REVIEW: King of Plagues (Joe Ledger #3) by Jonathan Maberry Kindle Edition

King of Plagues by Jonathan Maberry
Publishers Information: Kindle
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffen
ISBN 10: 0312382502
ISBN 13: 978-0312382506
ASIN: B004H1TM1Q
Series: Book 3 In the Joe Ledger Series
Copy: Out of Pocket
Reviewer: Tyson

Synopsis: "Reeling from the tragedy at the end of Ledger The Dragon Factory, Joe is pulled back into the DMS after the Royal London Hospital is destroyed in a terrorist attack. The group The Seven Kings is responsible, and they hit with more attacks, paralleling the seven plagues of Egypt, and go after Ledger and the DMS."

It has been a while since I last checked in with Maberry's Joe Ledger, but I am glad I did. Ledger has faced off against lab created zombies and human/animal hybrids already but after the death of his beloved he is drawn back in to face the latest threat, the biblical plagues from Egypt. Even with Ledger reeling from the loss of his girlfriend, he does his best to get back to work and stop the bad guys from taking over the world.

One thing that I really enjoyed about this particular novel was one chapter was sent in the present day while the next was set at the very beginning as the plans for global domination by the evil group known as the Kings begins to take shape. It allowed us a glimpse behind the curtain as recent events caught up with the past. While not exactly a mystery it did have a fairly mysterious feel to it. It was a nice effect and if the action won't keep you reading late at night (and it will) then the mystery should. However, when things are finally revealed, I did feel as though the big "secret" could have been kept a little longer as it lessened the impact of the ending, but only slightly.

The Kings are an eclectic bunch of individuals and their individual motivations for being apart of the group is interesting none are more interesting than the Queen, who heads the group and her lover, Sebastian Gault. Between the mystery that is the queen and Gault (and Toys) we have several worthy opponents for Ledger to tackle. Those of you Ledger faithful may recall that Gault and Toys have a history with our hero Joe.

Joe also has a new partner, Shadow, his well trained canine companion. It was a nice addition to the story line and something you rarely see in our adventure books these days. Shadow's introduction into the series is great. As a huge dog lover I thought it was a perfect fit and partner for Joe. There are also a few more new characters that have been added to the series and I look forward to learning more about them as the series continues. The story should continue as there is a bit of a cliffhanger at the end. Fans of the series should enjoy these newest edition to the legend that is Ledger. Recommended.

Plot 8/10
Characters 8.5/10
Style 7/10

Overall 7.5/10

Joe Ledger May Be Coming to ABC

From Deadline.com:

ABC Puts 5 Projects In Active Development

EXCLUSIVE: While gearing up for the upfronts over the past few weeks, ABC also opened a second, slower track for projects it wanted to spend more time on off-cycle. I hear five hourlong scripts are on the so-called spring development list, which is expected to yield two pilot orders this summer. The list includes Charlie’s Angeles, from Sony TV, with new writers Al Gough and Miles Millar, another Sony drama, Javier Grillo-Marxuach’s Department Zero, as well as three projects from ABC Studios: the Taye Diggs-produced family cop drama Behind the Blue; the ghost-themed Ghostworld, from Ghost Whisperer executive producers Ian Sander and Kim Moses; and the Matthew Gross-produced medical male buddy show Island Of Women. Additionally, Rand Ravich’s pilot Edgar Floats, which just received an order for six additional scripts, is also a major part of ABC’s midseason plans, which we may hear more about this week. (On the comedy side, the network had been mulling new pilots for Wright vs. Wrong and Awkward Situations For Men.)
 
Behind the Blue, from Diggs’ ABC Studios-based company O’Taye Prods was written by Scott Veach. The character drama is set in Austin and follows a family of police officers – a female Chief of Police and her four adult children, all of whom are in some facet of politics and/or law enforcement. Grillo-Marxuach is working on a second draft for Department Zero, which is based on the best-selling Joe Ledger novels by Jonathan Maberry. Described as is a high-octane techno-thriller, the project centers on the Department of Military Sciences - a special unit that fights enemies armed with cutting-edge technology. Ghostworld, written by What About Brian creator Dana Stevens, is about a ghost on the other side who helps an ambitious young female homicide detective solve crimes in the hopes of uncovering clues to his own life and death and centers on the mysterious, intense and sometimes infuriating connection the two feel toward each other. In addition to developing Ghostworld, ABC is still in talks with ABC Studios about possibly picking up the Sander/Moses produced Ghost Whisperer,Island of Women, written by The Days creator John Scott Shepherd, revolves around three male surgeons who share office space but nothing of their personal lives with each other until a perfect storm of romantic catastrophes and a lot of alcohol makes them finally turn to each other for support. which was canceled by CBS.

This is great news for Jonathan Maberry fans as Joe Ledger is one step closer to being to on the television.  Stay tuned for more information as it becomes available and tomorrow will be our exclusive interview with Jonathan Maberry.