Abduction

Rating:
Summary: Dr. Cook, please return to the hospital!
Review: What a stinker. Having read many of Robin Cook's previous medical mystery novels, I felt suckered after I bought and read this one. It is a sci-fi attempt by an author way out of his genre. This stuff has all been done before by real sci-fi writers, and Dr. Cook's attempt comes out at the level a 6th grader might enjoy. When I buy Tom Clancy, I don't expect poetry. When I buy Robin Cook, I don't expect a preachy Greenpeace advertisement. Dr. Cook, return to the operating room, STAT!

Rating:
Summary: The Quest for a Best Seller
Review: The only reason I gave this book two stars is cos' atleast Mr. Cook tried his hand at a different subject. Other than that, there is hardly anything in the book that would deserve even one star. The chracters are not only predictable, they are downright irritating! After a promise of some fancy stuff, we get a load of the funny first generation humans who hardly seem human atall. The book reminds you off those Hollywood sci-fi movies which were mada in the seventies, that two the worst ones of the period. Even the dresses they wear are similar. The initial plot is very much similar to a book by Michael Chriton. The story is about these five humans who land up in a surreal world located inside the Earth. As the rest of the story unfolds, you realize that you can guess almost every next thing thats about to happen on the next page. In short, this book is not even for the hardcore Robin Cook fan simply because the plot line is alien to any of the other works by the same author.

Please Mr. Cook, if you have to do different stuff, please give more meat and depth to your characters. Don't make them Robots.

Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I was disappointed with this novel. It began like it was going to be a good story. The first 80 pages or so were very interesting, and although I felt the characters seemed somewhat one-dimensional, thought I had found a winner. But then the story turned into a combination of scenes from an old Outer Limits episode, "The Probe," where survivors of an airplane crash in the ocean end up being decontaminated from viruses inside an alien spacecraft, then turned into a remake of a few low budget movies I remember from the 60's or 70's where the forerunners of Atlantis still exist in an undersea world, enslaving second class citizens and unfortunate top dwellers, and an idea from the Dune novels. Aside from the good start, there was nothing new about this story that hasn't been told before.

The dialog was weak, as well as the plastic, one-dimensional characters. Sailors just don't speak or act the way the three former naval characters (two of them hard drinking ex-cons) spoke in the story. It seemed like the author was in a rush to get the manuscript to print, and the only editing it received was a quick run through a spell check. The story could have been told in half the number of pages, which would have left more room for story and character development. That's very unfortunate, as it had the potential of being a great story. I also felt the author spent too much time narrating.

The writer could have made two good novels out of this. One, a scientifically factual story about a mini-sub trapped in an undersea volcano, and the struggle to find a way out. The second could have elaborated into a fantasy about the "Interterreans" world and how the second-generation humans muck it up. But neither the story nor the characters ever fully developed. After 350 pages the story started to develop, then it abruptly ended. The ending, as well as most of the book, was predictable.

On the plus side, it was very readable and fast paced; not boring.

This was my first Robin Cook novel. I was inspired to read it by his reputation of turning out good stories. I might try a few of his others, but I'll get them at used bookstores. I won't plop down any money for another new novel by him.

Rating:
Summary: boooorrrrrriiiinnnngggg
Review: this book begins slowly, but i gave it a chance, since mr cook has written some very good books in the past. it did start to pick up after a bit, but then bogged down again. i gave up after about 250 pages.

Rating:
Summary: Sci Fi, not medical
Review: Maybe it's not great literature, but it was fast paced, a real page turner. An interesting romp in and other world in our world.

Rating:
Summary: refreshingly different
Review: The subject is something totally different. I have read all of Robin Cook's books, but off late all of them have become quite boring and predictable. This book is much better - mind you I am comparing with his Vector and other recent novels. This book is definitely not predictable. Though the first 75-80 pages of this book were like sleeping pills, the later part improved. I feel the ending could have been changed. It just left too many things unanswered. It is as though you are suddenly in the middle of another story. When will we get back books like Harmful Intent, Mutation, etc. Even his next book `Shock' (to be released next year)does not sound promising in the editorial reviews.

Rating:
Summary: Wrong title
Review: Should be called "How To Use the Terms Vis-a-Vis and Apropos as Much as Possible". This is the worst book I've ever read. There are inconsistencies on every page. Character dialog is horrid and unrealistic. Gets one star because of a mildly funny scene involving a game of fetch. Don't waste your money on this one.

Rating:
Summary: A Disappointment!
Review: I am an avid reader of Robin Cook's novels. They are the type that you do not want to "let go". Abduction, however, is a departure from his medical thrillers and a very poor one at that. If you have never read a book by Robin Cook, do not start with this one! Any of his other books is much better. If you have read some of his books, be prepared for a disappointment.

Rating:
Summary: Worst Robin Cook book I've Ever Read
Review: The book is preachy. The characters are not credible. The plot is thin. The writing is horrible. By halfway through, I only wanted it to end. I finished it just because I didn't want the book to beat me. This was a total waste of time. Not at all up to the quality of past Cook novels, and not indicative of someone who has written so many best sellers. This was just published, but it reads like a new author's first novel. Stay away.

Rating:
Summary: Sci-Fi Bomb
Review: A poorly excecuted foray into the science-fiction genre for an accomplished thriller author. The premise of a highly-advanced undderworld civilization is something that exists only on the lunatic fringe of UFO believers, and the adolescent writing style only serves to discredit the author. Dr. Cook's editor should find a new career after allowing this in print.