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Burning Road (Plague Tales, Bk 2)
Burning Road - Plague Tales, Bk 2
Author: Ann Benson
From the bestselling author of The Plague Tales comes a spellbinding new novel that sweeps from medieval France to America in the year 2007 -- interweaving two gripping stories and two extraordinary eras.... — In fourteenth-century France, pockets of plague still bring death to peasants and noblemen alike.  Amid the fury and the ...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780440225911
ISBN-10: 0440225914
Publication Date: 7/11/2000
Pages: 720
Rating:
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 39

3.8 stars, based on 39 ratings
Publisher: Dell
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Members Wishing: 1
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

Spuddie avatar reviewed Burning Road (Plague Tales, Bk 2) on + 412 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
Sequel to The Plague Tales, this book continues the stories of Dr. Alejandro Canches in the 1350's and Dr. Janie Crowe in 2007. In the Plague Tales, Janie gets Alejandro's journal and in this book, she begins to learn his story as her own plague story continues to unfold. Somewhat footloose since a sweeping plague killed her husband and daughter a few years previous, Janie tries to get reinstated in her position as a top-notch neurologist instead of working her dead-end job as a research assistant. When she stumbles upon a rare bone defect that seems to be affecting only Jewish boys who attended a certain Hebrew camp, she begins a covert search that can get her in big trouble with the all-pervasive 'Big Brother-esque' government. Excellent read--I really enjoy this type of book where the two stories, one past and one present, are separate and yet intricately connected.
tish avatar reviewed Burning Road (Plague Tales, Bk 2) on + 384 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is the follow up book to The Plague Tales by the same author. not as well done,but a wonderful, yet long read!
the story goes between current times and ancient times in the times of the plague and its aftermath
reviewed Burning Road (Plague Tales, Bk 2) on + 17 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I really enjoyed this book...I love historical fiction, and this book connected history with modern times, and it was a great read.
JujuGirl avatar reviewed Burning Road (Plague Tales, Bk 2) on + 88 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
As in the first book, "The Plague Tales", the 14th Century characters and storyline are more interesting and developed than the 21st Century portion of this book.

This is a must read if you enjoyed The Plague Tales, but the ending is not complete. Two characters just drop out of the story towards the end, leaving their storylines dangling. I wonder if the author just got tired of the book or if this was a very poor cliffhanger tactic to lead into a third book?
vallipow avatar reviewed Burning Road (Plague Tales, Bk 2) on + 40 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
I haven't yet read Benson's The Plague Tales, so I cannot compare its sequel, The Burning Road, to it. This is a historic-fantasy novel, containing romance and aspects of a medical thriller. It alternates between 14th-century France and 21st century Massachusetts. Both settings are threatened by plagues, and in both parts of the novel brave, iconoclastic, and vulnerable physicians are trying to cure people from the pandemic diseases facing their societies while facing great personal risk.

By linking her two physicians through 600 years, Ann Benson skillfully shows us events that both connect and separate these two doctors as they struggle with medical and personal problems.

I found the modern-day chapters full of tension but not as compelling as the chapters set in ancient times; perhaps because the response to the 21st century plague seemed too Draconian, perhaps because Benson didn't present characters who were actually sick with the illness, or perhaps because it was set in the present day, and our actual present does not jibe with the present in the novel.

In contrast, the bubonic plagues of the Middle Ages are a well-documented part of European history, as are the other historic aspects of the 14th century chapters of the book, including the need for many Jews to conceal their status in order to survive in Catholic Spain and France. I liked the chapters set in the Middle Ages much better.
Read All 9 Book Reviews of "Burning Road Plague Tales Bk 2"

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