Parasite

A fun mix of medical mystery and thriller with a nice dose of horror splashed on top. In the future medicine has been transformed by the use of implants – genetically modified tapeworms that nearly the whole population of earth has. We follow Sally who is a bit of a medical miracle having come out of a coma following a car crash. Is her tapeworm somehow responsible for saving her life? As she rebuilds her memories and undergoes medical tests by SymboGen, Sally tries to simply have a normal existence. However, strange things are happening around her. People are turning into zombies and she is drawn into the mystery despite herself.

I liked Mira Grant's approach of interspersing Sally's first person narrative with excerpts from magazine articles and biographies about the founders of SymboGen, the biotech firm that created the bioengineered the tapeworms. As the story develops, the reader starts putting pieces together while Sally fails to, even though she has the same information. This gives the reader a different perspective on events and adds to the tension building up towards the end. The pace is quick and the writing is lively. I felt like the characters were well drawn and enjoyed their interactions. I also liked the medical mystery component as it seems just possible given current technology (and the scruples of biotech firms). I recommend Parasite and am looking forward to the sequel.