The Third Pandemic is a novel about the current emergence of antibiotic-resistent bacteria. I've read several books of this genre, and this is certainly one of the best. The book is at times very well written. Noteworthy is that the author employs bizzare kind literary egalitarianism as an interesting literary device: Disease is narated by ALL its participants -- bacteria living in meat, a fly landing on the infected meat and contracting he disease, an infected mouse biting on a person, that person sleeping with someone else and infecting her, etc.

This is not Camus' The Plague; If the author had some profound message to share with his readers, he sure didn't develop it here, but it is a nice and interesting novel nevertheless.

This is my favorite science fiction suspense novel. (Yes, even better than the Michael Crichton novels I love so much.) It is well-written and weaves together a number of riveting plot lines.

What I loved the most is the chilling possibility -- quite realistic -- of the premise ... that a superbug could spread havoc on humanity. Although this possible future is different from the one proposed in the movie The Matrix, it is equally compelling and thought-provoking. Not only did this book entertain me thoroughly, but it has kept me thinking. Bravo!

....

This book was much better then The Blood Artists. There were no slow parts and the way he describes the bacteria is amazing. I am a nurse and I learned something about bacteria.

There's a reason why Hard Science Fiction is called Hard: it's hard to write a book that simultaneously contains plausible science, real people and an interesting, plausible plot. I'm afraid I found Deus Machine failed on the second and third counts. And that is a shame because there are some really wonderful ideas here. This is the first biotech novel I've ever read to capture the true potential (and horrible threat) that a total command of the genetic code would have. It contains an intriguing exploration of the creation of artificial sentience and a very believable look at near-future America. What we have here is a potentially engaging novel. But ultimately this potential is left unfulfilled.

To start with I found the writing style in Deus Machine dry to the point of being cold and alienating. Even the romantic scenes are flat and unemotional. This is a world populated by the dysfunctional, psychotic, dispossessed, depressed and drug dependant--a world where economic downturn, political ineptitude and the crumbling family structure have robbed Mankind of all joy and beauty. In particular I found the characters unsatisfying. Each character has one very specific event or condition that defines their motivations, actions and reactions. For the lead male it's having witnessed a violent shootout at a convenience store, the psychological effects of which destroy both his career and marriage. For the beautiful lead female it's having given birth to a terminally deformed child while she was a teenager. This leads her to become a workaholic biological engineer who's unable to make any emotional connection with other people (until the lead male comes into her life, etc.). The prime antagonist is a homosexual serial killer and power politics broker. His evil biotech henchman is obsessed with the human experiments performed by the Japanese during World War II. The genius computer scientist is an unashamed drug and alcohol addict with a severe authority complex. And on and on.

As far as structure goes, the author has a tendency to hop between disparate scenes that is quite frankly distracting. Yeah, we all know the different characters and scenes will eventually tie together but the author takes far too long in drawing these connections for my taste. And though the author refrains from overuse of fragmented sentences (a brutalization of English that has far too often been accepted by authors, editors and readers as a sign of Art), other structural problems were similarly annoying. The main character, for instance, has a flashback wherein he speaks with his then employer. This scene segues into another where the aforementioned employer meets with the prime antagonist, a meeting of which the main character is totally unaware. And then we are returned to the main character's flashback. Who's flashback is this anyway?

Even these flaws, however, pale when compared to the final discovery of what's-really-going-on. The idea is this (if you plan on reading the book and want to discover this yourself, please do not read the following paragraph): within our genetic code is programmed a safeguard against the building of devises that will allow the creation of custom-made life forms. In other words, when you try to build a biocompiler (a machine that will build a life form from the genes up), our genetic code will create new monsters to destroy the biocompiler or the computer designing such a devise. Where this idea came from, or why anyone would believe it is beyond me. With all the careful scientific extrapolation in this novel, such an implausible plot device is simply inexcusable. Yet precisely this postulation (without any hard proof whatsoever) is immediately accepted by all characters who are introduced to it. Furthermore, there is no explanation of how or why such a safeguard is encoded in our genes. And though obvious theological questions arise from such a postulation, no attempt is made to address them. No one asks, "Hey, does that mean God doesn't want us to create living beings?" How about, "You know, there's no way this code could have evolved by pure chance. Someone or some thing must have purposefully put it in our genes. Ergo, some greater power created all life on Earth!"

In the end, this novel is a complex exploration of emerging technologies that weaves its way to a very unsatisfying conclusion (the ultimate climax, a great build up to a feel-good ending, is disappointing and leaves one totally limp). It is a novel that pays great attention to cold fact and technical detail while turning a blind eye to the transparency of its characters and the implausible nature of its own ultimate premise. In a word: disappointing

The prose in this book is wonderful and it is obviously the product of intense research. The pace is fast and the characters are interesting. The fact that this is Mr Ouellette's first novel is unbelievable. I highly recommend.

I read about 100 books a year, and have done so for over 30 years. The Deus Machine is definitely near the head of my Top Ten List. If you are interested in computers, artificial intelligence, a different and intriguing take on recombinant DNA, or just want a really great read, get a copy of The Deus Machine. (And watch out for the Needle Hounds!)

My only complaint is that the title no longer is available in hardcopy. Pierre's second work, The Third Pandemic (also truly excellent), can still be had in its hardcover version.