Content levels
Trigger warnings
Hero archetypes
Heroine archetypes
Protagonist archetypes
Themes
Synopsis
Across America a mysterious disease is turning ordinary people into raving, paranoid murderers who inflict brutal horrors on strangers, themselves, and even their own families. Working under the government's shroud of secrecy, CIA operative Dew Phillips crisscrosses the country trying in vain to capture a live victim. With only decomposing corpses for clues, CDC epidemiologist Margaret Montoya races to analyze the science behind this deadly contagion. She discovers that these killers all have one thing in common -- they've been contaminated by a bioengineered parasite, shaped by a complexity far beyond the limits of known science.Meanwhile Perry Dawsey -- a hulking former football star now resigned to life as a cubicle-bound desk jockey -- awakens one morning to find several mysterious welts growing on his body. Soon Perry finds himself acting and thinking strangely, hearing voices . . . he is infected. The fate of the human race may well depend on the bloody war Perry must wage with his own body, because the parasites want something from him, something that goes beyond mere murder. Infected is the first major print release from Internet phenom Scott Sigler, whose podcast-only audiobooks have drawn an immense cult following, with more than three million individual episodes downloaded. Now Sigler storms the bookstore shelves with this cinematic, relentlessly paced novel that mixes and matches genres, combining horror, technothriller, and suspense in a heady mix that is equal parts Chuck Palahniuk, Michael Crichton, and Stephen King. Infected will crawl beneath your skin and leave fresh blood on every page.From the Hardcover edition.
Infected: content & age rating
Intended for adult readers (18+).
Parents should know this novel contains extreme graphic violence, body horror with parasitic infection, self-mutilation, and disturbing psychological content. Characters commit brutal murders against strangers and family members, and the protagonist battles parasites growing inside his own body in graphic detail.
What to know going in
This book has graphic violence, no sexual content, and strong language. Content notes include self-harm, suicide, graphic violence, gore, and murder (see the full list above).
Who'll love this
Mature readers who love survival horror and aren't squeamish about graphic body horror will be gripped by Perry's desperate fight against the parasites taking over his body.