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The Plague Tales
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The Plague Tales
Author: Ann Benson

Book Information
Publisher: Dell
Book Type: Paperback
Members Wishing: 1
Rating:

ISBN-13: 9780440225102 - ISBN-10: 0440225108
Publication Date: 5/11/1998
Pages: 688


Other Versions of this Book: Hardcover, Audio Cassette

Book Description:
It is history's most feared disease.  It turned neighbor against neighbor, the civilized into the savage, and the living into the dead.  Now, in a spellbinding novel of adventure and science, romance and terror, two eras are joined by a single trace of microscopic bacterium--the invisible seeds of a new bubonic plague.

In the year 1348, a disgraced Spanish physician crosses a landscape of horrors to Avignon, France.  There, he will be sent on an impossible mission to England, to save the royal family from the Black Death....

Nearly seven hundred years later, a woman scientist digs up a clod of earth in London.  In a world where medicine is tightly controlled, she will unearth a terror lying dormant for centuries.

From the primitive cures of the Middle Ages to the biological police state of our near future, The Plague Tales is a thrilling race against time and mass destruction.  For in 2005, humankind's last hope for survival can come only from one place: out of a dark and tortured past.

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Top Member Book Reviews

Jody A. wrote on 5/15/2007...

5 member(s) found this review helpful.

The Plague Tales consists of two parallel stories: one an account of a king's physician in 14th-century England, the other a tale of futuristic London--a time when antibiotics no longer cure and "Bio-Cops," empowered to exterminate those suspected of carrying disease, prowl the streets.

Earlene S. (DESERTMOM) wrote on 2/23/2007...

4 member(s) found this review helpful.

This is a very intriguing story that takes place in Midevil times and present times and how they come together in the end. I didn't know how it was going to end and really enjoyed the outcome of it.

Amanda G. (momg24k) wrote on 12/26/2006...

4 member(s) found this review helpful.

Two novels in one, set hundreds of years apart. In the last pages of the book, the point at which the two stories intersect is made plain. Both stories held sufficient tension to keep my interest in each separately. (Sometimes when I read books with separate plot lines, I'm bored by one storyline and resent the reading time spent in it when I could be reading the other! :) That was not the case with this book.)

D. B. (Mahala) wrote on 11/27/2006...

4 member(s) found this review helpful.

A really neat story and I enjoyed it alot. It moves between a physician during the great plague and modern day researchers who unknowingly start another black death.

Radhika M. (radhika) wrote on 8/31/2006...

3 member(s) found this review helpful.

A great commuter read, fast paced, but at the same time it has some great quite moments you can appreciate.

MarySue M. wrote on 11/14/2005...

3 member(s) found this review helpful.

Part historical,part futuristic adventure...chock-full of curious lore and considerable suspense.
Anyone who likes knowing how "cures" were done in the olden days,will enjoy reading this.Great for school reports.

Tish O. (tish) - NJ wrote on 7/30/2006...

2 member(s) found this review helpful.

this is a wonderful book that spans hundreds of years. there are 2
ongoing stories;one set in 2005 (called the future as this book was
written in the 90's) in England. the entire world fought the good
fight
with diseases and there are many people who did not make it. no
antibiotics work anymore and many medical professionals are being
re-trained in other areas.
the other story is set in Span and England during the plague times.
the
main character is a jewish doctor who is hiding from the
christians. he
finds himself in England being the physician to King Edward and the
royal family.

there are a few romances along the way.

Sue K. (Bossmare) wrote on 10/13/2005...

2 member(s) found this review helpful.

This is one great book, keeps you reading and on the edge of your chair!

Kim M. (Eucalia) wrote on 6/27/2009...

1 member(s) found this review helpful.

The is two interconnected stories about outbreaks of the bubonic plague in England--one set in the near future and one set in 1348. The stories were somewhat interesting with characters you might care about, but somehow I just couldn't suspend belief enough to get into this. And things just got more outrageous as the story progressed--especially the near future story. For starters, characters fell in love and changed long-held beliefs at the drop of a hat. Then they did totally unbelievable things--I'm sorry, but I don't care who you are, when you find you lover-of-the-week's boss's corpse decomposing in your missing research assistant's hotel room, are you really going to cut off his rotting hand and put it in your briefcase for a ride on the subway instead of notifying some sort of authorities? And why do none of the doctors or microbiologists who specialize in infectious disease have any inkling of what Yersinia pestis is without looking it up? Did nobody with any medical background proofread this book before it went to print? A couple of doctors talk about intubating a patient but instead insert an orogastric tube. And that's just a few of the myriad examples of the ridiculousness found in this book. Perhaps if you have as little medical background as this author does, this won't bother you as much as it did me. A little more research on the part of the author and a lot more care taken with what a real person might do would've gone a long way with this story. Overall this book was ok, but the high points weren't that high and I found lots of it to be quite aggravating.

Debra L. (countrylane) wrote on 7/8/2008...

1 member(s) found this review helpful.

This novel is about history's most feared disease: the Black Plague. This book is a tale of adventure and science. It joins two eras, 1348 and 2005, by a single trace of bacteria. This is a story of a race against time and mass destruction. If you enjoy forensics, medicine and darn good mystery-this is a must read! The author expertly blends the two time periods so the reader does not get lost and confused (as I sometimes do when they try this). I was fascinated by the comparison of how death and disease is treated-then and now. I liked this book and will read this author's works again.


Please Rate these Book Reviews

Barb J. (spacecat) wrote on 8/20/2007...


Excellent book.

Brenda W. wrote on 5/4/2006...


Makes you think

Maryann K. (mckorz11) wrote on 3/20/2006...


Great book!

Christa B. (romeo) wrote on 3/20/2006...


It's history's most feared disease. It turned neighbor against neighbor, the civilized into the savage, and the living into the dead.It starts out in the year 1348 and ends naerly 700 years later.


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