Status
Available
Collection
Publication
G.P. Putnam's Sons (2007), 432 pages
Description
Robin Cook's "pressure cooker of a thriller" (Booklist) takes medical technology into a new realm, where everything we know about the human body-and the universe we live in-is about to be challenged.
User reviews
LibraryThing member fingerpost
Not one of Cook's better works from the start, but enough to keep my interest. Alien race sends probes which infect humans, which makes them a part of a collective alien being. The book that was so-so throughout however had one of those endings where it just seems like Cook got tired of writing and
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chopped it off. Show Less
LibraryThing member AndrewCottingham
Be too kind to say this book had any redeeming qualities. I read it and left it on the train
LibraryThing member nfmgirl2
Let me put it bluntly: This book was almost painful to read. There were moments when I almost felt as if I were reading a creative writing project submitted by a high school student. It was contrived, almost juvenile, and at times the storyline made me feel like I was listening to an eight-year-old
At times, the book seemed almost pedantic, as if Cook was throwing around big words and medical jargon to show off. (Sidenote: Isn't it ironic that one would almost have to be a pedant in order to use the term "pedantic"? Just a little self-observation.)
This definitely was not what I expected of Robin Cook, one of the premier medical thriller authors. I struggled to stick with it. The last 100 pages I found myself constantly counting how many pages I had remaining to endure before I got to read a REAL story!
I may have liked this story at 12 years of age, but not at 40. If you are above the age of 17, I say, "Avoid this book!" There are so many better yarns out there to entertain your mind!
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boy ramble on about his imaginary world. Like when my friend's son was bringing me into his play world one time, and he pulled some snips of electrical wire out of his pocket, held up the different colored strands and proceeded to tell me how they were DNA strands that he was going to...I don't know...morph into some hybrid or something. THAT's what this book was like for me. The ramblings of a child's mind.At times, the book seemed almost pedantic, as if Cook was throwing around big words and medical jargon to show off. (Sidenote: Isn't it ironic that one would almost have to be a pedant in order to use the term "pedantic"? Just a little self-observation.)
This definitely was not what I expected of Robin Cook, one of the premier medical thriller authors. I struggled to stick with it. The last 100 pages I found myself constantly counting how many pages I had remaining to endure before I got to read a REAL story!
I may have liked this story at 12 years of age, but not at 40. If you are above the age of 17, I say, "Avoid this book!" There are so many better yarns out there to entertain your mind!
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LibraryThing member Pennydart
I found this book on the shelf at the cottage we were renting while on vacation in St. John and thought it might be a good beach read. It was, sort of, in a dopey way. Unlike most of Cook’s medical mysteries, this one includes a science fiction twist: extraterrestrial aliens who appear on earth
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embedded in black disks with sharp points protruding from them. Whenever someone pricks their finger on one of the points, he or she is infected with a virus that causes them to become part of a collective consciousness with the alien-lifeforms. The first person to be infected, Beau Stark, becomes the leader of the collective consciousness, and it’s up to his girlfriend, Cassy, to save him—and humanity. As I say, dopey, but not a terrible beach read. Show Less
LibraryThing member rondoctor
Excellent read, but the ending is a little too contrived. Looks like it's ready for a sequel.
LibraryThing member streamsong
After a night of shooting stars, strange small impermeable metal discs are found scattered about. If you pick one up, you receive a small sting. This is followed later by mild flu-like symptoms (unless you have a pre-existing medical condition and then you die). When you recover, you seem to be a
The small discs are alien spacecraft carrying a virus like particle that activates some of the ‘non-coding’ DNA in the genome of many living organisms. Implanted millions of years ago, this is the first time there is a life form evolved enough to interest the aliens, which are not just determined to take over individuals’ bodies but the whole of earth by opening an interdimensional door.
OK, it’s a bit corny, and being written in 1997, also a bit dated. But I enjoyed it. It’s a decent pandemic read about a pandemic caused not by rogue laboratories but by far advanced life forms. And Yay! Science saves the day ….
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better version of yourself – interested in fixing the environment, ending wars, and making sure everyone around you also gets stung by a disc.The small discs are alien spacecraft carrying a virus like particle that activates some of the ‘non-coding’ DNA in the genome of many living organisms. Implanted millions of years ago, this is the first time there is a life form evolved enough to interest the aliens, which are not just determined to take over individuals’ bodies but the whole of earth by opening an interdimensional door.
OK, it’s a bit corny, and being written in 1997, also a bit dated. But I enjoyed it. It’s a decent pandemic read about a pandemic caused not by rogue laboratories but by far advanced life forms. And Yay! Science saves the day ….
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Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1997
Physical description
432 p.; 4.25 inches
ISBN
9780425219577