How did this so great turn so shitty?

Between interviews I was in Borders and spotted the Descent. This is one of the best thrillers of all time, easily the equal of anything Crichton has done. Essentially, it turns out that Hell is a real place. Sounds goofy, but it works. As you can imagine having read that, I was really excited for his follow-up, Year Zero. As much as you must read Descent, you must avoid Year Zero. I was going to have a spoiler alert here, but you know what, fuck that. Here is what happens, an ancient disease is released by archaeologists and everybody dies. Not every character, not everyone in Omaha, EVERYBODY DIES. And in a long drawn out manner. And he ends it in a nice nasty way, where we the reader see the final doom approaching while someone reads Goodnight, Moon to their kids. I read that thing a couple times a week and I have to think about everybody dying now. Thanks, man.

I know what you are thinking. A few posts ago I told you to read a book about Sudan, so what is the deal? Well, that sort of book is important because it helps you understand the world and may present possibilities for changing policies to prevent/mitigate/deter nastiness. For an even better take than the Sudan book, read Samantha Power. I'm not even opposed to everybody dies fiction, On the Beach is good, and so is the Doomsday Book. They however are redeemed by topicality or excellent character explorations. Year Zero is just everybody dying slowly and painfully.

A similar situation exists with Katherine Neville. Her book The Eight is the book the Da Vinci Code wants to be when it grows up. It has a great conspiracy that crosses centuries and involves all kinds of random history. She falls a little in love with her puzzle, but it is less silly than the DV Code. Her follow-up is the Magic Circle, which may be the worst book I have ever finished. Essentially all of history is set-up for the two main characters making the beast with two backs. I'm not kidding and see? I saved you from raging at the heavens when you get to the end of this piece of shite.