Inhuman Acts

Rating: 3 out of 5

An inexplicable number of rabies cases appear in Chattanooga causing disease ecologist Letty to jump at the opportunity to trace it back to its source. Letty's task is helped by the assistance of disgraced detective Andrew. However, the closer she gets to finding clues the further someone will go to stop her. Will she solve the case in time to stop the outbreak? Inhuman Acts is Brooke French's debut novel.

My thoughts on the book are a little confused to be honest. Letty is given this traumatic backstory because of the way her sister died. Really the only connection I could see to this being part of the narrative was that it allowed for other references with animals acting differently than expected. It really didn't seem to fit to me, the obsession with animals seemed like a separate story honestly. However, we quickly shift to the current story: Letty is on the brink of giving up fieldwork to become a professor and she isn't too thrilled about it.

The news begins reporting on the rabies cases in Chattanooga and she sees it as her chance to have one last hurrah. Letty unfortunately may have bitten off more than she can chew with this journey however. She soon finds most of the town resistant to admitting there is still a problem. Letty's efforts are ignored and solving the issue begins to become more difficult than she could have anticipated.

Inhuman Acts didn't really feel like a thriller to me it read more like a slight mystery; but mostly just a contagion novel. I have to admit that a lot of stuff went over my head because it seemed very science-y and I am not a science person. The novel is good and well written don't get me wrong, but I didn't really feel a thriller element, until like the last 60 pages. It also became pretty evident where the outbreak came from towards the end. I wish that had been more vague so that it felt like an aha moment.

Inhuman Acts is a little bit slower paced than most things I've read recently but French does a good job with character development. You are easily drawn into the characters and their world. I just wish it had been marketed as something other than a thriller and I would have been able to give it a higher rating. If you are about contagion and virus outbreaks, without the zombies, then you should check this one out for sure.