Parasite
by Mira Grant
science fiction, thriller
warning: introduction to a series
copyright 2013
read in February 2014
my rating 6/10: read to pass the time
I quite enjoyed reading this book. After all, I thought, what's not to like when the heroine adopts a cute dog ?! Then I reached the end of the book.
Okay, it is there on the title page, "parasitology volume 1". I didn't notice. My fault. But it leads to a very disappointing book.
The dog, for example, growls once at bad guys but is otherwise simply decorative. Then there's the boyfriend's dog, with no purpose whatsoever.
The dogs are typical... This book gathers a pack of characters who will then -- in subsequent books -- have a series of adventures. Adventures which, like book one, are exciting but pointless.
The heroine puts her life on the line in order to steal computer data. So what ?! The book end, and no-one has done anything with the data. Yes, the importance of the data has been explained: essentially, its theft allows the anti-corporate group to continue to exist. Oh blah...
The book does end with a grand dénouement... Which is no real surprise, it was so clearly telegraphed. What is a surprise is the lack of logic behind the shock horror discovery. How does it work ? How could it possibly work ?! Who knows !
Meanwhile, back at the super-secure government medical lab... where America's best medical scientists have spent many months studying sick people... they are not able to spot the problem. Which is odd, really. Because even the heroine -- totally medically unqualified -- is able to look at an MRI scan... and instantly spot the problem !
This book is a thriller, with the usual secret agency controlling the world. Just to be different, there are *three* super-secret agencies. Each with amazing technology and spies everywhere. Although the heroine always manages to... just... slip through the nets.
Okay, Parasite is light, fun, easy to read. I enjoyed it. Until I read enough to realise that it is simply part one of a soap opera series.
I reached the non-ending and thought, That was disappointing. Will I look for book two ? No... Because every indication is... that book two will also provide no conclusion.
I like a story, not a continuing saga. A "story" had a beginning, a middle -- and an end. If the author has no clue on how the story ends... I have very little interest in reading a soap opera.
Sure, read this book to pass the time. Just don't expect to read for a clever plot and a thrilling conclusion.
Conclusion ? There is none.
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Problems ? Solved
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