Customer Reviews

Neuropath

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

 

 

Sometimes, no matter how much I like an author, their latest book ends up being a disappointment. NEUROPATH, by R. Scott Bakker, fit that description for me. I love Bakker's Prince of Nothing series, and I firmly believe his writing--in terms of quality--is some of the best in the fantasy genre. With NEUROPATH, Bakker attempts to put his spin on the thriller genre.

I really wanted to like this book. Seriously, I tried hard. It just didn't happen.

NEUROPATH follows the PoV of Tom Bible, a psychologist. If you have read Bakker before, the profession of the PoV should come as no surprise. Tom is divorced with two kids, and his relationship with his ex-wife is seriously strained. The main plot of the story focuses on Tom helping the FBI find his friend Neil, who has been working with the NSA on the study and implementation of manipulating people's brains. Neil has apparently gone off the deep-end, and is abducting and torturing people by messing with their cerebral functions.

Yeah, it's a cool concept. The novel's tag-line, "You are not what you think you are," serves as the central theme of the novel, and is also its greatest flaw. Half of the novel involves near maid-and-butler scenes where one character spends pages explaining a concept to another character. The first time it happened, I could forgive it, because it was well written. After happening a few dozen times, however, it tended to rub me wrong. Essentially, it's as if we the readers are reading a transcribed conversation between a psychology professor and his unconvinced student. The concepts are explained well, and the writing is fantastic, but the simple fact that Bakker is "telling vs. showing" is extremely problematic.

The novel, and its main characters, take a very strong nihilistic view on life. We are machines. We have no free will. There is no God. Our brains are organic computers that automatically react to variables and cause our reactions. Since all of the preceding are "fact," nothing in this life matters. Nothing. The main PoV, Tom, and his buddy Neil are major advocates of this belief system. There are a few token moments where Tom acts as if he doesn't want to believe this philosophy, but they are really just that: token moments with no real power behind them. As readers, the constant reiteration of those points takes on a preachy-feel. By the end of the novel, I felt like I was a dead horses being beaten. Hard. What's more, is that most of the side characters fall into automatically believing this philosophy without being given any real evidence of anything. Essentially, the PoV's take is, "Hey this is fact. Since I say so, you need to believe me. What? Of course I won't give you evidence. You're not smart enough for that."

Another issue that Bakker has is making females into over-sexualized objects. You know the instant a female main character shows up that she will be involved in some sort of sexual relationship with the main PoV. The scenes are graphic, but unlike the Prince of Nothing series, they don't seem to have much point other than shock-value. His characters in NEUROPATH seem to end up in porn-movie scenarios. They are, in a word, absurd.

As for the actual thriller aspect of the novel? Because, you know, that's kind of the point of reading a novel--either for the characters or the story. It's horribly cliché. A majority of the novel's actual plotting is terribly predictable, and the novel is full of the dumb character behavior that is typical of the thriller genre. In many cases Tom's decisions are just plain idiotic, and are leaned on like a crutch to provide more conflict. Tom has two kids (the kids were the only stand-out goodness of the novel), and his decisions regarding them are idiotic. Sorry, but I just don't like a character's stupidity to be the main cause for movement in a novel. I get enough of that from Dan Brown. There is also a separate, thin side story going on about a serial killer called the Chiropractor. He has no real purpose in the novel other than as an excuse why FBI resources are spread so thin. What he does isn't really explained, and when he inevitably shows up, it is for pure convenience and border-line Deus Ex.

The tone of the novel is VERY bleak. Much more so than any of Bakker's other works. There is a line in the novel where a character states, "I don't like happy endings." That is a pretty clear indicator of how things are going to go. Don't get me wrong, I like grim and gritty. NEUROPATH, however, was just too bleak for me. The abductions and murders that happen are very well done, and they lend perfectly to the thin story, but the ending of the novel has no redeeming quality in any sense of the word. When you match all that with the hopeless nihilistic philosophy saturating the novel, it's hard to like it. In the end, this caused my personal dislike.

I didn't hate the novel, I just didn't like it. Bakker is a seriously gifted writer (this is the only reason I'm giving this novel 2 stars). He manages to explain everything amazingly clear. Considering the deep topics, his writing makes them easily understandable, and makes the pace move along fantastically. I just couldn't like the tone or the execution of a terrific premise. But really, it all comes down to a really poor story. It does nothing but give clichéd plotting and clichéd twists under a thin veil of a psychological and philosophical preaching. Terry Goodkind gave the world enough of that, we don't need it from Bakker.

If you really dig psychological and philosophical debates and concepts, you may enjoy this novel. Especially if you are really into Bakker. But this is easily his weakest effort at story-telling. Not to mention, the graphic content will turn off a majority of people.

Content: If you are at all offended by sex, violence, language, or character stupidity as a plot device, you should avoid this novel.

This should be made into a movie, although I doubt it could remain faithful to the book and still maintain a PG-13 rating. Anyway, it's fast paced, full of ideas that will give you pause, and grips you right from the start and doesn't let go. Fans of his other work will enjoy Neil, or the idea of Neil, if they enjoyed Kellhus, Conphas (my fav), or even Aurax/Aurang.

The book will play tricks on you too, even if you consider yourself a "second level reader." I found myself inwardly groaning at one point thinking the author had colossally screwed up by making the motives of one of the characters too similar to Iago, only to find out that I'm not quite as smart as I think I am.

As much as I enjoyed the book--it will probably be reread annually--I was still left wondering at the end how in the beginning it was even possible for Neil to have a brief flash of anger.

Bottom line: add to cart now and be glad you did later.

This book should have been written 10 years ago, when neuroscience started its slow but inescapable destruction of pop-psychological concepts like "free will" and "consciousness". Fortunately, Bakker's attempt at combining the frightening new vistas of brain science with a psychological thriller is a fairly good read.

You'll see in a lot of the customer reviews that the book is bleak and unrelenting; this is accurate for the most part. Astute readers won't mind though, as Bakker's writing is skilled enough to draw interest in the face of horror.

The book has two flaws however. One, which the author himself addressed on his blog, is that it breaks genre convention during a key scene where it should not have. The other, which the author has not addressed, is that it is overly preachy at times. An author trying to make a philosophical point has to balance plot with rhetoric, and Bakker tries too hard by reiterating the same ideas several times. It gets tiring, even if one is on the wagon already.

The really interesting thing, which I think a lot of people miss, are the subtle new ideas hidden amongst more familiar arguments. (The "semantic apocalypse" is particularly interesting)

This book will make a good movie some day, with some judicious editing and rewriting to suit the genre and a more general audience.

I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a psychological thriller, and is interested in encountering frightening new ideas.

-JAB

The psych/neuroscience is far too accurate making this an terrifying story for me. dont read if you are squeemish.

"Neuropath" is author R.Scott Bakker's first foray into the nebulous categories of "adult fiction" and "thriller". He centers the novel around a hypothetical near-future world where technology and understanding of neuroscience has reached the point where it is possible for scientists to manipulate the brain, and even consciousness itself. The result of his effort is a novel that is at times deeply creepy (Bakker has a gift for writing some truly disturbing scenes), at times enlightening, but mostly a bit difficult to get through due to the relatively weak execution and prose of the novel.

The novel is based around the character Thomas Bible, a divorced psychologist raising his young children in a near-future suburban New York (the book never gives an exact date, but there are subtle clues - like an off-hand comment from Thomas on how he was too young at the time to understand the 9-11 terrorist attacks when they happened). However, a visit from his long-time friend Neil Cassidy (a brilliant neuroscientist) begins a process in which he gets drawn more and more into a criminal case, all of which is part of a web that his so-called "friend" (the primary antagonist of the book) has woven for him.

Bakker is obviously preaching a bit in this novel about the implications of neuroscience and human consciousness, and it shows. One of the key points of the novel between the main character Thomas and his former friend Neil is "The Argument" concerning what consciousness truly is. I won't spoil it for you, but it is, to say the least, thought-provoking (something that could be applied to the entire book).

The problem lies in the execution of that preaching. It is possible to have a fast-moving book even with large dumps of expository information; just witness Dan Brown and his book "The Da Vinci Code". However, Bakker does not manage that with his prose - if anything, his prose tends to make it worse. The info-dumps about the philosophical implications of neuroscience are not particularly well-integrated into most of the story, and there are some very clear areas in the book where you hear the voice of Bakker, not those of his characters.

All of this means that the book slows down quite a bit (particularly as you near the ending), and somewhat amusingly, he has the same problem that Brown has in "The Lost Symbol" as he brings his book to a close: lots of "false endings", where something happens, then another "twist" is revealed. The narrative structure really doesn't work that well for a "thriller" (which Bakker intended this book to be), and the result is a bit bumpy and jarring at times.

I won't say that it's a -bad- book. It is, to be certain, very thought-provoking, and there are some scenes that most readers will consider to be deeply disturbing to read and ponder later (particularly the final ending). However, it is not a great book, much less than what the interesting premise deserves, and far inferior to his primary work (the Prince of Nothing Trilogy and its sequels). I would suggest reading it from the library first, then buying it if you like it.

I enjoy all of Bakkers work. He is a very intelligent writer and if he has a flaw he is sometimes a bit wordy. This book explores some rather freaky ways that the brain can be tweaked and manipulated against your will. Made me think well after I'd finished the book.

Psychologist Tom Bible still misses Nora and their two children following her divorcing him and he loathes his teaching position lecturing bored grad students. He muses about his best friend Neil Cassidy who teaches in California to bored grad students; and recalls the "Argument" re free will or lack of as his friend firmly believed everyone's brain is pre-wired forcing an individual to choose a pre-determined selection.

Neil visits Tom out of the blue to discuss the Argument in person; proclaiming he has done work for the NSA on destroying the minds of terrorists. Soon after showing up Neil vanishes. The Feds follow him to interrogate and then enlist Tom in their quest to find Neil, who they claim has lost his mind as they show the video of a woman whose brain was rewired; a skill only Neil has. FBI agent Samantha "Sam" Logan insists Tom's best friend has switched from rewiring known terrorists to average American citizens with his target apparently those inside of Tom's inner circle.

NEUROPATH is an exhilarating frightening modernization of Dr. Frankenstein using modern science to change the brain, which causes conflict as R. Scott Bakker makes a strong case that naturing is much more powerful than nurturing. The story line is fast-paced even when the lead character debates with himself over what he knows about Neil. Although some subplots seem stretched, fans will appreciate this extremely dark taut thriller filled with shocking twists that looks deep into the Argument of free will vs. pre-determinism; in a modern context of chemical syntax making the choices instead of rational minds. No one who reads Mr. Bakker's tale will simply accept the words I love you in the same way.

Harriet Klausner

In a surprising turn, I couldn't take this one seriously. Medical terminology aside, this book seemed as deep as a hungover, stoned guy laughing off an LSD experience where he was forced to watch Steve Martin's 'Man with Two Brains' along with the first 'SAW'. This surprised me because of the philosophical depth and insight which hooked me on the Prince of Nothing trilogy. Granted this is a totally different book, but I am forced to rethink my appraisal of PON. Writer bleedover aside, there are a few twists and turns in what is overall a good story... but, when Dr. Hfuhruhurr discovered that Merv Griffin was the elevator killer that was quite a twist too.

I enjoyed this book almost to the last page. Unfortunately the ending was very weak, it had a "ran out of ideas and just plugged in the psycho killer" feel to it. What a shame - the rest of the book was very interesting.

This is a nasty, manipulative book. Don't waste your time.

The NSA manipulates brains to produce murderous monsters devoid of any understandable motivations. Bakker uses this trope to create characters with random, ridiculous motives, so that people can turn out to be murderers as a "surprise twist."

It all results in an ugly and poorly contructed mess, made to order for the Hollywood torture-porn bandwagon. There's even a dead-stupid car chase thrown in.

I was eager to read more of the Aspect-Emperor series, so I thought I'd make do with this. Now the author has me so disappointed I'm questioning whether that series is even worth finishing.