Symbiont

by Mira Grant Narrated by Christine Lakin

Overview

From New York Times bestselling author Mira Grant comes the second book in the terrifying Parasitology series.
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The SymboGen-designed tapeworms were created to relieve humanity of disease and sickness. But the implants in the majority of the world's population began attacking their hosts, turning them into a ravenous horde.

Now those who do not appear to be afflicted are being gathered for quarantine as panic spreads, but Sal and her companions must discover how the tapeworms are taking over their hosts, what their eventual goal is, and how they can be stopped.
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"A riveting near-future medical thriller that reads like the genetically-engineered love child of Robin Cook and Michael Crichton." -John Joseph Adams on Parasite
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More from Mira Grant:
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Parasitology
Parasite
Symbiont
Chimera
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Newsflesh
Feed
Deadline
Blackout
Feedback
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Rise

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

08/03/2015
This cerebral and visceral sequel to Parasite pits the sentient tapeworm who has taken on the body and identity of dead Sally Mitchell against the rapacious profit motives of Dr. Steven Banks, founder of SymboGen, the organization that originally genetically modified the tapeworms. He keeps Sally's sister Tansy chained up for experimental purposes and pursues both Sally and his former ally, Dr. Shanti Cale, who now seeks to undo the results of their collaboration. Sally's boyfriend wants marriage despite her zombielike status; adversary tapeworm Dr. Sherman Lewis kidnaps Sally to enlist her in his plot for tapeworms to seize world supremacy from humans. Soon San Francisco is quarantined and society is collapsing nationwide. Cale's profession of love for all her children, regardless of their species, adds a piquancy that elevates this series above the standard zombie genre, as does the tension between love and duty felt by Col. Alfred Mitchell, Sally's father. Grant allows the moral debate to slow the story's movement following the meeting of Banks and Cale, but the richness of the plot sustains the reader's interest in how the characters will negotiate this strange new world. Agent: Diana Fox, Fox Literary. (Dec.)

From the Publisher

"A riveting near-future medical thriller that reads like the genetically-engineered love child of Robin Cook and Michael Crichton."—John Joseph Adam on Parasite"

Readers with strong stomachs will welcome this unusual take on the future."—Kirkus Reviews on Parasite"

Fans of [the Newsflesh] series will definitely want to check this new book out. But fans of Michael Crichton-style technothrillers will be equally enthralled: as wild as Grant's premise is, the novel is firmly anchored in real-world science and technology."—Booklist on Parasite"

Grant extends the zombie theme of her Newsflesh trilogy to incorporate thoughtful reflections on biomedical issues that are both ominously challenging and eerily plausible. Sally is a complex, compassionate character, well suited to this exploration of trust, uncertainty, and the price of progress."—Publishers Weekly on Parasite"

It's a well-grounded medical wariness that gets at the heart of the what the Parasitology series will be asking: What happens when the cure is worse than the disease?"—NPR Books on Parasite"

An exceptionally creepy medical-horror thriller that's the perfect spine-tingling read for Halloween...[a] roller coaster ride."—RT Book Reviews on Parasite (4 1/2 stars)"

Deft cultural touches, intriguing science, and amped-up action will delight Grant's numerous fans."—Publishers Weekly on Deadline"

The zombie novel Robert A. Heinlein might have written."—Sci-Fi Magazine on Feed"

A masterpiece of suspense."—Publishers Weekly on Feed (Starred Review)

Kirkus Reviews

2014-10-09
The second in Grant's new series (Parasite, 2013) featuring a society battling a tapeworm takeover picks up with the adventures of Sal Mitchell, a tapeworm that's overcome her host's body. The series premise is that a company called SymboGen developed a tapeworm implant to help humans regulate their health issues. But the tapeworms turn out to be sentient beings, and once they realize where they are, they claim their hosts. Most affected humans become zombielike creatures known as "sleepwalkers." As this book begins, it's the fall of 2027 in the San Francisco Bay area. Sal suffered brain damage in a car accident, after which her tapeworm chewed through her body into her brain and took over. Unlike the tapeworm/humans who became sleepwalkers, Sal developed a personality, found Nathan, her boyfriend, and helped him fight against the evil Dr. Steven Banks of SymboGen. Her sister Tansy, also a tapeworm, is missing, presumably held captive by SymboGen, and as Sal suffers through one fainting episode after another, sleepwalkers turn the area into a bloody battleground. Meanwhile, back at the lab, Sherman, another of Banks' creations, who does everything evil but twirl his handlebar mustache, works hard to bring the tapeworms to power. Grant stumbles in this volume: There's an oddly clumsy attempt to justify Sal's fear of riding in cars, and readers will find it hard to root for any character in this much-too-long novel. Sal, the tapeworm, is a creepily unsympathetic protagonist; Nathan the boyfriend is a human who, when he finds out his girlfriend is really a tapeworm, doesn't find it disturbing; and none of the other characters are particularly compelling. The upcoming tapeworm apocalypse will probably make most readers feel queasy rather than pique their interest. For those who've been pining for a human/tapeworm romance.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170380305
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	11/25/2014
Series:	Parasitology , #2
Edition description:	Unabridged

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