionally implausible, but unfailingly gripping, it makes for the same sort of breathless guilty pleasure as reading a James Patterson novel." -- Steve Robinson DEATHRAY "To state that, with Patient Zero, Jonathan Maberry has written an excellent thriller with horror trappings is misleading. On the other hand, to say he's composed a fine horror novel with thriller aspects isn't quite right, either. Perhaps, it is most appropriate to simply conclude: The man has succeeded in his goal." FANGORIA "Patient Zero is a terrific action/horror novel that effortlessly and absolutely satisfies the requirements of both genres. It's also, and I say this without making light of the fact, a truly post 9/11 zombie novel, and all the more terrifying for it." HORRORSCOPE "Patient Zero is definitely a zombie story for the twenty first century, it has big ideas and it's right there in your face (trying to bite it off). If you like zombie fiction then I reckon you'll enjoy this." GRAEME'S FANTASY BOOK REVIEW "An accomplished thriller which overcomes its dafter aspects to become an enjoyable novel." SFF CHRONICLES "Patient Zero ticks all the turn-the-page buttons with action blasting into being at exactly the right junctures. Patient Zero does feel like something new, but in reality it's a hybrid that revolves around Maberry's ability to successfully incorporate horror elements into a contemporary post 9/11 hotbed of political intrigue, global corporate aspirations and military/national wills." BOOK GEEKS "Fits well into the Tom Clancy techno thriller world: it just happens to be zombies not terrorists who are the enemy! The action is well written, with some very tense sequences that don't stint on the necessary gore. If you're after a fast-paced action thriller with a high violence quotient, Patient Zero fits the bill." DREAMWATCH TOTAL SCI-FI "Patient Zero is a fast-paced thriller that's amongst the best of its genre, and which will win the writer many new readers, plaudits and perhaps awards - and deservedly so." STRANGE HORIZONS