Rating: 
Summary: Engrossing Medical Sci-fi
Review: 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'.
Rating: 
Summary: New spin on "Invasion of the body snatchers"
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
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