Customer Reviews

Invasion (Windsor Selection)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(18)

 

 

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.

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'.

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.

Brilliant Robin Cook (a former doctor and now a professianal writer) uses his previous medical experience to skillfuly craft together such a remarkable piece of work.

When a series of mysterious power outages begin to accur, many people begin to catch the flu, only to recover hours later with the only side effect being bizarre personality changes.However a group of young college students suspect that the orgin of the illness may be caused by something extra-normal.

Containing multiple unexpected plot twists, and a well thought-out story, Robin Cook gives new life to the term "alien invasion." The story simply pulls you into a bold world, and with each page turn having you wondering about what would happen next.

While this book is an excellent thriller to read, there were some noticable prombelms. Such as, Cook's tendency to use a large medical-related vocabulary. This made it hard to understand the science supporting the book's science fiction.
However, It was otherwise a well written novel.

The most glaring and annoying flaw in this book is the wooden, stiff,dialogue. Not only is the dialogue stiff but the actual words the characters use to talk to each other are laughable. The cheesy plot is the other big blow to this novel, not only is the "aliens from outer space come to take over the earth plot" absolutely tired and overused but the book abounds with numerous cliches. All in all, simply save your money and don't shell out the money to buy this book.

I was very interested to see how Robin Cook would handle science Fiction so I picked up Invasion (orig. title Galactic Infestation). I had no problem with the overall plot but the writing was horrendous.

INVASION is the story of a microscopic invasion of Earth. An ancient civilization seeded Earth life with a dormant DNA sequence. Then every hundred million years or so a probe was sent to see how life had advanced. The current probe has just landed and found life at a good stage for colonization. Individuals are infected with a prion-like activator and flu-like symptoms ensue. After the flu runs its course (about five hours) the person is changed and tries to infect others. The infected people quickly gain control of large amounts of capitol and set up a foundation to preserve the planet's environment. As key individuals are taken over money is made available, pollution spewing factories are shut down and the uninfected are targeted for infection.

That's the story and it could have been good if not for the writing. I get the feeling that with a guaranteed bestseller that the effort for good writing just wasn't put in. Robin Cook, master of the medical thriller, manages to make some medical blunders. Blunders that as a doctor he should not make. But it doesn't stop there. He goes on to show a complete lack of understanding of the news services and how they are treated. A story that the President and the other world leaders have all come down with a mysterious ailment all at the same time is reported by CNN in a 30s pulp style and no one pays attention to it. Simple planetary motion also proves too much for the author. Then in a real glaring bit of bad writing the head alien/infectee, who has access to all of the human's memories, is unfamiliar with the term dinosaur. Even architecture is not safe from the author. The mansion being used by the infectees has a ballroom based on a famous ballroom in France but is located both at ground level and downstairs. Infectees from around the world are collecting at the mansion which sits on five acres. The descriptions of the hordes of arrivals should have people pressed shoulder to shoulder but the house and the grounds remain sparsely populated. And it just goes on and on like this.

Readers will recognize the influence of other recent science fiction movies and books. If you have seen the NBC mini-series and were hoping for a better version, you will be disappointed.

I've read many of Robin Cook's books, and this was definitely not his usual good writing. As another reviewer stated, it's like someone else wrote it. Someone who is not a good writer and used a formula for churning out novels. Even the storyline is dull.

Read Cook's earlier books, when he had the time and the imagination to write a very good novel.

A mysterious flu-like illness unlike any other strain suddenly surfaces. The infected are only sick for a short period of time, but afterward their personalities are altered. What starts out as a mere illness is later revealed to be an invasion of beings not from this world.

Robin Cook writing what he's known for -- medical drama -- but this time with a sci-fi twist. Cooks unnecessary use of large words and medical jargon detracts a bit from the narrative but not overly so.

Ok, can we get real for just a second here? Since this book is supposed to be a medical thriller, andnot science fiction, you would expect a half-way plausible plot. Well, don't get your hopes up, because this book is so completely unbelievable, it's ridiculous. The characters are just plain lame, the dialogue and speech make you laugh out loud, and the ending was horrible. I don't know why anyone would give this book a good review.

This is the first book that I've ready by Cook. The writing was passable, but readers should be forewarned that the author has a tendency to throw biological and scientific terms into the text, seemingly at random (in this book anyway). Most of the technical jargon used by the author is so esoteric in nature that only professionals in the field of molecular biology or medical research are likely to know them (most of those terms are not even found in most dictionaries). In many cases there is no explanation about what those terms mean. As a biologist myself I caught the drift in most of those cases, but a reader not trained in the sciences will often be left scratching their head.

As for the characters and story, they are passable, and the story moves along at a good pace. In that respect, this book IS a page turner. The main characters include a college senior business major, his fiance, a student teacher, their best friend, a college senior headed to med school in the next fall, the head of a hospital ER unit, a molecular biologist, a physicist, a teen computer whiz-kid, an underground immunologist, and 1000s of small, smooth, black extraterrestrial "coke bottle tops" that are the source of anguish in the book.

The little objects "sting" humans and other living things, and change them biologically and psychologically.

Cook's "Invasion" struck me as a thinly veiled molecular biological version of the sci-fi classic movie, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." In that movie alien seed pods that mysteriously appear take over the minds and bodies of unassuming humans when they fall asleep.

While the book is a page turner and the characters are pretty believable, I was disappointed by the lack of originality in the basic story line, and the author's rampant, unexplained use of so many specialized terms.

There are some interesting plot twists, though some of them seem a little to convenient for my tastes.

All in all a good read if you're looking for some sci-fi escapism.

A three star effort over all.

Watch out what you pick up out there, and if you don't, keep on grinning!

Alan Holyoak