Invasion [Paperback]

Robin Cook (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 7, 1997

To anyone glancing upwards at the night sky, it would have seemed like a brilliant shooting star, but moments later electronic equipment began to spark and explode throughout the city. A deadly threat to life on Earth - from the icy vastness of outer space - invasion.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Fans of Robin Cook's many thrillers will be happy to know another one is on the way. In this latest outing, Invasion, Cook envisions a contact with extraterrestials that is closer to Alien than to E.T.. A gigantic spaceship arrives in the stratosphere to dump some black disks onto Earth. Touch these things at your own risk, however; unsuspecting souls who handle the disks receive a sting, soon followed by flulike symptoms and ending in a kind of zombie assimilation into the alien consciousness. And make no mistake: these aliens are up to no good--we know this because the victims of the UFO-flu are soon transformed into hideous reptilian creatures.

Apparently, one consequence of being trapped by the aliens is that victims lose all semblance of natural speech--most notably, contractions. The book abounds in dialogue such as, "You must flee, Cassy," and "The electrical grid has been interrupted. There will be no force counteracting the antigravity ..." Still, readers looking for a good beach or bathtub book will find Invasion is right on the money. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

There are certain similarities between science fiction and medical thrillers (futuristic technology, nature subverted) so it's not really surprising that a master of the medical genre like Cook (Acceptable Risk) would try to combine the two. Unfortunately, the result doesn't succeed as SF and doesn't live up to his usual standards as a medical thriller. Instead, this book reads like a script for the soon-to-be-released NBC "major television event" based on this book?you can almost hear the director yelling "Cut and print" at the end of each chapter. The story starts well enough, with a small college town and a flurry of unusual black rocks. Those who pick them up are stung and, after a short fever, come up with a curious list of aftereffects. They become extroverted, environmentally conscious, attached to dogs?and telepathically connected. As a group of those who haven't been stung rush to find some sort of cure, the leader of the changed begins to take on alien form, while directing the construction of a space ship. By this point, though, Cook doesn't seem to know how to get out of his plot, except for an esoteric cure involving the common cold. One can only hope that aided by special effects, this lame resolution plays better on the small screen than it does in the novel.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 393 pages
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan; 1 edition (November 7, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0330352881
• ISBN-13: 978-0330352888
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,305,939 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Doctor and author Robin Cook is widely credited with introducing the word 'medical' to the thriller genre, and over twenty years after the publication of his breakthrough novel, Coma, he continues to dominate the category he created. Cook has successfully combined medical fact with fantasy to produce a over twenty-seven international bestsellers, including Outbreak (1987), Terminal (1993), Contagion (1996), Chromosome 6 (1997) and Foreign Body (2008).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars thrilling, September 14, 2004

By 

Paul Skinner (Manassas, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Invasion (Paperback)

Wait -- don't pick up that shiny black rock. This thriller is more of a science fiction alien invasion story than a medical thriller, involving a worldwide takeover from outer space. The aliens are out to change mankind, perhaps for the better (?). But nevertheless, the human instinct is to resist the invasion -- that is, those few remaining uninfected humans. Are there enough left to save humanity? Comparing this book with other outer space takeover attempts (Michael Crichton's Prey comes to mind), I would say this one is a winner. I found it captivating, easy to read, and a page turner I couldn't put down.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Engrossing Medical Sci-fi, January 17, 2001

By 

Tracy Davis (California, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Invasion (Paperback)

In "Invasion", Robin Cook leaves the earthly realm of disease to pose the idea of the ultimate invader: a disease that originates from outer space. Cook's usual cast of heroes and villains battle each other physically and philosophically; interestingly enough, the 'villains' are trying to clean up earth's environment, which lends a nice ambiguity to half the book. I also enjoyed the fact that Beau, the first character to be 'invaded', never completely loses himself or his love for his girlfriend Cassie, no matter what other changes he goes through. Despite the death and destruction the infected wreak on the heroes, the lead characters, I felt, were more deeply drawn than in many of Cook's novels. There are cliches and obvious plot points, but the story is still gripping and intriguing. Could use a sequel, as Cook leaves the door open for future 'invaders'.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars What was he on?, October 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Invasion (Paperback)

I could not believe that he wrote something so bad. it is definetly below his standards. The plot, the characters, everything was awful. If he actually put some thought into this novel, it would have been somewhat decent. Instead, it is a cheesy attempt to write a science fiction novel, when the author has almost no clue on how to do it. Cook should stick with the medical mysteries, it is what he is good at.