15-year-old Stephen Quinn thought that his life in a deserted America caused by the deadly Eleventh Plague would be simple and easy. Stay on the trail, collect scraps that could have some use, trade them for food and clothes, then go back to the trail and repeat. But this soon changed when his grandfather died due to the sickness and his dad fell into a coma, leaving him to fight the world on his own. The Eleventh Plague, by Jeff Hirsch, is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel following the story of the protagonist, Stephen, as he navigates through the unknown and is discovered by a strange town called Settler’s Landing that seems too good to be true. Because it is. The town is filled with traitors and liars who will do anything to get to the top, including attacking their own sanctuary. In this book, Stephen will have to choose whether to go back to the trail and keep living his life the way that his dad wanted him to live, or help the people of Settler’s Landing fight against their enemies.

I think that this book is for anyone who likes an exciting survival story packed with every twist and turn you could possibly want. I really enjoyed the fact that this book has a perfect balance of action and calm moments, lots of incredibly detailed characters to add more depth to the story, and how descriptive Hirsch was when writing this book. He included so many different themes such as survival, friendship, trust, and even a bit of love. It kept roping me in more and more the further I read. So if you’re looking for a good science fiction novel to really make you feel like you’re there, then The Eleventh Plague is the book for you.