WHAT. THE. FUCK?!Um. I was excited to read this book because few many people said it's zombie. I WAS LIKE, HELL YEAH!Well, nope...OK...I think this book...well, what I think of this book...When Perry were trying to get things out of his body...SKIN...THAT'S DISGUSTED AT THE END OF BOOK, I was like..I don't want the damn thing inside of my body...I REPEAT, WHAT. THE. F.U.C.K.!

This book has been on my wishlist since 2008, but it just never really made its way into my hands. Until now, when we have a couple things align to make that happen. The first thing that it's October. I love October - it's my favorite reading month, the month when I read all sorts of demented horror-y stuff all month long and don't feel a bit guilty about it. Err... not that I do anyway, but, y'know, I try to vary my reading and stuff. So, right, October, horror required. Check. The next thing is that I've been working on a couple different knitted projects lately. One of them I wanted to get done soonish as I need to mail it out to someone as a gift, and so, I needed to multitask. I am not of the accomplished Knitter's Guild level 60, and therefore I gotta look at what I'm knitting. So reading is out, unless it's an audio. So, I headed over to Audible, where I poked around a while, and listened to some samples and finally decided on Infected. Download complete, I can be productive while getting my horror fix in, and this makes Becky a happy girl. So, on to my review. I admit that I did not care much for the reading of this one, mainly due to the character voices. It's read by the author and I'm rather, err, finicky when it comes to audiobook readers. The reader is almost always something that I discuss when reviewing an audiobook. The voices that Sigler gave the characters just didn't seem to fit the characters much to me. Dew especially. To me, the way he was read sounded like George W. Bush, and... well, that's just weird. I'm guessing that maybe he was going for a kind of commanding presence type, the kind that doesn't need to raise his voice to make people sit up and pay attention. The type that has that deadly charisma that makes people uneasy for unknown reasons, you know? But the actual voice didn't do any of this for the character, and so it kept throwing me off. Likewise, Margaret Montoya's voice was wrong for her, too. Aside from the female voices in general, I just didn't really get Margaret's having a Hispanic accent, considering that she grew up (or at least went to school) in the US. And then, when she's supposed to be kind of ruthless and demanding to get her way, it was hard for me to believe, because instead of sounding stern and serious, she sounded shrill and scared. Not everyone is cut out to do voice work though. I am almost positive that I am not, despite my nitpicking ability when listening to others. Stephen King is not. I love his books and his writing, but I cannot listen to his reading voice for any length of time. I have my fingers crossed that a new audiobook version of Bag of Bones will be put out one day, read by someone else. His talent is writing, not reading, that's all. That being said, I did enjoy Sigler's main narrative reading. I thought the tone and the pacing and even the little bits of irony or humor were great, and these sections (most of the book, truthfully) kept me engaged and interested in the audio. And there were voices I liked, after they grew on me. Perry is one of those, as is Otto. I thought that both sounded a bit too deep and slow initially, but then after a while, I adjusted to them and ended up liking them both. Otto, though, reminded me of someone else's voice, and I just couldn't place it until almost the end of the book, when it came to me that he sounded exactly like Darnell from My Name Is Earl. Kinda reminded me of him character-wise as well, honestly. I like Darnell and I liked Otto. I'm hoping he has a bigger role in the second book. Last thing regarding the audio itself (promise!). I'm not a fan of performance audiobooks. I don't mind full cast audios, but I don't generally like sound effects and whatnot in them. To me it's distracting and weird. I just want the story, no bells, no whistles. But the way the Triangles were handled was great. I liked it quite a lot. Very creepy, especially when unexpected at 3am and the effect is just the smallest 'What the fuck was that?!' sound -- at least at first. It grew, obviously, but at first I thought I was hearing things. VERY CREEPY. I think, creep-out factor wise, it seemed like it would be much more effective in audio than print. Storywise, I really enjoyed this one. Different parts reminded me of other things that I've enjoyed, and it was interesting to find these comparisons while listening. Some off of the top of my head would be Outbreak, Dreamcatcher, The Shining, and the TV show Heroes. I am not sure if these were intentional "homages" or if they are just coincidental, but either way, it worked for me. I did like most of the characters too. I very much liked Perry, and right from the start I connected with him. Maybe that's proof that there's something wrong with me, because I liked him because of the meanness in him that he tries to overcome. That history of abuse and anger issues and aggression that he worked so hard to control in himself drew me in and I immediately liked him for the mere fact of trying to be better, and to break the cycle and not be the same person his father was. Later on, I was kind of in awe of him, for his sheer willpower and strength of mind. My goodness... the things that he endured... Yikes. I stub my toe and I practically need a Jazzy so I can get around. This dude is freaking superhuman when I think of the massive amounts of pain and mutilation he dealt with. I was definitely rooting for him, and though things turned out differently than I'd hoped, I'm satisfied with the resolution, and look forward to reading the 2nd book to see where things pick up with the rest of the cast. I also liked that Sigler didn't pull many punches with the violence or gore. It seemed like the perfect amount, and when things were hinted at, it was done in a way that worked just as well, if not better, than spelling everything out might have. There was only one cringeworthy moment for me, which was Perry's career-ending injury, but thankfully that was just a passing reference. *shudder* Yeesh. Where's my Jazzy? I have sympathy pains! I thought that the pacing was great, and that the tension kept on ratcheting up. I liked how the narrative toggled between different people and kept tabs on all. I thought it worked well here. There were a few times that I thought one person (usually Perry) hogged the focus a little too long, but usually very shortly it'd shift and catch us up on the others. I wasn't bored, that's for sure, even in the more technical or medical explanatory sections. These were handled well, too, I might add. A little bit of info-dump, but necessary and relevant and I'm glad they were there. And they were only inserted as necessary, so as the story progressed, so did our understanding of the Triangles, which is as it should be. Overall, I enjoyed this and will definitely be picking up the 2nd book. Horror October 2011: #4

dude if you can't even read your own novel effectively then hire someone! I for one am not a fan of overly emphatic narration that sounds like the reader has too much saliva in their mouth. and it's right there inside of my ears. spit or swallow, Sigler! it was so gross that I didn't even have a chance to get grossed out by the plot itself. and I doubt! that every sentence! ends! in an exclamation! point! or a breathy whisper. even worse: female characters voiced by the author as high-pitched ninnies who sound all too much like Minnie Mouse.this is my second and probably last audiobook. I really don't get the appeal. clearly they are not for me. ugh!

The government has been tracking a strange disease with numerous outbreaks in the Michigan area. The infected seem to go insane and kill people before violently killing themselves, and by the time the head CDC researchers get to the bodies, they are in a state of rapid decomposition and they have found barely enough evidence to show that there is some kind of foreign parasite involved. They find the infected through use of the word "triangle."Perry, a former football star and recovering rage-aholic, has a few itches, no big deal. Then he starts scratching himself raw. But when blue triangles start forming underneath his skin, he wants them out... even if he has to cut them out himself. The bigger question is: what are these blue triangles, and why are they talking to him?I've been wanting to read this for a while, since I used to read Scott's postings on the AMC horror movie blog. This was a thrilling, gory, gross-out read. I found myself itching a little more than normal while reading... and definitely making some weird faces during the more disgusting passages (and I love gore!). The chapters were short and moved along speedily toward the crazy end - or should I say beginning? I liked that some of the chapters were all about how the parasites worked. These sections reminded me of Peeps by Scott Westerfeld, with all the information about how parasites affect the host and control their behavior - they could be companion novels. One cool thing is that the website the government sets up to attract the infected actually exists (although I did not send in a message with my symptoms...). And there's a link to the CDC website if you want to read about the real-life disease this is based on.

5 StarsNot sure where to begin, but one place I can start.... the gore. I have read bloody things before; but the mutilation even made me wince; and that is saying something. This book is about infection gone astray, awry, ballistic, crazy, on acid, on uppers, on downers, on some real -ish. See there are these minute "seedlings"...and they get in your system; once there...bad things start to happen. This book is not for the squeamish, so tread lightly. It is, however, perfect for horror/sci-fi readers; who love this shit. It is so fun, so icky.