American Fever: A Tale of Romance & Pestilence

REVIEWS

Woodstock Times

"While ostensibly a fictional piece, this work about a young flu fighter huddling at home in New York, blogging about a devastating avian flu pandemic as he sells masks, gloves, and goggles over the internet, spirals into government interference, massive global chaos, and all the worst fears we’ve been experiencing as we witness news of a new pandemic spreading out from Asia."
— Paul Smart, Feb. 20, 2020

Kirkus Review of American Fever

“A modern take on Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year ... The novel is well researched and notable for pointing out what we know, or perhaps more importantly don’t know, about influenza ... perfectly captures the unique tone often struck by even the most professional bloggers ... intimate slices of life amid the horror, inspirational impressions of perseverance and survival in a time of great crisis.”

The Midwest Book Review

"American Fever: A Tale of Romance & Pestilence is a charged novel written in the format of a day-to-day blog ... Biting political commentary interlaces the suspenseful, near-apocalyptic main narrative ... Suspenseful and terrifying, American Fever will keep the reader glued to the page until the very end."

Publishers Weekly PW Select (April 2012)

"Confident ... Compelling"

Avian Flu Diary: 'It Gives You Fever'

"Amid blogging the sound and fury of this past week’s controversial bird flu news, I’ve spent a number of good hours enjoying a freshly minted copy of Peter Christian Hall’s pandemic novel American Fever ... The web version remains online (edited, tightened up, and better than ever) which you can access for free, but now there is an e-book, and a printed version you can purchase ... For my part I’ll say that I thoroughly enjoyed the novel, and actually learned (and in some cases re-learned) a few things about flu in the process. I do hope that Peter’s dark vision of what happens to outspoken flu bloggers during an H5N1 pandemic never comes to pass. I keep repeating to myself . . . It’s only fiction . . .

Bottom line: American Fever – catch it, before it catches you.
— Mike Coston

TeleRead Review by Court Merrigan

"By far the best stab at the future of the novel I've seen ... Hall taps into a deep literary vein of paranoia ... This novel-as-blog soon had me wiping down every surface in reach with disinfectant ... You're missing something if you miss American Fever ... Someday when we’re reminiscing fondly on the dawn of e-books, American Fever may very well occupy pride of place among the original innovators"

&Bubblews/Maverick Writer

"There’s a lot of the traditional catastrophe novel in American Fever, but it’s written to educate as well as excite. And it does it very well. You learn how flu spreads, what’s necessary to protect yourself from it, and what can really happen to society when a killing version gets out of control. It’s happened before, and despite the government’s assurances, it could happen again. Read it once, and then read it again. You may be scared, but you won’t be sorry. And you won’t forget it."

Word Vagabond Book Review

**** "American Fever is unlike any book I've read. ...

The blog format of the book really pulled me in. Because of the unique storytelling, Blogula’s feelings of claustrophobia and despair for a populace that ‘didn’t listen’ and a government that’s ill equipped to deal with a prolonged crisis becomes a constant source of tension. When people he knows die, you feel it along with him. When friends go missing, you share his worry. When the government starts to label him public enemy number one, you’re scared for him. At the start he seems like a paranoid shut in. Towards the end you can’t help but pull for him to be a survivor. Blogula grows as a character and his voice remains true to form no matter what hellish things nature, and man, throw his way.

The e-book version of American Fever is filled with clickable links. The author didn’t just list a bibliography at the end, citing his research; he made it PART of the book. I can’t imagine how long it took to put this thing together. There are copious amounts of links, not just to sites on influenza, but to the main character’s favorite movies, books (he’s a big Ayn Rand fan), music...you name it, there’s a link. The interactivity of the book makes it seem all the more real because of it.

American Fever is informative, funny, touching, and at times, completely terrifying in its plausibility and `realness'. It really captures both the best of people and the worst of people. This is a unique and compelling book that shouldn't be overlooked.
—Matthew Schiariti

The Devil's Accountant

"A very clever work of fiction ... Hall is a keen social observer.

"He is perhaps the first to couch activism, education and fiction so closely together. It may not sell as well as Uncle Tom's Cabin, but the potential for widespread discussion and increased awareness are implicit. Anyone curious about the future of literature might want to watch Hall's book manifest ... You'll find yourself clicking next page after next page."

Reader's Favorite Book Review

**** (4 stars) "American Fever by Peter Hall is a very well-written book about a pandemic virus that threatens civilization as we know it ... a highly amusing book in which the present blogging trend meets the potential of future disasters and it is basically a good match for the reader."
—Alice H.

Sentimentalist Magazine
" The best book about not leaving your house for a good reason."
—Dmitri Zabatay

Religion Dispatches: Review by Michael A. Elliott

"An online novel about a flu pandemic blurs the boundaries between real “flu-blogging” and the dystopic world of its blogger protagonist. And it exposes the cultural anxiety, both religious and secular, that disease unleashes."