
The Consciousness Plague
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Narrated by:
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Mark Shanahan
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By:
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Paul Levinson
The Consciousness Plague is about memory, more particularly, how the loss of memory, in slivers of time deducted from a growing number of individuals, can subtly undermine and play havoc with everything from the investigation of serial stranglings to candlelight dinners. Dr. D'Amato, NYPD forensic detective, investigates a spate of unusual cases of memory loss and finds evidence of a bacteria-like organism that has lived in our brains since our origin as a species and may be responsible for our very consciousness.
There's evidence for this consciousness bug in the ancient Phoenician and Viking cultures and everywhere Phil looks in our world. A new antibiotic crosses the blood-brain barrier and inadvertently kills this essential bug. Phil himself becomes a victim of the memory drain, and must struggle to get the proper authorities to pay attention before everyone loses so much memory that they forget that they forgot in the first place.
©2002 by Paul Levinson (P)2004 Listen & Live Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...




















Critic reviews
- Audie Award Finalist, Science Fiction, 2005
"Levinson's intelligent blend of police procedural and speculative fiction should appeal to fans of mystery and science fiction." (Library Journal)
"Intriguing speculation, solid sleuthing, and agreeably baffling suspects." (Kirkus Reviews)
"Levinson handles myth, history, science and police procedures with equal skill, earning high marks for intelligence and originality in the process." (Booklist)
Interesting, but not quite there
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WARNING: DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS BOOK WHILE DRIVING
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I rated this book lower than I would have liked to due to the ineptitude of the reader. I found his reading style to be extremely dull, flat to the point of monotonous. I honestly nearly put it down within a half hour of picking it up - but hung in there, and was glad I did. A better reader would make this story much more interesting, but having held in and continued the book, I found that the ineptitude of the reader was overshadowed by the story itself. I would tend to disagree with the reviewers who say that the character development is not there. Yes, it is first person, which is a difficult writing style to carry off, and could be better handled. However, I do feel that I gained a good insight into the main character and the closest of the secondary players. In point of fact, I found the train scene to be quite amusing. Being a train enthusiast myself may help in that regard, as I am experienced with the sociology of train travel, and could identify with the thought processes which are a more common luxury onboard train rather than the more common car and air travel. Overall a pleasant listen while remodeling my kitchen!
Very smart work
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Mixed Feelings
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I found the exposition clumsy and painful as well - anytime one character brought up something even remotely obscure, the other character would say "Ah yes, you mean..." and then proceed to give us a world history of the obscure topic. People do not talk like that - at least not anyone I know.
Anyway, interesting plot, poor delivery. I'd pass.
Couldn't make it through
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Fun but predictable
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I couldn't help but think that in the hands of a more adept novelist, this would have been outstanding. The dialogue is OK, but the descriptive writing (setting/action) is awkward, particularly when it's to do with the personal relationship between the main character and his girlfriend, which on retrospect is nearly superfluous. Maybe the author added this relationship just to make it seem like the forensic scientist cum hero wasn't a total geekmo. I'm not sure, but I don't think he was really wanting for a sensitive alter ego.
I had five minutes left to finish the book and listened over the car stereo with my husband and kids present. Eye rolling and gagging ensued. I whole-heartedly concur.
Interesting Concept, Poor Story
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Average read
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A very smart sci-fi, mystery.
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So bad I couldn't finish it!
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