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A review by trish204
Gravity by Tess Gerritsen
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?!