Scan barcode
A review by weaselweader
We All Fall Down by Daniel Kalla
4.0
“… rats that are immune to plague but can still spread the goddamn Black Death.”
With authors like Tess Gerritsen and Michael Palmer being a pretty sure bet, the literary arena can be a pretty crowded venue for new authors looking to worm their way into the affections of lovers of the medical thriller genre. But, with no small amount of native pride, I can recommend Canadian author Dan Kalla as being worthy of a place of honour on your shelves.
Those who read medical thrillers regularly are only too aware that the field is chock-a-block full of weary derivative plot lines but in We All Fall Down, Kalla has crafted a barn-burner pandemic possibility tale that has a basis unlike anything you’ve ever seen or heard before. Suffice it to say, without treading into spoiler territory, that Kalla’s frightening scenario revolves around the bubonic and the pneumonic plague. And we’re not talking here about any old garden variety plague. Kalla has built a fascinating novel around the possibility of a DNA reprise of the actual “Black Death” virus that wiped out half of medieval Europe in the 14th century. Kalla has also filled the pages with plenty of other issues that keep the plot moving, compelling, believable and poignant in today’s embattled world – misogyny, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, schizophrenia and mental illness, to name only a few.
It’s also worth observing that Kalla is a skilled writer who has a marked ability to convey the science behind his plot in an informative, interesting fashion. No condescension or dumbing down for the masses here. It’s also clear that Kalla’s skills as a thriller writer have come a long, long way since his debut with Pandemic. I’m certainly going to head out to my local bookstore to find one or two of the other novels that formed part of his path between then and now.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
With authors like Tess Gerritsen and Michael Palmer being a pretty sure bet, the literary arena can be a pretty crowded venue for new authors looking to worm their way into the affections of lovers of the medical thriller genre. But, with no small amount of native pride, I can recommend Canadian author Dan Kalla as being worthy of a place of honour on your shelves.
Those who read medical thrillers regularly are only too aware that the field is chock-a-block full of weary derivative plot lines but in We All Fall Down, Kalla has crafted a barn-burner pandemic possibility tale that has a basis unlike anything you’ve ever seen or heard before. Suffice it to say, without treading into spoiler territory, that Kalla’s frightening scenario revolves around the bubonic and the pneumonic plague. And we’re not talking here about any old garden variety plague. Kalla has built a fascinating novel around the possibility of a DNA reprise of the actual “Black Death” virus that wiped out half of medieval Europe in the 14th century. Kalla has also filled the pages with plenty of other issues that keep the plot moving, compelling, believable and poignant in today’s embattled world – misogyny, xenophobia, anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, schizophrenia and mental illness, to name only a few.
It’s also worth observing that Kalla is a skilled writer who has a marked ability to convey the science behind his plot in an informative, interesting fashion. No condescension or dumbing down for the masses here. It’s also clear that Kalla’s skills as a thriller writer have come a long, long way since his debut with Pandemic. I’m certainly going to head out to my local bookstore to find one or two of the other novels that formed part of his path between then and now.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss