Invasive Procedures (Hardcover)

by Orson Scott Card (Author), Aaron Johnston (Author)
Key Phrases: contaminant rod, injection gun, George Galen, Director Irving, Agent Hernandez (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In this intriguing medical thriller from bestseller Card (Ender's Game) and screenwriter Johnston, George Galen, a disgraced geneticist, feeds and medicates the downtrodden with the help of a genetically altered band of helpers known as Healers. In the form of a virus called V16, Galen has developed an effective treatment for many incurable genetic diseases; the problem is that when V16 isn't expressly tailored for each individual patient's DNA, the results are disastrous. Enter virologist Lt. Col. Frank Hartman, recruited by the federal Biohazard Agency to catch Galen and create an antidote. As Frank and his team work frantically, romantic threads unspool, while Galen insists that if the government would just stay out of his way, he could save countless lives. Based on Johnston's screenplay for Card's 1977 story Malpractice, the novel plays out with few surprises, but raises pertinent regulatory questions. (Sept.)
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From Booklist
This near-future thriller is based on Johnston's screenplay adaptation of Card's 1977 story "Malpractice," an early example of biotech sf. The plot is a duel between virologists. One scientist is promulgating a virus that has already altered many human beings into, for instance, Healers (mutated young men, primarily), who are reminiscent of a death squad made up of movie Terminators. The other virologist, at the behest of a secret government agency, is trying to stop the first. The novel wins the reader over on the basis of execution rather than conceptual originality, with pace, characterization, and chilling suspense all polished to a high gloss. Green, Roland

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (September 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 076531424X
• ISBN-13: 978-0765314246
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #483,944 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Orson Scott Card....how could you?, December 3, 2007

By	Janeen (Detroit, MI) - See all my reviews

I picked this puppy up at the library (thank god) and finished it rather quickly. The idea of the book is pretty novel, and I was hooked by what was written on the book jacket, but the writing is just awful.

I realize that it's a science fiction book, so it's not supposed to be completely realistic, but it's not even remotely realistic. It just turns from interesting and mysterious to pretty corny to "Are you kidding me?" very quickly. The ending is pretty brash and quick, and I'm getting so sick of authors who portray women in this completely unrealistic, weak-woman, sobbing constantly, needing a strong man to protect her type of way.

No thanks.

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Crichtonesque " Fun Read, October 13, 2007

By	G. E. Williams "Nunah" (California) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

If you are a fan of recent Michael Crichton books, you will probably enjoy "Invasive Procedures". It is a Sci-Fi story set in the present (the Sci-Fi is that there is medical science that we don't currently have) written by Orson Scott Card and screenwriter Aaron Johnston.

If instead you are a big Orson Scott Card fan, you may be a bit disappointed, as the hallmark of an OSC book, is the "Moral Dilemma", and in this story that is more a warning to science in general, than one the reader experiences along with the characters.


But here's the deal, if you are a fan of OSC, then you want to buy this book and you will be glad it was written, in that OSC is obviously honing his ability to write a screen play, and any "Enders Game" fan will understand the benefit of that.

So as to the book itself, again while it is not an "Enders Game", it is pretty much as good as anything currently being written, and out of the 40 or so books I've read this year, I'd say its in the top 5 for fiction. If you liked "Empire" you should enjoy "Invasive Procedures".

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not Written by Orson Scott Card, October 17, 2007

By	Linda Matthews (Rockville, MD USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is so poorly written that I returned it the same day I bought it. It's one of those cases where a well-known writer puts his/her name on the cover (actually the publishing house does) but the novel is really written by the other person, whose name you see in small type below. What's wrong with it? Well, first and foremost, all the characters are stereotypes to the point of laughability. The dedicated military doctor. The dedicated female doctor with a cute son. The bad guys. Geez.

Then the writing. This book was apparently adapted from a screenplay, which may explain some of the weaknesses, but I don't think so. The writer never misses a chance to explain to you exactly what the characters are thinking, which is mainly not a lot. Dialogue in scripts AND novels should advance the plot, and in this case a lot of it is simply stating the obvious (don't have the book any more, otherwise I'd give you a few examples). So we have stock characters with stock dialogue and a fairly ridiculous plot with a smattering of science thrown in.

Trust me, this book is in no way as good as a lot of science fiction being published today (try Richard K. Morgan, Charles Stross, Peter F. Hamilton, Greg Bear, Dan Simmons, Eric S. Nylund, and Neal Asher for some at the top of their game right now).

Orson Scott Card is a good writer, but I don't know what he was thinking in releasing this book. And it doesn't bode well for his attempt at breaking into movies, either.