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Survivor Song

Paul Tremblay

In a matter of weeks, Massachusetts has been overrun by an insidious rabies-like virus that is spread by saliva. But unlike rabies, the disease has a terrifyingly short incubation period of an hour or less. Those infected quickly lose their minds and are driven to bite and infect as many others as they can before they inevitably succumb. Hospitals are inundated with the sick and dying, and hysteria has taken hold. To try to limit its spread, the commonwealth is under quarantine and curfew. But society is breaking down and …

In a matter of weeks, Massachusetts has been overrun by an insidious rabies-like virus that is spread by saliva. But unlike rabies, the disease has a terrifyingly short incubation period of an hour or less. Those infected quickly lose their minds and are driven to bite and infect as many others as they can before they inevitably succumb. Hospitals are inundated with the sick and dying, and hysteria has taken hold. To try to limit its spread, the commonwealth is under quarantine and curfew. But society is breaking down and the government's emergency protocols are faltering.

Dr. Ramola "Rams" Sherman, a soft-spoken pediatrician in her mid-thirties, receives a frantic phone call from Natalie, a friend who is eight months pregnant. Natalie's husband has been killed—viciously attacked by an infected neighbor—and in a failed attempt to save him, Natalie, too, was bitten. Natalie's only chance of survival is to get to a hospital as quickly as possible to receive a rabies vaccine. The clock is ticking for her and for her unborn child.

Natalie’s fight for life becomes a desperate odyssey as she and Rams make their way through a hostile landscape filled with dangers beyond their worst nightmares—terrifying, strange, and sometimes deadly challenges that push them to the brink.

hardcover, 320 pages

Published July 6, 2020 by William Morrow.

ISBN:: 978-0-06-267916-1
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Reviews

mikerickson@bookwyrm.social reviewed Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay

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4.0 stars

Between this and Bird Box by Josh Malerman, I feel like there's a sub-subgenre of "Remind me to never, ever, ever get pregnant during the apocalypse"-horror.

Something just works for me with books that narratively take place over the course of a single day. Maybe because the single most eventful day of my own life that I can think of was maybe a tenth as packed as what's going on here and certainly way less stressful. The narration juggles between our two protagonists, Natalie (8.5 months pregnant) and Ramola (her former college roommate, current pediatrician), during an outbreak of an extremely fast variant of rabies. People are going feral and biting each other within an hour or two of getting infected, and after an altercation with a stranger, Natalie's husband is killed and she's bitten herself. Immediately we're in a time crunch.

What should be a "simple" trip …

Between this and Bird Box by Josh Malerman, I feel like there's a sub-subgenre of "Remind me to never, ever, ever get pregnant during the apocalypse"-horror.

Something just works for me with books that narratively take place over the course of a single day. Maybe because the single most eventful day of my own life that I can think of was maybe a tenth as packed as what's going on here and certainly way less stressful. The narration juggles between our two protagonists, Natalie (8.5 months pregnant) and Ramola (her former college roommate, current pediatrician), during an outbreak of an extremely fast variant of rabies. People are going feral and biting each other within an hour or two of getting infected, and after an altercation with a stranger, Natalie's husband is killed and she's bitten herself. Immediately we're in a time crunch.

What should be a "simple" trip to the local hospital to rush an emergency C-section turns into a day-long saga. Ramola is a true friend because there are multiple points and challenges that come up in this plot that would have me saying, "this is too fucking much," and bailing on Natalie, but she stuck it out. There are additional characters that ebb and flow within the background as needed, but the central friendship between these two woman - and how far it can be stretched - is the glue that holds it all together.

Not spoiling anything, but the climax at the end had me grimacing so bad and I don't wish that on anyone, but I can't deny that it wasn't a memorable scene or something I didn't see coming from the tone of everything that came before it. Which means I loved it, obviously. But yeah, if you're even thinking about getting pregnant anytime soon, maybe skip this one.

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