SUMMARY:
Gridlinked is a science fiction adventure in the classic, fast-paced, action-packed tradition of Harry Harrison and Poul Anderson, with a dash of cyberpunk and a splash of Ian Fleming added to spice the mix. Cormac is a legendary Earth Central Security agent, the James Bond of a wealthy future where "runcibles" (matter transmitters controlled by AIs) allow interstellar travel in an eye blink throughout the settled worlds of the Polity. Unfortunately Cormac is nearly burnt out, "gridlinked" to the AI net so long that his humanity has begun to drain away. He has to take the cold-turkey cure and shake his addiction to having his brain on the net.Now he must do without just as he’s sent to investigate the unique runcible disaster that's wiped out the entire human colony on planet Samarkand in a thirty-megaton explosion. With the runcible out, Cormac must get there by ship, but he has incurred the wrath of a vicious psychopath called Arian Pelter, who now follows him across the galaxy with a terrifying psychotic killer android in tow. And deep beneath Samarkand's surface there are buried mysteries, fiercely guarded. This is fast-moving, edge-of-the-seat entertainment, and a great introduction to the work of one of the most exciting new SF talents in years.

Amazon.com Review

Fans of Robin Cook's many thrillers will be happy to know another one is on the way. In this latest outing, Invasion, Cook envisions a contact with extraterrestials that is closer to Alien than to E.T.. A gigantic spaceship arrives in the stratosphere to dump some black disks onto Earth. Touch these things at your own risk, however; unsuspecting souls who handle the disks receive a sting, soon followed by flulike symptoms and ending in a kind of zombie assimilation into the alien consciousness. And make no mistake: these aliens are up to no good--we know this because the victims of the UFO-flu are soon transformed into hideous reptilian creatures.

Apparently, one consequence of being trapped by the aliens is that victims lose all semblance of natural speech--most notably, contractions. The book abounds in dialogue such as, "You must flee, Cassy," and "The electrical grid has been interrupted. There will be no force counteracting the antigravity ..." Still, readers looking for a good beach or bathtub book will find Invasion is right on the money.

From Publishers Weekly

There are certain similarities between science fiction and medical thrillers (futuristic technology, nature subverted) so it's not really surprising that a master of the medical genre like Cook (Acceptable Risk) would try to combine the two. Unfortunately, the result doesn't succeed as SF and doesn't live up to his usual standards as a medical thriller. Instead, this book reads like a script for the soon-to-be-released NBC "major television event" based on this book?you can almost hear the director yelling "Cut and print" at the end of each chapter. The story starts well enough, with a small college town and a flurry of unusual black rocks. Those who pick them up are stung and, after a short fever, come up with a curious list of aftereffects. They become extroverted, environmentally conscious, attached to dogs?and telepathically connected. As a group of those who haven't been stung rush to find some sort of cure, the leader of the changed begins to take on alien form, while directing the construction of a space ship. By this point, though, Cook doesn't seem to know how to get out of his plot, except for an esoteric cure involving the common cold. One can only hope that aided by special effects, this lame resolution plays better on the small screen than it does in the novel.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.