Being (Hardcover)

by Kevin Brooks (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up—A lonely teen, Robert Smith finds himself involved in events totally out of his control. A foster kid with a stomachache, he arrives at the hospital alone for a routine endoscopy. Not fully anesthetized, he hears the doctors claim that his insides aren't human. Unidentified men with guns swarm in, Robert bolts, and finds himself on the front page of the newspaper accused of stabbing one of the doctors. His subsequent flight begins a grisly string of events where murder, alcohol, and fear abound. Conveniently the one person Robert runs to, Eddi, the ex-girl of an acquaintance's brother, not only takes him in but is an expert in creating fake IDs. With a duffle full of cash from her business, they escape England to her house in Spain. In Tejeda, the young people find love and begin a "normal" life together until the men in suits show up and destroy it all. Scattered throughout the novel are Robert's existential questions, "How do I know anything is real?" This is surreal science fiction with a dismal ending. Loose ends abound, so many that readers are left feeling cheated. Who or what Robert is are never made clear; nor is the identity of the men who are after him.—Kathy Lehman, Thomas Dale High School Library, Chester, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description
It was just supposed to be a routine exam. But when the doctors snake the fiber-optic tube down Robert Smith's throat, what they discover doesn't make medical sense. Plastic casings. Silver filaments. Moving metal parts. In his naked, anesthetized state on the operating table, Robert hears the surgeons' shocked comments: "What the hell is that?" "It's me," Robert thinks, "and I've got to get out of here." Armed with a stolen automatic and the videotape of his strange organs, he manages to escape, and to embark on an orphan's violent odyssey to find out exactly who--exactly what--he is.

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: The Chicken House; First Edition ~1st Printing edition (February 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439899737
• ISBN-13: 978-0439899734
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #883,060 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All he has is now., February 28, 2007

By	Jonathan Stephens "Jonathan Stephens" (Huntington Beach, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Sixteen-year-old Robert Smith thinks he has grown up just like every other teenager in Essex, England. Sure, he can't remember much of his childhood. Memories about his birth parents feel manufactured. Hopping around from foster home to foster home through the years, he doesn't recall ever getting sick or seriously injured. All he has are his dreams, and those bad dreams feel real enough.

Dr. Andrews tells Robert that his surgery will be a routine endoscopy, which will check for a stomach ulcer. Everything is going as planned --- IVs, anesthesia, gurneys, doctors, scalpels --- until the anesthesia stops working and Robert wakes up. Doctors are calling for more doctors. Men with holstered pistols stand guard around the room. The confusion increases as the doctors try to figure out what they're seeing. "What the hell are you?" one of them asks. That single line sets Robert off. He has to get out of there. Whatever he does, he must escape.

Stolen cars, guns, fraudulent news stories, murders, kidnapping, fake IDs and secret societies --- the intense chain of events that follows will have readers grasping for answers right along with Robert. Who are these mysterious men in the hospital? What are they looking for? Everyone wants something, especially men packing guns in an operating room. Who are they working for? Who, or what, do they think Robert is?

This is one of those crucial questions --- "Who am I?" If Robert doesn't know who he is, then he doesn't really have much of anything. No beginning. No end. What does it mean if he can't trust what's inside his body? Doctors don't know what's wrong with him. People whom he knows nothing about are trying to kill him. The situation forces him to question all he has ever known and experienced. Everything he thinks he knows is fading. Nothing is permanent anymore. All he has is a gun and the whiteness that fills his brain when things get out of control.

-- Reviewed by Jonathan Stephens

Copyright 1997-2007, Teenreads.com. All rights reserved.

4.0 out of 5 stars Book for school class, December 29, 2008

By	M. Lemley "yelmelma" (DFW,TX) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Being (Mass Market Paperback)

Required reading for high school freshman English class. Was a pretty good read but weird...

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes for a gripping thriller which is hard to put down., July 10, 2007

By	Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

Kevin Brooks' BEING tells of a boy who uncovers a strange past after a hospital visit reveals he is something unusual. He escapes the hospital - but finds himself targeted for murder and having to trust a beautiful thief to help him. Who - or what - Robert is makes for a gripping thriller which is hard to put down.