Invasion (1997)

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 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! ( )

Be too kind to say this book had any redeeming qualities. I read it and left it on the train ( )

With his finger on the pulse of the latest medical technology, Robin Cook preys on our deepest fears with uncanny skill. Now, in his most provocative thriller to date, he explores a sudden outbreak of strange new symptoms that defy diagnosis. The cause is unknown -- and unknowable -- because it is unlike anything humankind has ever seen...

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 chopped it off. ( )