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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
Loved the concept.
Strongly disliked the depiction of the protagonist, and her numerous love interests. It's not that people like that don't exist, it's the inference that this is a normal discourse for women.
Some major plot holes.
Strongly disliked the depiction of the protagonist, and her numerous love interests. It's not that people like that don't exist, it's the inference that this is a normal discourse for women.
Some major plot holes.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Always love Robin cook's book, he give a good description of his characters and the places he is using for the story. As always the strot comes with twist and turns making it hard to figure out who done it.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The story was exciting even if the why of the villains was completely ridiculous and stupid. Marissa was scrappy but also quite annoying. After reading the last line of the book, all I could think was poor Tad.
adventurous
informative
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A good thriller. Easy to read!
A medical-thriller about an Ebola outbreak in the United Sates. The novel was published in 1987 long before the 2014 Ebola outbreak and four cases in the United States. However the reaction by the press and media in the book is exactly how it played out in real life. The main protagonist Dr. Marissa Blumenthal is an epidemiologist from the CDC who knows something is up and is trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together, before the virus spreads.
I read Outbreak once before in my high school years and recall thinking it was incredibly exciting and intense. As I jumped into Outbreak for a second read, my opinion of it has changed dramatically. Perhaps it is the fact that I now have a medical education, or that I am simply older and have read more books, but I found my experience of reading Outbreak dreadfully painful this time around.
My difficulty with the story is two-fold. First, the main character, Marissa Blumenthal, is so painfully daft that there were times that I hoped she would contract Ebola simply so a better protagonist could lead the adventure. I found it terribly unbelievable that she would be hired by the CDC in the first place, given that she seemed to have a very simplistic knowledge of medicine and that her thought processes lack any creative or analytically ability. Every decision she made caused me to chuck my kindle across the room and scream "Are you f-ing kidding me!?" If everything wouldn't have turned out so peachy for her when problems arose, her mountainous stupidity would have been enough to cause an epidemic outbreak.
My second problem with the story is the simplicity of the medical details. Now I don't want to sell Robin Cook short - he is a very well trained physician himself - but for some reason he dumbed down his medical knowledge to the point that it read like a teen novel. I was also very surprised by the way the doctors in this story were portrayed. They were little more than helpless monkeys who had no apparent knowledge of diagnosis or common medical conditions. Perhaps Robin Cook wanted to have them come across as victims as well but it was overplaying it and stole credibility to the story.
Now to be fair, there were times when the story became exciting and suspenseful but they were always outweighed by my frustrations with the faults in the book. By the end of my second reading I felt betrayed by my teenage self who enjoyed this book so thoroughly. Perhaps those who are not so familiar with medical terminology and processes might find more enjoyment in this book but I found it very frustrating to read and wish I would have just watched the movie.
My difficulty with the story is two-fold. First, the main character, Marissa Blumenthal, is so painfully daft that there were times that I hoped she would contract Ebola simply so a better protagonist could lead the adventure. I found it terribly unbelievable that she would be hired by the CDC in the first place, given that she seemed to have a very simplistic knowledge of medicine and that her thought processes lack any creative or analytically ability. Every decision she made caused me to chuck my kindle across the room and scream "Are you f-ing kidding me!?" If everything wouldn't have turned out so peachy for her when problems arose, her mountainous stupidity would have been enough to cause an epidemic outbreak.
My second problem with the story is the simplicity of the medical details. Now I don't want to sell Robin Cook short - he is a very well trained physician himself - but for some reason he dumbed down his medical knowledge to the point that it read like a teen novel. I was also very surprised by the way the doctors in this story were portrayed. They were little more than helpless monkeys who had no apparent knowledge of diagnosis or common medical conditions. Perhaps Robin Cook wanted to have them come across as victims as well but it was overplaying it and stole credibility to the story.
Now to be fair, there were times when the story became exciting and suspenseful but they were always outweighed by my frustrations with the faults in the book. By the end of my second reading I felt betrayed by my teenage self who enjoyed this book so thoroughly. Perhaps those who are not so familiar with medical terminology and processes might find more enjoyment in this book but I found it very frustrating to read and wish I would have just watched the movie.