I had high hopes based on some of the reviews I read, but this book just did not impress me. There are hints of the original "Alien" movie, which I did enjoy. Mostly I felt dragged along by the story without any character development. There was potential here, but the story felt very incomplete. The best of the entire book was a huge twist in the epilogue, actually the final two sentences.

*Thanks to NetGalley and publishers for this advanced reader's copy in exchange for my honest review.

Have you ever read a book and thought “this would make an amazing movie?”


That thought crossed my mind several times while reading this book. The Apocalypse Strain is a Sci-fi horror book about a pandovirus with a mind of its own. I felt the book was a good cross between Prometheus and The Thing.


In The Apocalypse Strain, a virus named Molli, is found in a Siberian permafrost. A group of mismatched scientists are gathered to analyze Molli in a remote facility originally designed to aid astronauts for mission Mars. The researchers realize that the virus is behaving in ways that it should not be behaving. As the story develops, the virus evolves and the atmosphere gets eerie. The book isn’t for the faint of heart and fair warning that it does get gruesome at times.


The author throws the reader into the story and maintains the fast pacing with jam packed action. It was a non-stop rollercoaster from page one all the way to the very end. The book was, though, similar to most sci-fi/ horror tropes involving a radical virus going rogue.


The Apocalypse Strain has a diverse set of characters that normally do not compliment each other but it works for this book. The reader gets a sense of each one without highlighting each individual character. Clara was by far my favorite character because she is driven throughout.


The endingo leaves a possibility for a sequel which would be completely amazing!!

This book is set in the future, where a group of scientists has accidentally discovered what initially seems to be a virus. Everybody on the isolated and secretive research base seems to have their own agenda. I found it hard to sympathize or relate to any of the characters because of how two dimensional they were. I do want to say, don't read this book while you're eating if you're easily grossed out, because the horror scenes are pretty descriptive.
This was probably not the book for me, it seemed like there was a lot of aimless running and I wasn't really invested in the characters or the situation itself. The way it ended seems to indicate there will be at least one more book following, but not something I am particularly interested in.
I struggled to finish this one.
Thank you to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for this ARC

DNF – 65%

THE APOCALYPSE STRAIN started off really good, I was getting a John Carpenter’s THE THING vibe from the description of the creatures and the way the story played out, though I was hoping it wouldn’t resemble the movie as much as it did.

Also, the dialogue and actions of the characters created a huge disconnect of irritation that pulled me out of the book too many times to continue.

The synopsis of the book was intriguing enough to lead me to believe THE APOCALYPSE STRAIN would be a Horror/Sci-Fi thriller, however, the characterization made the narrative feel anything but suspenseful and bordered on cheesy.

If it weren’t for the seriousness of the scene in beginning, I would almost believe the narrative was meant to be satirical. In one scene, if memory serves, some of the characters are running for their lives when they stop and Anju says ‘Let’s do a scan.’ And to add insult to injury, their all shocked when the entire screen is red. My inner response, to be honest, is ‘Whhhaaaaatttttt?!?’ You’re being chased by infected things, of course it’s going to be red! Plus, now is not the time to see who among you is infected!!’ If the other characters are trying to absorb you, eat you, or whatever, then I would say it’s a given, they’re infected.

I wanted to love this book, but it just didn’t happen.

Thank you, NetGalley and Flame Tree Press, for loaning me with an eGalley of THE APOCALYPSE STRAIN in exchange for an honest review.

THE APOCALYPSE STRAIN is a wildly exciting and engrossing thriller, actually scientific Speculative Fiction, interwoven with Conspiracy theory, violence, death, terror, and well-delineated character. On a mission in Siberia to accustom astronauts and astrobiologists to the eventual polar climate of Mars, one astrobiologist excavates and discovers a millenial-old squirrel's cache. The seeds and other items are examined in a UN-operated laboratory complex in Siberia. Among the cache is a dangerous "pandoravirus".

Over the years (and very recently) I've read many books about viruses infecting humans. While "The Apocalypse Strain" delivers a solid story, it feels a bit bland - a novella stretched to make a longer work, when I'm not sure the story was strong enough to merit it. I am a big fan of Jason Parent and have enjoyed many of his other books, but I do not think this was as good as his usual stuff.

Sergei, a scientist in Siberia preparing for a mission to Mars leads his team to the discovery of a lifetime: preserved seeds containing a frozen virus.

Clara, a microbiologist, and confined to a wheelchair thanks to MS, is invited to the Siberian research station to study the virus, named "Mollivirus Sibericum" - or Molli for short.

While Clara hopes Molli will be able to cure her condition, Molli has an agenda of its own. With the ability to get inside people's heads, Molli is able to "release" itself into the research facility, consuming, controlling and mutating it's hosts as it does so. Molli is a clever, sentient entity.

Fast paced and graphic, this is strongly reminiscent of the classic action-horror The Thing. I give it 3 stars because Horror isn't my thing and I had to put the book down a few times.

~~I received an advance copy of this from NetGalley and Flame Tree Press in exchange for an honest review~~

This novel is amazing. Let’s just skip to the chase, shall we? The book is tight, very inventive, well written, creepy as anything, and I couldn’t stop reading. I am usually a fast reader--but this one truly had me spellbound. It is as good a sci-fi, as good a horror, as good a novel as I have read in some time. Jason Parent blew me away with The Apocalypse Strain.

A joint international project preparing for a Mars voyage has been training in the Siberian tundra. One of their members, Sergei, is still grieving the loss of his daughter when he hears a voice. Her voice. It is coming from underneath the ice. Although he knows this cannot be true, the voice tells him where to bore through the ice.

The stuff they find is taken to a secret Siberian lab, again a joint international project, where it is analyzed and tested. One of the lead researchers is Dr. Clara St. Pierre, a French virologist who has to use a wheelchair due to MS. She and the other researchers nickname one of the viruses “Molly,” a shorter version of the scientific name they’ve given it. What they don’t yet know is that Molly has a mind of her own, and she does not want to remain trapped in a research facility in the cold of Siberia.

What follows is perhaps not surprising: Molly escapes from the sterile clean room and into the larger facility. It would be a rather short and likely boring novel otherwise. But nothing prepared me for the complete and utter disregard Parent has for readers who become fond of his characters. I don’t want to give away too many spoilers, but I will share that not all of our heroes or villains or neutral third parties escape various unpleasant fates. I was constantly reminded of the Feed novels by Mira Grant (one of the pen names used by Seanan McGuire) while reading this novel: she, too, has the unsettling habit of using major characters in her novels as chum for the badness at hand.

I have not read any Jason Parent novels before this one, a void which I intend to fill as soon as I can. The Apocalypse Strain is terrifying and feels plausible because of the power of Parent’s writing (though perhaps a telepathic microorganism is unlikely). It is horror, science fiction, and thriller all bottled up in one compelling book. I am glad I read it.

A Brilliant Research Team Travels to Siberia to Discover New Life Forms – What Could Go Wrong?

Everything. Absolutely everything could and does go wrong in this epic tale penned by the deft and dazzling Jason Parent. The man knows how to turn a phrase and reach into depths unimagined. But for me without that word … you know the one … that’s right “brilliant,” you wouldn’t have any story at all. You see, it’s “brilliant” that gets us into these messes. If you take the average peahen-brained individual and tell them to discover new life forms in Siberia no less, the inferior-brained bipedal shouts, “NO! NO! Just NO!” And if “studying those new life forms” is thrown in the mix, it’s a trigger for them going berserk. Right away, Mr. Normal wants to nuke whatever is found into non-existence, and anyone aiding such insanity right along with it! All the normal brained individual can think of is the last time someone “brilliant” wanted to study something and it turned out to be Ted Bundy. Nothing was gained except learning he killed even MORE people than we imagined! Hint: Much the same happens here!

As for the APOCALYPSE STRAIN, it did have my name smeared all over its pages as it combines two of my most favorite stories ever: THE THING FROM OUTER SPACE and ANDROMEDA STRAIN. I mean, that’s the equivalent of chocolate chip ice cream with hot fudge dripping over it. So I dove in and scarfed it down -- the story not the ice cream -- which was pretty easy to do. The characters are wonderfully developed. Each is quirky in their own way, so when the time comes for this virus to come ambling along, we’re already wondering how they’re going to react to it. And the virus is a character of its own. It even has a name: Molli. Molli lives up to the hype that resuscitates the old question of whether something is a blessing or a curse. I was screaming for these yahoos not to even find out, but would they listen? Absolutely not and that’s what precipitates all the fun—people who refuse to listen.

Highly recommend THE APOCALYPSE STRAIN by Jason Parent. It kept me entertained and guessing. I might have laughed, screamed, and whacked my kindle a few times, but then I’m emotional that way … especially about my horror. If you’re in the mood for a starkly wonderful journey to the unknown and a possible "Howdy" to creation, then this one’s for you!

The Apocalypse Strain is a perhaps unfortunately titled horror-thriller set on a remote Siberian research base, about twenty years into the future. The author can’t have known when he wrote it that by the time his book came out, the world would be paralysed by a virus pandemic which may not actually by apocalyptic, but certainly feels like it sometimes. Unfortunately this may put some readers off, when in fact it’s not about a pandemic, and while yes, the particularly nasty organism featured certainly could bring about the end of the world, this is actually a fun-scary gorefest which channels classic sci-fi like The Thing, Resident Evil, or Alien, and also reminded me of a more recent TV show called Helix.

When a team of astrobiologists training for a mission to Mars dig an ancient animal nest out of the permafrost, a cluster of intriguing viruses are discovered. A varied group of international scientists are brought to the Shakhova-Mendelsen base to study these new “pandoraviruses”, in spite of vocal protests by demonstrators about the risks, so they are protected by an armed security force. Clara, a brilliant French microbiologist, confined to a wheelchair by advanced Multiple Sclerosis, hopes that the mysterious virus they’ve dubbed Molli will lead to a cure for her condition and many others, but then it gets out, and starts infecting people, with terrifying consequences.

I don’t read much horror, and when I requested this based on the cover and title without paying much attention to the blurb, in the early stages of the covid-19 pandemic, thought that it would be a good distraction from the drama unfolding in real life, but then we had to go into Lockdown, and I really wasn’t in the mood for post-apocalyptic type stories. With publication looming I knew I needed to get on with it, and like others was bemused to discover that it was a completely different type of story to what I was expecting, but in a good way.

The strength here is the atypical cast of characters, very different from the usual action-sci-fi standards, and not clearcut good and evil. Clara is an unlikeable heroine, embittered by her disease, introspective, selfish and driven. There’s Monty the jokey Australian security guard, Sergei the bereaved father, psychotic with grief and controlled by a force he doesn’t understand, Jordan the handsome but dweeby botanist, and Anju the kind and beautiful research assistant, ignoring her lecherous boss because she’s so happy to be on the base. Then there’s Dante, Italian terrorist with his own agenda - or is he? You think you know who will survive the carnage to come - but you’ll be wrong!

While the start is a little slow and even slightly confusing, and the nonscience grated on my medical sensibilities, once you let that go and the action gets going it does not let up, and things get seriously gruesome - I worried I’d be having nightmares about slime chasing me down corridors... One touch of your skin by Molli-infected tissue and you’re a goner, and this virus knows exactly what it wants. This isn’t a zombie book, and the monster actually takes many forms, each scarier than the last - it’s not for the faint of heart. It also doesn’t end the way I was expecting. 3.5 rounded up for the unexpected twists.

Thanks to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for the ARC which allowed me to give an honest review. The Apocalypse Strain is published on August 11th.

The premise of this book really interested me. But unfortunately the book as a whole didn’t come together for me. The characters seemed a bit flat and the story didn’t quite flow together.

I have to admit that I was hesitant to read this book, given the current situation. But I took a deep breath and jumped into this story by Jason Parent. I was pleasantly surprised....and totally sucked into this story from the start. This book is NOT about a pandemic.....it's about scientists who discover a new type of virus. Not only is it dangerous.....it's seemingly sentient. And it does not want to be contained.....

I think the best part of this story is the characters and their reactions to the situation. Some want the notoriety of publishing the first papers on a new virus....others are curious....some scared....and at least one is murderous. Different motivations. Difficult decisions. Deadly intentions. When faced with a virus that could end life on the planet, rough decisions would have to be made.

I'm not going to talk much about the plot. This is a story readers have to experience without any spoilers. The one thing I want to stress is that this story is NOT NOT NOT about a pandemic. Don't avoid it like I did. It's more about science....human reactions to crisis....and what would happen if we discovered a virus that's so much more complex than the type that cause influenza or the common cold......or SARS. What if we were facing what could be the end of life for humanity?

Great story! It definitely kept my attention from start to finish. This is the first book by Jason Parent that I've read. I will definitely be reading more!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Flame Tree Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

My thanks to Flame Tree Press, Mr. Parent and Netgalley.
I just can't imagine that in these days of the Covid-19 that it would be easy publishing a book like this. I am one of those Parent fans that love his tales, or not. In truth? I did mostly like this story! I can also say that I also did not like this story! Quite the conundrum!
Unfortunately, the book I read before this was was from one of my favorite authors. He managed to scare the poop from me!
Jason Parent is also a good author. His books are at times iffy. I think this story was released at the wrong time. It's a slog, but it's a decent slog. I never became tired of it. What happened with me was that it just didn't move quick enough! Great story and some really decent characters.
But, I too get antsy! Which means, move, move,move!
n a world where I can't hug or snuggle my daughter? Don't make a book a build up tale. I've hit my limit. Time to shit or get off the pot!
In other words...move it along!

A scientist, on a mission to Mars, is led to a special spot by something more than intuition and there he uncovers a nest of preserved seeds containing something that’s been itching to be released. From there, a group of scientists come together at the remote Shakhova-Mendelsen Siberian Research Center to study what’s been unearthed. The organism is set free and everyone at the center now finds themselves in a fight for survival.

I could see this being released as a TV show or a movie, it just read that way. A little bit like X-Files, Alien, Fringe, and The Thing all rolled into one. The nature of the “virus” was interesting in itself; however, I think it got morphed into to many different things. I don’t want to give away any spoilers but I would’ve preferred one kind of monster with a set of characteristics. I think the idea was that the virus was evolving but I didn’t get that sense with each stage of morphing, it just changed from one grotesque thing into another. We got one back story on a character that seemed a little misplaced, it would’ve done it better justice earlier in the book but I’m glad the author at least chose to include it at all.

Despite that, I enjoyed the storyline. The author spared no details with the gross parts and it was just enjoyable. You certainly get the full picture and extent of what’s happening. If you have a weak stomach, be warned. The two groups of people fighting to escape were very action packed and I was feeling anxious for their escape. I can see how easily paranoia sets in and it felt very real. All the scientists arguing trying to determine who’s infected and who isn’t; and you’re left wondering if it’s real or if they are hallucinating.

All in all, was a short good ride. This is my first book by Jason Parent but I would like to pick up some of his other books.

Thank you to Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I guess it's thank to the current global pandemic that's happening that I was expecting a book that would be dealing with a more traditional disease, possibly an apocalyptic aftermath of an outbreak. But, that's not what The Apocalypse Strain offers, instead it's much closer to body horror movies like The Thing in tone and style.

The story is set in a remote research station in the Siberian wilderness, a facility shit away in one of the coldest and most inhospitable places on Earth. The facility has its own private security, researchers, and even a group of astronauts using the surrounding wilderness to train for their mission to Mars. It's this group of astronauts who discovered an ancient birds nest buried in the ice for 30,000 years, a nest that contains some never before seen viruses.

Whilst this initial setup, finding something ancient buried in the ice, feels very much like John Carpenter's horror classic The Thing the book goes out of its way to make itself feel different in the very first chapter, where we see the astronaut who makes this discovery being spurred on to the location by the ghostly voice of his dead daughter. It makes the book feel creepy from the outset, and shows that this is no normal virus or organism that we're dealing with, but something that's able to get inside people's heads, access their memories, and manipulate them.

After a while this sense of the unknown and more ghostly horror takes a backseat for some downright disturbing moments where the infection spreads through the facility. Mutating and destroying the hosts, this virus can reshape its victims in a variety of ways. Some become monstrous humans, whilst others transform into insect-like monsters, and some even become sentient ooze that chases the survivors through the maze-like halls of the facility. There's no constant to those infected, other than that a horrific fate awaits anyone who the virus touches.

The book gives us a few survivors to root for, and manages to make it so that most of them never feel completely safe, other than the main lead Clara. There are a number of characters who each get moments of heroics, that makes you think they're more likely to make it out alive, only to have them suffer horrible deaths a few chapters later. Jason Parent manages to craft a story where you're always guessing who the next victim might be, and usually not going for the obvious choices.

Clara is clearly the main character though, and thanks to something that happens to her fairly early on it means you never really feel like she's in danger of death. However, I wasn't sure what to make of her when she was first introduced. Clara is disabled and has MS, and the chapter she's introduced has some rather unpleasant descriptions of her condition. Passages like 'the multiple sclerosis had ravaged her body, gobbled up a lithe sprinter and swimmer, and shat out a contorted heap of wasted flesh' and Clara's hatred of her entire life come across as a little abelist. As a disabled person myself these kind of moments always broke me out of the book and made me feel uncomfortable. The author seemed to make the choice that Clara had to hate her existence due to her disability, even wishing herself dead at one point, because they couldn't see a disabled person not being like that. Yes, disability can change your life and take a toll, but it felt a little insulting to imply that you'd be better dead than disabled.

The story also gives Clara a miraculous cure for her condition, and uses this as her reason for suddenly wanting to live again, to no longer feel like her life s worthless because she can use her legs again and fights to stay alive. I don't think that any of this was done maliciously, or even consciously, but this kind of characterisation and narrative definitely contributes to abelism in society.

Overall the story was engaging, it had some interesting characters and had enough twists and turns in the narrative to always make you feel invested. You never get complacent because you never know who will be the next to die, and the book keeps you guessing who will make it out alive right until the end. Fans of horror are sure to find something they love in this book.

Clara St. Pierre is at the top of her field of microbiology and genetics. She is also struggling to cope with her Multiple Sclerosis. The MS has taken her from an athletic sprinter and swimmer to a wheelchair. She hopes that, through her work, she can find a way to help herself and those like her.

Clara has been invited to a state of the art facility in Siberia to work on a giant virus named Mollivirus Sibericum. Clara and the other researchers call this virus Molli. Molli was trapped in the Siberian permafrost for more than 30 thousand years. Clara has high hopes that Molli can be used to further her search for a cure.

Clara soon finds out that Molli is so much more than she and the other researchers thought it was.

I enjoyed this book and I think that readers who like horror and science fiction will enjoy it also. The science is a bit wonky in places but the horror elements more than make up for it.

When a virus is unearthed at a Siberian research facility, little do the excited scientists know what they've really got themselves into, for it is no virus at all... Molli shows a consciousness and starts to spread, consuming every living thing in its way. Soon, the whole complex is on lockdown to keep the virus in - but that also means no one will get out. Nevertheless, a mismatched group of scientists and guards tries to escape the madness. To top things off, a terrorist has entered the facility, intent on following through with his own deadly agenda...

This book was an action packed thriller roller coaster Ride. It had very likable and relatable characters with not so definitive motives and excellent plot twists towards the end. The characters are so layered and well written that if you are fan of Character driven stories , you will definitely be smitten.

Our main character Molli is like an onion peel, full of endless layers and motives and her character development throughout the book is just chef's kiss. I cannot reveal much without giving any spoilers. All I can say is all in all this was very fast paced fun read and if you are a fan of scifi and thrillers, definitely,check it out.

The Apocalypse Strain is an action horror book. It’s hard to write too much about this book without it giving anything away. I must add that this book isn’t about a pandemic but it is about a virus. I quite liked this book and would be keen to read more from this author.

This is a story about Molli! Found in an ancient squirrels nest buried within the Siberian permafrost for more than thirty thousand years! She is one bad bacterium! A research facility turns into a vehicle for Molli’s infectious takeover! A destroyer of worlds or a possible healer from within repairing a persons DNA thus curing them of life threatening diseases!

According to a PBS special that recently aired there is some truth to the unfortunate discovery of Molli! As our world heats up, permafrost that have been frozen for centuries are now beginning to thaw and we don’t know what lies dormant, waiting for release into our atmosphere! Friend or foe?? This was an interesting and entertaining read!

This was fast exciting read. It was pretty scary with monsters, blood gore and guts. An unknown germ virus was discovered and was being studied on a remote research center, when it escapes and infects people there. The characters were kind of flat, good being good and bad being bad, most of them dead anyway by the end of the book as the genre requires. The book has a logical end and a hook to attach a sequel.