"Jack and his friends are in a race against time to save the remaining inhabitants of a postapocalyptic London from a nuclear bomb. Two years after London is struck by a devastating terrorist attack, it is cut off from the rest of the world, protected by a large force of soldiers (known as Choppers) while the rest of Britain believe that their ex-capital is a toxic, uninhabited wasteland. But that's not true. Jack and his friends know that the truth is very different--and incredible: the few remaining survivors in London are changing; developing strange, fantastic powers; evolving. And the Chopper force guarding London is treating the ruined city as its own experimental ground. Now, Jack's powers are growing. His friend Lucy-Anne's powers are developing too, and Nomad--that mysterious woman who started it all--is close by. But the Choppers have initiated their final safeguard--a huge nuclear bomb that will wipe out London, and everyone still within its boundaries. Jack and his friends must spread the news of the bomb and save everyone they can. Before that can happen, Jack must face his father, the deadly Reaper, in their final showdown"--
"Jack and his friends are in a race against time to save the remaining inhabitants of a postapocalyptic London from a nuclear bomb"--
Seventeen hours. That's how long Jack has to save London or the people in it. Seventeen hours until the nuclear bomb goes off to clear out everything that has happened over the last two years. Contagion was a vast improvement over the disappointment of the second book in the trilogy. Instead of being bored and confused, I was eager, anxious, and still a little confused. Jack's powers are developing and multiplying fast, and he's desperately trying to find one that will help him warn everyone about the imminent destruction. There's not enough time though, so he has to work with what he has and team up with the mysterious Nomad and Lucy-Anne.
Once again, the format has changed with Contagion. But I think it's one that works really well and added to the story's sense of urgency. Each chapter counts down an hour until the bomb goes off. As the hours disappear, I found myself getting more and more nervous. I didn't see a way for Jack to disable the bomb and get everyone out of the city. It was going to be an either or situation, and I had a sad feeling about which way it was going to go. However, I never expected that ending at all. Contagion is truly a unique type of ending in this genre. There is no sunshine, rainbows or puppies here. No magical solutions to be found. Just...dang.
I flew through Contagion. It's short and fast paced as it only covers a time span of 17 hours. But it's a hectic 17 hours. All of the things that I was confused over in the previous two books finally come together. I had never liked Lucy-Anne and didn't see her connection to everything, but she finally becomes very important. Not in a direct way, but without her, Jack couldn't have done what he did. This conclusion was almost a 4 star for me, but that ending didn't hit me quite as hard as it could have if this series were more character driven. As it was, it shocked me more for being so far from what I've come to expect from Dystopian novels, rather than any emotional response. However, for that reason alone I'd definitely recommend Toxic City to anyone looking for something different.
