Rating: Summary: Shun Abduction! Review: This book is on my list of the dumbest books I've read. The plot is silly. (Think of the silliest episode of Star Trek and then double it) Surface dwellers enter and then ruin a Utopian society. It's been done and done, again and again...and done better than this. Shun this clunker of a book at all costs. It's not even recommendable as a light summer read. I won't touch another Robin Cook novel after reading this bomb.
Rating: Summary: Abduction is DOA, here's the post-mortem. Review: As a long time science fiction fan, I found the book poorly written and dreadfully predictable. Cook uses a condescending, didactic style that is clearly oblivious to several generations of development of the genre. (It openly acknowledges the influence of Jules Verne, and is reminiscent of Edgar Rice Burroughs and Lin Carter in places...which would be fine if it were 1936.) Further, I was completely appalled with the occasional gaffes in basic physics. ("Supersonic" trains in a vacuum tunnel?!? OK, that's probably not how he meant it, but it's what he WROTE.) Run, don't walk away from this one. Back to the medical thrillers, doc.
Rating: Summary: So Disappointed Review: I was actually relieved to see other readers found this book to be such a disappointment. It took me so long to read it because the wording was very harsh. The characters were very unbelievable. And the ending was the biggest disappointment of all. This was my first Robin Cook book and it will probably be my last!!
Rating: Summary: Do not buy. Do not borrow. Do not read. Review: This book is appallingly bad. The plot, such as it is, is risible. The characters are cardboard. The dialogue is excruciating. The scientific accuracy is lacking. The writing is terrible. Even worse, editing and proofing are absent. Proofing would have picked up on the use of 'base' for musical bass, or 'foolhearty' for foolhardy in my US mass paperback edition of November 2000. Or the incomplete sentences with missing words. (Despite waving the title 'Dr' around a lot, the author doesn't appear to be particularly literate.) Any editor would have rejected this from a slushpile. Worst of all, the lazy throwaway ending to the book is a lame reference to the author having been to Harvard. It's presumably a joke - and the joke is on the reader who has gotten that far. It is tempting to make comparisons with Michael Crichton's 'Sphere' - the worst of Crichton's books that I've yet read, also set undersea - but Sphere was, for all its faults, far better written. Jeffrey Archer writes better than this. Heck, L. Ron Hubbard has written better stuff than this. And he was probably dead at the time. I will never read another Robin Cook novel. I urge you to do the same.
Rating: Summary: A New Adventure Review: If you are thinking "typical Robin Cook" you won't be able to appreciate this book. But if you just read without those expectations I think you will enjoy this new type of story with Robin Cook. I couldn't put the book down! It was so unlike anything I have ever read......very creative. I was sorry to reach the end of the book. What an adventure! More please, Mr. Cook.
Rating: Summary: WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT! DON'T BUY IT! DON'T EVEN BORROW IT! Review: First of all let me mention I love Mr Cook's books. Even though english is not my native language, which make his medical thrillers a little difficult for me to read, I adore them. When I saw the book & read the content description, I thought "Wow, something different!" What a disappointment, what a deception! I regret every penny given for this book. If I could give it 0 stars, I would! The story was childish, the characters uninteresting and one-dimentional, all important ethical issues were oversimplified, there was no plot and no rational explanation of the behaviours of either first-generation or second generation humans! The book was simplistic & full of childish prejudices. Here is one striking example : this book would have you believe that a harsh childhood with an alcoholic father explains all by itself why a man is bigoted, sexist & hates homosexuals. Well, excuse me but I don't buy it. Even Freudians would dismiss this as overly simplistic. Here is another example: Living in bliss and harmony, with all their needs covered and served by android slaves, human beings become silly spoilt children, incapable of passion (sex for them is like chess is for us), lacking originality in their arts & pass-times (they don't dance, their music is indifferent, and they don't exercise because it is harmful!!!!!). So they spend their days like spoilt dogs, eating, drinking, having sex, swimming if they get too warm & sleeping. This is ridiculous! If we draw the analogy with ancient Hellas, we see that the Athenians of the 5th century BC, who lived in quite comparable circumstances, not only weren't stupid but were, in fact, responsible for some of the most important breakthroughs in science, philosophy & art in the history of humanity. (plus ancient greeks invented the Olympic Games!) To top everything, Mr Cook seems to think that the definition of paradise is equal to stuningly beautiful genetically engineered men & women who walk in togas, have sex with whomever whenever, get high on (harmless) chemical substances and think running to fetch the stick their "dog" has thrown is funny. Bleh! This insults our intelligence as readers! I also find it insulting for the grand master of SF, Mr Asimov, that this piece of garbage is compared to his books by one of the other reviewers! Even if some of his books could be viewed, in the light of today's technology, as simplistic, they were masterpieces in his time and highlights of the genre, since he tackled technologies & moral issues which we now face in our everyday life, such as AI, cloning, overpopulation, destruction of the environmental balance and so on. Mr Cook, please return to the medical thriller! You are a master there, nobody can write quite as well as you this genre. Leave science fiction to those who can write it.
Rating: Summary: An amateurish offering from an old pro. Review: I consider myself to be a Robin Cook fan. In fact, I put Abduction on reserve at the library before it had even arrived from the publisher. I was very disappointed. The story is silly, the characters are one dimensional(if that) and the writing is amateurish. I doubt that if this has been another author's first novel that it would even have been published.
Rating: Summary: Abduction Review: I am an avid Robin Cook fan and found this book to be a great disappointment. Getting past the fact it was not a medical thriller, it just wasn't well written. The plot was thin, the characters never developed to the point the reader wanted to be involved with them and the ending fell flat. I agree with other reviewers, Mr. Cook please return to the medical suspense thrillers you are so skilled at!
Rating: Summary: Did I Catch You Before You Bought This Book? I Hope So!!! Review: This was the disappointment of my lifetime! Ok, that's a little harsh, but this was, without a doubt, the worst novel written by the master of medical thrillers. It's not a medical thriller, by the way. Issac Asimov comes to mind. I couldn't even develop a liking to any of the characters of this book. I am convinced that someone made a mistake when crediting the author of this novel. My 15-year old daughter could have done a better job. Mr. Cook, forget this silliness. I am afraid I will never purchase another one of your novels. Many say the ending was shallow, but I say the entire movel was. Please return to your proper genre. I wasted too much time and money. I almost threw it away, but was sure there'd be a twist that would get this novel on the right track. It never happened
Rating: Summary: Robin Who??? Review: If you like Robin Cook, don't read Abduction. Personally, I wish I could get the money back I spent on the book. It's Saturday-morning cartoon-ish. Mr. Cook's other books are believable. This one is childish. Mr. Cook -- please bring back more books like Chromosome 6. That one had everything -- plot, a touch of believability, good characters, and suspense. It was pure enjoyment.
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