One of the things I look for in a good thriller is
the "engagement" factor. What is this you might ask? It
is my way of determining whether a book is good or not -
and the rules are quite simple.
If I feel as though a chapter feels like an entire book,
then the engagement factor is simply not there.
THE NINTH DAY made me feel as though reading a chapter was
the same as reading one page - a very, very good sign.
This book is incredibly engaging - once the author
introduces us to the main characters. Fortunately, this is
done quickly and well, leaving us with a story that manages
to hit every trigger of fear that I have! It was wonderful.
One of our main characters, Emma Caldrige finds herself in
Mexico, dealing with human cargo, drug lords who are
threatening to kill her, and a deadly infection that made me
cringe and check my skin, every time mention was made of it
in the story.
Nothing, in my opinion, is better than a plot where
pandemics and racing against the clock are the central
characters - and this book has it in droves.
Will Emma be able to find the cure before it is too late?
This is the undercurrent of the book and pretty much
carries the story through. I have to say that the
author does sprinkle a few hints throughout, but I also
found myself guessing the entire time - will she or won't
she? What will happen with the drug lords even if she
does?
There is something for everyone here - drugs, murder, and a
deadly infection. This book goes at warp speed and does
not stop until the very last sentence and I loved every
moment of it.
In less than nine days, terror crosses the border . . . Hiking in Arizona, biochemist Emma Caldridge inadvertently interrupts the operations of dangerous traffickers in human cargo—and is chased south into the arms of millionaire drug merchants. Suddenly a prisoner of Mexico’s most feared cartel, Emma makes a shocking discovery in the marijuana fields outside Ciudad Juarez: plants rotting with a flesh-eating toxin that causes a truly horrible death within nine days of exposure. And there is no antidote. The cartel believes that U.S. agents contaminated the plants, and, determined to make their enemy pay, they prepare to spread their lethal product across America. Emma Caldridge searches desperately for a cure, but time is running out more quickly than she anticipated. For Emma herself has been infected—and, barring a miracle, she will die before the terrible dawning of . . .