Parasite (Parasitology, 1)

I have been waiting for this book for months, ever since Grant announced it. I didn't even care what it was about. Actually the title, and the blurb, are a bit off-putting; who the heck wants to read a fiction book about parasites, parasites we willingly ingest? Ick! But I have faith in Grant's writing and she didn't let me down. That said, I don't see myself knowingly swallowing a parasite anytime soon. Whereas with "Feed" it took me a hundred pages or so before I was engaged, "Parasite" sucked me in right away. While the sleeping sickness and the truth about the parasites were interesting, it was the story of Sally Mitchell that really kept me interested. The Sally Mitchell we meet in the book is Sally 2.0. The first Sally died in a car accident six years ago but comes back to life thanks to the parasite in her body. This Sally has no memory of her life the first time around and even had to relearn basics such as language. She's utterly fascinating as she deals with daily life, holding down a part-time job, constant medical testing, a boy friend, and the family she has no memory of, who have difficulty accepting Sally 2.0 especially as she underwent a personality change. That could make a book all on its own but there's the mysterious sleeping sickness infecting people and its possible connection to the parasites. There's a large pharmaceutical company which may or may not be evil, a love story, secrets, treachery (I was so sad, I liked that character!), and an eccentric character or two (I'm looking at you Tansy!). It's a lot to tackle and not all of the plot lines are resolved in this book. There are more books to come so we should see them resolved. I foresaw a couple twists but for the most part the book kept me guessing and kept me enthralled. With the exception of Nathan who seemed too understanding to be real, the characters are complex and multi-dimensional; the issues and themes brought up are scary and all too real; and Grant spins a fascinating tale. You want this book, you really do.

"My darling child be careful now and don"t go out alone." Throughout this story, a child's book is quoted by three of the characters. The amassed quotes are so beguiling that I looked up the title on the off chance the book is real. (It isn't.) This attention to detail is one of the things that makes this novel so engaging. Given the topic, that is not an easy task. The plot of the book concerns a future 2027 in which a huge pharmaceutical company has conquered many diseases by treating humans with a tapeworm that dispenses medicine and generally takes care of the carrier's health. The main character, Sally, had an "implant" when she turned her car into oncoming traffic. After that accident left her essentially dead, Symbogen takes over her care with special worms and resurrects a person now into her sixth year. But she remembers nothing at all from before the accident. Sally's personality is appealing; kind with a bit of spunk. Her world keeps the reader glued to the page. It is true that it has not been so long since diet pills ordered through the mail did in fact contain tapeworms, I have seen people do dumber things to lose weight. The ick factor is part of the hook. It is an intriguing premise that we humans have sanitized our worlds to the point our immune system is bored and doesn't work. Enter the tapeworm to fix all that. Of course this would not be a book if everything worked out well. The human carriers seem to be prone to an outbreak of sleeping illness in which they start attacking everyone else. At this point the whole thing is way too zombie like for me since I am zombied out. I was sorry to see an old plot line com into this book which I chose due to its new premise. And I think the first solution to the first mystery pushes belief a couple of steps way too far. Nonethe less the book had me in its embrace. I got the proof copy from Netgalley, but will buy the second book. The writing is bright and sometimes witty. Picking on big pharma is always a lot of fun. The main characters are deeply intriguing. You wouldn't be reading it if the word parasites hadn't dinged a bell for you, so I recommend you read it.

About a third of the way into this novel, I became aware of the dreaded words on page 502, “To be continued…” Mira Grant, are you kidding me? I don’t like reading trilogies unless all three books are available to read now. By the time the next novel comes out, I will have forgotten this one. I know that I can go to Wikipedia for a recap, but most of the time I’ve already lost interest. Oh well, I should have been aware of her tendencies with the previously published, 'The Newsflesh Trilogy' . Okay, enough said. The first novel is a success, but it makes the reader wonder if these ‘tapewormed- sleepwalkers’ are going to morph into ordinary zombies. Mira, don’t do it, because what you have here is a fresh idea that should only get better in book two and three. I, for one, am tired of zombie novels. Keep your thoughts on what you started and develop it further. Your last chapter was dynamite waiting to ignite. I thought that was where the story was heading, but I wasn’t sure. The future readers will know what I’m talking about after they get to the end of this intoxicating work. It seems that SymboGen Corporation has developed a tapeworm that once implanted into a human body shields the person from sickness and actually dispenses drugs to fight any disease. Dr. Banks, Dr. Jablonsky and Dr. Shanti Cale are the three architects of this ‘Intestinal Bodyguard’ that has been ingested by most of the population. The year is 2027. The protagonist is Sally Mitchell, who had a horrible car accident, which left her in a near plug-pulling state, until her tapeworm somehow pulled her out of her coma. She was twenty at the time of the crash, and now six years have passed. She has no memory of her first twenty years and had to be re-taught everything as if she were a baby. Dr. Banks of SymboGen has taken an interest in her case and monitors her health and life at no expense to Sal (she changed her name since she has no memory of her first twenty years). Sal has a Dr. Bank’s arranged job at a animal shelter and has a boyfriend, Dr. Nathan Kim, who is a parasitologist at a San Francisco hospital. Sal has ‘night terror dreams’ of being in a hot and warm dark place with the distant sound of drums. Nonetheless, all’s well until she and Nathan run into a strange man and his dog in a park. He seems to be suddenly aggressive while sleepwalking. Sal and Nathan leave with the dog, who becomes their lovable pet named Beverly. Dr. Kim finds out that there are many similar cases nationwide. He discovers that a wand with a purple light run over your skin can detect whether you have an parasite infection, or not. Meanwhile Dr. Shanti Cole has disappeared. Dr. Jablonsky has committed suicide. What’s going on? Sal and Nathan meet the mysterious Adam and Tansy. Who are they and why does Adam call Nathan... brother? Are implants taking over their human host? Sal’s father, Colonel Alfred Mitchell, director of research at a U.S. Army research institute for infectious diseases gets involved in a big way. So in book one, Mira Grant has introduced the eight to ten main characters (good job). We know that the originally beneficial tapeworms seem to be revolting and taking over the brains of some human host. We suspect that there is a chief tapeworm, but I will not guess who that is at this time, although I think I know who it is. This is a well written piece of horror/urban fantasy from Seanan McGuire (writing as Mira Grant). She managed to keep me wide awake and feeling empathy for the characters while reading this thriller. A writer can’t do any better than that. I highly recommend this novel, but with the caveat that two more books are coming before we meet the denouement.

I got hooked on the Newsflesh trilogy when I accidentally picked up Feed only days after it's release, and I stuck with the series through its admittedly varying quality. Even though the story had some issues, I really loved a few key things about that universe, especially how much effort had been put into making the scenario a believable one, a rarity in a genre where an overwhelming amount of the stories are about Strong Men Surviving The Mysterious Zombie Apocalypse Armed Only With Their Bare Hands Where Feed started off well and had me hooked to the end of the book, however, I have to say my interest in Parasite waned quickly throughout the book, although I still finished it in four hours. It doesn't take long to have most things in the book figured out, due to the rather excessive hand-holding it's also no fun at all as it requires no need to think. More things could have been left a little more shrouded in mystery here. To be honest I wasn't all that wild about the main character, who to me eventually really just became an annoyance I had to ignore to get to the good parts. And there are good parts. The dialog is occasionally snappy and entertaining, especially when the character Tansy comes into play, the excepts from the children's book are appropriately creepy (and the premise of that children's book is actually very intriguing), great pain has been taken to make sure that you can properly believe that this could happen, and I still admire Ms Grant so much for this. I might not always be bowled over by the story itself, but I never feel like the concept was made up on a whim and I'm being told to simply accept that things are as they are and get on with it. The creation of the parasite. the marketing, the integration in every day life, splendidly done. It's only such a pity I don't care for Sally Mitchell, who happens to be the main character. Her story isn't particularly intriguing, she seems half comatose, one quarter bohoo-poor-me and a quarter oh hell I'm supposed to be a believeably adult-ish character, better get back to that pronto. The romance is forced, at best, although not quite as bad as it was in Blackout. The boyfriend is far too convenient, as a character he is also unbelievable and quite frankly boring. If you read and liked Newsflesh, I would recommend this, a lot of the things you liked in that trilogy are probably present here. I hope that in difference to Newsflesh that this series improves with each new book, and that like Newsflesh we'll be treated to some fabulous novellas. Despite this not being my new favorite book, I will still eagerly await the next one, desperately hoping the delightful Tansy will be back to charm me further.

Parasite is the future. As humanity tries to scrub and sterilize every surface they and their children might encounter, they reduce their bodies’ tolerance for allergens. SymboGen, pharmaceutical pioneers, design a solution for the world heath crisis. They've genetically altered a tapeworm to combat allergies, diseases, and even act as birth control. All you've got to do is swallow one little pill, every couple of years. What could go wrong? Main character, Sally Mitchell becomes the poster child for SymboGen, after almost dying in a car accident and being saved by her patented Intestinal Bodyguard. One problem: When she wakes up from her coma she has know idea who she is, who her family is, or what they're saying to her because she's also forgotten English. Six years later, Sally Mitchell is still an amnesiac living under the thumb of Big-Pharma and it isn't easy. They treat her like a lab rat and expect her to behave, while her family treats her like a child because the old Sally is gone and this one has only been alive for six years. All this pales in comparison to a mysterious pandemic afflicting people who aren't supposed to get sick anymore. The tone of Sally Mitchell's voice is different from anything I've read in awhile. She speaks and thinks "young" in some ways because all she has is six years. However, she isn't stupid, she's learning fast, and her past traumas and current predicaments make her emotionally older than most. Her boyfriend Nathan appears to be the only one in Sally's life who sees her, trusts her, and is honest with her. This last thing is important, because as the plot-line increases in intensity it becomes abundantly clear, that everyone is lying to Sally about something. And the more they lie, the more determined she is to find out the truth. And I don't blame her one bit, because there are points where the lies and the manipulations flow so heavy, I actually got angry on her behalf. Who the hell are these people to say they have her interests at heart, when they haven't actually asked her what her best interests are? And who is Mira Grant, to make me look like a crazy person, yelling away at fictional characters? Then I took a deep breath to calm myself and read on, desperate to see how Sally handles each new deceit. As a fan of Mira Grant's, I had high expectations for this book going in: I wasn't disappointed! She should get an award for coming up with creative ways for mad scientists to screw humanity. I found Sally Mitchell to be a compelling, oddly relatable, and occasionally frightening character. Her family is infuriating, the science sickening, and the conspiracy she finds herself unraveling is exactly why curiosity killed the cat. I couldn't put this book down. There were points that were creepy and gross, points where I cringed and felt as if I needed to shower with a sandpaper loufa. There were points that were frightening and heartbreaking. And at the end, I've got two big questions: What will she do now? And did her dad know? I am horrified that I have to wait for a sequel... I want it now!

The chapters are mixed with news releases, autobiographical material, journal entries, and even quotes from a children's book which are connected to what is going on. At times this is very annoying and at other times it was quite useful to understanding what is gong on. The book is set in a future not to remote from ours 2027 and everyone is having a parasite put inside them. This parasite takes care of all your health problems: diabetic no more insulin shots for you, your parasite will regulate your body; birth control no need to worry your parasite will keep you from getting pregnant; in fact, no need to take any kind of medicine ever again because your parasite will keep you healthy. Sound too good to be true? Well it turns out it is. People start getting sick with something named the sleeping sickness, where, they first begin to shamble about, then fall into a coma and then later become very aggressive and start trying to kill other people. In other words, they become very zombie like. The protagonist of this novel is Sally Mitchell, a young woman who had a terrible car accident and was essentially brain dead until a parasite was injected into her and she regained consciousness. The problem is she is nothing like the young woman she had been before the accident. In fact, she has no memory of her former life. She can't even speak a single language so she has to relearn English. When we meet her she has been out of her coma for 6 years and is dating a doctor (no not one of hers) and is resentful she has to go to a psychiatrist, as well as get checked out by the corporation who injected her with the parasite every six months. Her parents have legal guardianship over her although technically she is a grown woman, she only has 6 years of life experience. The other characters in the book are just as good, if not better, than Sally. They are a diverse group, for example, Sally's father is a Colonel in the U.S. Army and a doctor who works at a research lab. Her boyfriend, Nathan, is the foremost expert in parasitology which is terribly helpful when Sally starts trying to figure out what is causing everyone to go all zombie. Her sister, Joyce, who she evidently didn't get along with before her accident becomes her best friend. Then there are the people she works at the animal shelter with, Will and Tasha. Not to mention a couple of adorable dogs mixed in with the rest and you have a very lovable group. Overall this was an enormously enjoyable read, considerably well-written and highly recommended.

Wow! I loved this book. In some ways it's similar to the Newsflesh trilogy (also well worth reading) in that some disease/science experiment has gone wrong and is now threatening humanity, there are secret undergound labs and you can't trust the authorities/people in charge/big companies/pretty much anyone expect yourself. Some spoliers ahoy! However, this book contained more mindf*cks, more twisted science and even more twisted scientists! And not to mention talking tapeworms?!?!?! Who think and reason like people? I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around this. It's disgusting, creepy, beyond weird and at the same time intriguing. One of the scenes in this book actually made me almost vomit, and that's a first for any book I've ever read. So, naturally I expect the next volume in the series to be at least as good as this. It is safe to say I enjoyed Parasite a lot and I am going to have a hard time waiting for November and the second book. :D:D:D I am really glad I discovered Mira Grant, although I don't remember how it happened, I think it was on Goodreads, so thank you,Goodreads! I love the crazy science in her books, how nothing is ever black and white, all good or all evil and how she is so capable of arguing convincingly for all sides of a story. You never quite know where you have all of her characters. Mira Grant, please keep up the good work and continue to fascinate and disgust me!

The Setup (Overview): In the near future health care has become almost universally standardized. A company by the name of SymboGen has found away to take one of nature's more pesky parasites and turn it into a revolutionary way of delivering medicine. There is almost no down sides and millions have been saved that might have other wised perished. In the case of one one woman the SymboGen treatment may even have brought her back from the the dead. Of course this is an unexpected side effect, one that SymboGen doesn't quite understand so they are very eager, or very worried, and want to find an explanation as soon as possible. This is the story of Sally Mitchell, the girl who came back. The Story(Some Story Details): Sally Mitchell was not the nicest person in the world before her accident. While her SymboGen implant saved her body from the effects of getting T-Boned by a semi-truck, it didn't quite stop her brain from getting banged around a bit. In fact she doesn't remember anything at all from her past. Which is why she prefers to be called Sal now since she's apparently a completely opposite person now. It has taken Sal almost two years to make up all the progress she lost due to the accident. She is ready to move on with her life but SymboGen still hasn't gotten the answers they wanted. There is also some lingering side effects that no one can quite explain. While some might normal, like nightmare's, there are others such as severe allergy reactions that could be deadly. So Sal puts up with the continuing tests whether she likes it or not. Everything changes though when a strange new sickness starts to spread across the country. It causes normal people to act as if they are suddenly sleep walking. The victims start out docile but eventually they become aggressive, almost as if they are hunting something. As the sickness accelerates it seems that SymboGen might not have been quite as beneficial as they seemed. The answers lie locked in the head of Sal Mitchell. Now she and her ragtag group of friends and unlikely allies must delve into the shrouded history of SymboGen to find the truth behind what was thought to be the miracle of the century. Conclusion(My Overall Opinion on the Story): This was a pretty good read. The story moves a pretty good clip, it does get a little fast toward the end as this is the first book in the trilogy so the next book needs to get it's story arc's setup. It's not really that distracting, just after a certain point in the book there are a few “and then!” moments. The story may remind some of “The Host”, while there are a few similarities the idea has more to do with the “humans mess nature's plan and that's a bad idea” concept than anything else. The characters are also interesting for the most part. Just about everyone has more than meets the eye to them or most likely will in the sequel. If your interested in thrillers that have a side of “mysterious virus may destroy the world” or you liked the “news flesh trilogy” give this one a read. m.a.c

Me pensaba que era un desparacitante y pedí 2 Es un libro no sé qué hacer con el,y aparte, es en inglés

I read this book in only four days. I just couldn't stop reading. The author really did her researches about microorganisms. From what I learned in my microbiology class, I was happy that the big lines were there. For the artistic license, that is perfectly fine with me as the basis was covered so well. This is my first book from Mira Grant and I have to say I like her style. This is a real page turner and the slow paced story make me care a lot about the characters. I am starting the sequel as soon as I am done with this review... Meaning NOW! I highly recommend this book!

I love Mira Grants word. I'm a confirmed fan. This, like her other work (like the outstanding Feed world) uses plausible science to build a horror story. But the skill is not in clumsy gore or violence. It's tense in places. Never predictable, and you can go with the characters. If you like sci fi/horror thats intelligent, patient and believable, this is your bag. I gave it 5 stars because it engaged me, it kept me engaged, kept me guessing and in our modern world, it isn't outwith the realms of possibility.

Hervorragend. Tolle, originelle Geschichte und überzeugende Charaktere, die unter die Haut gehen. Zwischendurch vielleicht ein bisschen viel Gefühlsduselei, aber insgesamt absolut packend. Ich konnte nicht anders, als alle drei Bücher direkt hintereinander zu lesen.

Intrigerend als je bedenkt dat dit in de toekomst zou mogelik zyn