Customer Reviews

Beyond Recall

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Tempted to advance-order this title by a full spread ad in PW several months ago, I expected a polished medical thriller, but was disappointed to read a too-long soap opera about a wealthy Nobel prize-winning do-gooder who justifies mass-murder because her adopted son was killed in an African "ethnic cleansing" war. Unfortunately, none of the characters incite the reader to care much about them, and the longer you read, the less you care. Had the book been shorter and the self-examinations of the characters been fewer, the story could have been more entertaining. As it is, I can only say that Artemis as a threat let me down.

I was a bit skeptical about reading this book because I had never heard of the Author. I was pleasantly suprised!! I read many new authors of Thrillers, and this is by far the best new Author I have come across. I could not put it down, and the plots just kept twisting until the last page. I do not understand some of the negative comments on this book. I thought it was a very polished read. I highly recommend this book! I can't wait for more from Kyle!!

I enjoy books about biological disasters, and this one was very good. I thought the characters were well-developed, even if their actions were not quite believable (an ethical scientist who blackmails the world?). Still, the author managed to flesh out these people enough so that I actually sympathized with the villainess and I was willing to suspend my disbelief and accept her motivations. The pace was lightning quick, and he had an exciting climax. Frankly, I thought this book was a hundred times better than the over-hyped Cobra Event by Richard Preston.

The catch phrase for this book sounded great. "Can the world's deadliest virus... save mankind?" Yes, I'm a sad person for falling into such a simple marketing trick. But I'm glad I did. Although clichéd (Specially the beggining in the middle of the jungle... I'm brazillian, so I was kind of insulted those stereotypes.), This story is very well written, and the characters are strong. The plague scenes are described to the utmost detail, so this is not a book for people that dislike this sort of "gross" scenes.

So what's this HUGE threat that this virus is supposed to save? Well, I won't spoil it for you (You'll find out by the 70th page or so) but it's not as intriguing as you might think. As I said in the title of this review, the action isn't very consistent, sometimes the story slows down to a turtle pace, and the action speeds up in less then a page. It's very unpredictable and that's both good and bad.

Overall, If you dig medical thrillers, or disease-related-novels (The Hot zone, for an example) in general, you should pick this up. It's definately worth your time and money.

Wow! I picked up this book two days ago and just finished it now. I simply could not put it down, talk about a page-turner! Great characters, incredible plot that carries you along at a mind-blowing pace, and a really amazing theme that actually makes you think. What more could you ask for in a thriller?

Definately goes on my top ten list of favourite books of all time - hope they make a movie of it!

Very nice read, not as good as "Cobra Event", but then this book is not really about engineered virus (although it has one), but rather overpopulation and how one genuis, wealthy, beautiful meglomaniac (how many of those do you suppose there are?) tries to deal with it.

I wish there'd been more science and less beltway-insider in this book. I picked it up thinking it was a medical thriller and got far more than a fair dose of political wheedling.

At some points, there is some great characterization and insight into what makes the people in the story tick. At other points, everyone in the book is just a boorish moron who selfishly spins their wheels for no real reason. The relationship between Tory and Jack is completely forced, making the ending feel just as hokey. Rachel's a real heartless humdinger too.

If the final couple of chapters had been left off, it would have been a much better book. Not good, not bad, this inbetweener is just the type of book to fill time on an airplane or long trip.

I had concerns in the first few pages and even before that, from reading what the book was about, since the plot seemed far fetched. But Kyle saves himself with excellent prose, intertwined and deep characters, and by keeping things tense. There are a few plot stretches but by then I was into watching the characters handle unthinkable situations. Equally impressive (and sad) is how the book delves into terrorism in the U.S. This book has actually been crafted, meaning the writer does more than imitate or write boring templated stories. He gets credit for taking on something this big.

A fast read. It shouldn't be taken too seriously. That a Nobel Prize winner purposely unleashes a plague, and is apparently unaware of the law of unintended consequences is certainly not realistic. That she is obsessed with the position of women in the world and thinks that a single act can have some effect . . sorry, but no. But it is a page turner and is a good read for the beach or on a long flight.

If an author's job is to get his reader to react, then Mr. Kyle has been extremely successful. There are two stories here. One, of incredible terrorism, that gets you into the book and two of "the end justifies the means" that gets your blood boiling. It is the latter that made me want to throw my computer(I had the e-book version) against the wall, because I disagree with the idea of negotiating at the point of a gun. In any case, it was an ejoyable read, which is what one wants out of a good book.