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mackenzierm's review against another edition
5.0
I remember reading this book bout a year ago, and I clearly remember being so torn up about what was going on. The plot had my heart-pounding and frantically flipping pages to find out that everything was going to end up alright. It was a FANTASTIC book!
dontmissythesereads's review against another edition
4.0
Book #59 read in 2006
This book sat on my shelf for awhile because I thought I was going to hate it. I am not a big Sci-Fi fan and this book was set in space. However, I love Gerritsen which is why I picked it up in the first place. I LOVED THIS BOOK!! It was so exciting and fast-paced that I didn't want to put it down. As always, Gerritsen delivered a real nail-biter!
This book sat on my shelf for awhile because I thought I was going to hate it. I am not a big Sci-Fi fan and this book was set in space. However, I love Gerritsen which is why I picked it up in the first place. I LOVED THIS BOOK!! It was so exciting and fast-paced that I didn't want to put it down. As always, Gerritsen delivered a real nail-biter!
scissorhands's review
5.0
son zamanlarda oxumaqdan ən çox zövq aldığım kitab oldu. oxuduğum bütün müddətdə kosmosda idim sanki. yazıçının həkim olması kitablarının tibblə çox əlaqəli olmasına səbəb olur, hansı ki bu kitabı daha da maraqlı edir məncə. çox maraqlı və sürükləyici idi. həmçinin kitabdan astronotlarla və tibblə bağlı maraqlı məlumatlar öyrəndim.
denisec2021's review against another edition
4.0
This is the second novel by Tess Gerritsen that I've read, I really didn't like the other one (Whistleblower) but, this one, I did.
I really shouldn't have liked it though. I don't read sci-fi, books about space travel, gory books....but, I really enjoyed reading this and I can't explain why (possibly it's just a good read)!
There are a lot of acronyms early in the book (there's a glossary at the back if you want to decipher them but I found I could read the book quite easily without knowing what the acronyms stood for).
I really shouldn't have liked it though. I don't read sci-fi, books about space travel, gory books....but, I really enjoyed reading this and I can't explain why (possibly it's just a good read)!
There are a lot of acronyms early in the book (there's a glossary at the back if you want to decipher them but I found I could read the book quite easily without knowing what the acronyms stood for).
lisa01's review against another edition
5.0
This book was amazing. Very intresting and attention getting. If this was my 1st Tess Gerritsen book I would definately read more of her books b/c of this one. I would recommend this book to everyone!
trish204's review against another edition
5.0
Turns out, I have known this author's work for a while. Because my sister is a fan of the TV show Rizzoli & Isles which is based on a book series by this author. Nevertheless, this was my first book by her.
We follow Emma Watson and a few other astronauts as they are getting ready to go on a mission to the ISS. While on board, some experiment goes horribly wrong because suddenly people are infected with something and the race to find out what it is begins.
Naturally, back down on Earth, people are trying to help but depending on what it is, it's too dangerous to allow the crew back home.
There is a little politicking but mostly it's science. The science of getting people into space (physics) as much as chemistry and biology. And wonderful bodily horror once people start dying. Think Contagion but on a station in Earth's orbit.
Naturally, it helps that the author knows her facts (she's a doctor in anthropology and medicine) and she has a wonderful way of filling this book to the brim with those facts but in such a neat way that they seamlessly blend with the suspense of having to solve the mystery of what is going on, how it is possible and if it can be stopped.
However, as much as I liked getting to know the NASA staff, the flight crews, and following the experiments as well as the inter-personal relationships on the ISS, the ending was almost a bit of a letdown. I mean, not only but she also . Moreover, the fact that ?! That was all ... I don't know. I think what troubled me the most was . However, the author IS a medical doctor so she would know if that was at least partially realistic and I did like the thought of .
(Don't let that smile fool you, this lady is a killer!)
All in all, the above mentioned points are relatively minor complaints, just thoughts floating around my head while reading the book and now that I've finished it and I'd love to have a chance to talk to the author about her thought process.
Anyway, the action was relentless, the characters were extremely lively (making you suffer with them), and the science was superb (I cannot say if that one thing bugging me would be scientifically accurate) so the book still gets full marks for being so different from other thrillers and engaging and for it demanding a smart reader. Besides, who doesn't like an experiment gone wrong - in space! - that has the potential of either wiping out humanity or at the very least decimating us like the zombie apocalypse?!
We follow Emma Watson and a few other astronauts as they are getting ready to go on a mission to the ISS. While on board, some experiment goes horribly wrong because suddenly people are infected with something and the race to find out what it is begins.
Naturally, back down on Earth, people are trying to help but depending on what it is, it's too dangerous to allow the crew back home.
There is a little politicking but mostly it's science. The science of getting people into space (physics) as much as chemistry and biology. And wonderful bodily horror once people start dying. Think Contagion but on a station in Earth's orbit.
Naturally, it helps that the author knows her facts (she's a doctor in anthropology and medicine) and she has a wonderful way of filling this book to the brim with those facts but in such a neat way that they seamlessly blend with the suspense of having to solve the mystery of what is going on, how it is possible and if it can be stopped.
However, as much as I liked getting to know the NASA staff, the flight crews, and following the experiments as well as the inter-personal relationships on the ISS, the ending was almost a bit of a letdown. I mean, not only
Spoiler
did Emma survive (thanks to her hero husband)Spoiler
woke up and recovered despite having been on Death's threshold ... think about it, the cure was just fighting the chimera, that thing had already done considerable damage to her bodySpoiler
the chimera still exists on Earth, down in the ocean near the Galápagos islands, waiting in that submerged asteroid ... there is a strong current around there so it could simply be swept to places and infect people but the government isn't taking precautionsSpoiler
what kind of "miracle" was found - the cure lying in pregnancySpoiler
an alien species being out there and unleashing this chimera like seeds on the wind to colonize other planets(Don't let that smile fool you, this lady is a killer!)
All in all, the above mentioned points are relatively minor complaints, just thoughts floating around my head while reading the book and now that I've finished it and I'd love to have a chance to talk to the author about her thought process.
Anyway, the action was relentless, the characters were extremely lively (making you suffer with them), and the science was superb (I cannot say if that one thing bugging me would be scientifically accurate) so the book still gets full marks for being so different from other thrillers and engaging and for it demanding a smart reader. Besides, who doesn't like an experiment gone wrong - in space! - that has the potential of either wiping out humanity or at the very least decimating us like the zombie apocalypse?!
phouweling's review against another edition
4.0
Atypical Gerritsen novel that takes the medical thriller to a new level: space. Fast-paced and difficult to put down towards the end, but a bit slow in the beginning.
widely_read's review against another edition
3.0
Basically a cross between The Martian, Oxygen, The Cobra Event, and the Andromeda Strain.
Interesting, but I didn't like the main "hero"-- Jack. I felt the romance was contrived.
The political stuff was eye-rolling. Interesting science, but some of it didn't make sense.
Interesting, but I didn't like the main "hero"-- Jack. I felt the romance was contrived.
The political stuff was eye-rolling. Interesting science, but some of it didn't make sense.
birdmanseven's review against another edition
3.0
This book takes several turns that I did not see coming. It was interesting to see a medical thriller play out in space.
I discussed this novel in detail with the author for a special episode of Howe's Things:
https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/defying-gravity-with-tess-gerritsen
I discussed this novel in detail with the author for a special episode of Howe's Things:
https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/defying-gravity-with-tess-gerritsen
fablejack's review against another edition
3.0
I had a hard time getting into this but once things finally started happening, it got much better. I appreciate the accuracy in the technical details. I may give another Tess Gerritsen book a try in the near future.