The Killing Floor (a novel of The Infection) [Kindle Edition]

A great second book, New ideas, excellent characters. I hope there is a third as it would be great to see how it all plays out. If not this is still a satisfying ending. Mr DiLouie has done a spot on job with the apocalyptic genre and look forward to his next novel

The mystery virus struck down millions. Three days later, its victims awoke with a single violent purpose: spread the Infection.

The sequel to The Infection, The Killing Floor starts with the initial outbreak at the White House. Travis Price is a Science Adviser caught in the midst of it all at the White House. It is four days after the awakening and the beginning of the novel neatly summarises the events surrounding the infection. Travis makes it to one of the chinooks evacuating the White House and makes it on to the chopper as one of the military throws a woman off to make space for him, when he explains his importance to finding a cure. Travis believes that science, not weaponry, is the only way to fight this war.

The narration jumps to three weeks later and we are back at the bridge we found ourselves at the end of The Infection. Here we have Anne and Ray from Camp Defiance fighting like soldiers, yet less than three weeks ago Anne was a housewife. Anne knows Ray is dying, infected by one of the creatures and offers him a mercy killing but Ray refuses, insisting that he wants to live what little life he has left. But Ray carries a different strain of the virus, having been stung, not bitten. Ray is a greater threat than any of the survivors could imagine.

We next catch up with Todd, 'The Kid' from the first book, who is wracked with nightmares after his return as a hero to Camp Defiance. Todd has finally opened up to the other survivors and found himself a home at the camp, but will he stay there, or will the lure of hunting call him?

Each section of the book brings us back to a survivor from the first novel, telling their story in intimate detail. In this novel we have religion discussed by characters (what sort of a god could allow infection to happen) and there is evidence that DiLouie has thoroughly researched the military elements of the story. The language of soldiers from all ranks is authentic, as is the use of weaponry.

The story progresses as Travis is tasked with finding Ray, who carries a live specimen of the infection, so that a cure can be found. The search, involving a number of the characters from the first book, will be tiring and fraught with danger.

As with the first novel, it is brutally realistic, despite the menagerie of monsters that DiLouie has created, which challenge the imagination. Again, DiLouie delivers and although a plot point is resolved, we are left wanting more.

I hate waiting for sequels, but this was worth it. DiLouie's sequel to The Infection makes HP Lovecraft's stories look tame. I had stated in a previous review of The Infection that I wouldn't want to find myself in DiLouie's world; The Killing Floor went one step further and gave me nightmares - specifically, the hoppers...and that's just one of many mutated creatures resulting from the viral outbreak.

While the original novel told the story of six survivors trying to find a safe refuge, with a theme of people turning into monsters figuratively & literally, the sequel dives further into the psyches of several returning characters, as well as a few new ones. The devastated landscapes pale in comparison to the traumatized survivors, and only a couple of months have passed since the day of The Screaming, which has many characters doubting their ability to keep going for much longer.

DiLouie introduces a new twist, with Ray surviving a hopper sting, which has me wondering if Todd recovering from a zombie bite in the first book might become more significant in future storylines. I enjoyed the new angles that DiLouie explored with the infected, the mutations and the theories on the source of the original virus. If the author continues along this avenue, I have no doubt that the third book will be the most exciting of the three.