1977. Bubonic Plague in New York. I read this kind of book more to experience New York City in the seventies than for the plot. This one is especially good for the New York-o-phile as the characters are constantly going uptown and back downtown and the author calls out the streets they use frequently and the sights they pass fairly often too. A large section takes place in Central Park. Also a bonus to me was the involvement of street gangs. The Savage Shadows play a sort of vigilante role after the plague has destroyed the functional city. The plot was compelling. The government response to the problem was about as cynical and unhelpful as it could possibly be.

The racial stereotypes of the time period are thoughtlessly upheld by the author. Harlem in especially hard hit by the plague. Undocumented Cubans and Puerto Ricans mostly. One of the first victims however is a flashy black pimp named "Flash". Another black character is a janitor. Jews are in positions of power including the Mayor.

Nevertheless I found it to be a thoroughly enjoyable and fast read. ( )

A chilling thriller about the outbreak of plague in New York and how it is used by some members of the defence establishment as part of cold war hostilities. I thought the speed of the collapse of New York society was implausibly rapid and the whole action of the novel takes place over just one week. Also some of the historical detail is not accepted by the mainstream of opinion - e.g. the 1348-9 Black Death is here said to have killed 50-75% of the population of Europe as opposed to the generally accepted one third to one half. Gripping stuff. ( )

This is a frighteningly realistic account of a pneumonic plague epidemic in NYC. One of the co-authors (John Marr) was my instructor in epidemiology while I was in medical school in the late 70's, so everything in the book is quite accurate. ( )