Reviews

Impact by Douglas Preston

ecooper99's review against another edition

adventurous tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This was my first book by Douglas Preston. As a fan of Michael Crichton's work, I was eager to dive into something in a similar vein. I wanted scientific intrigue and a fast-paced adventure, and that was exactly what I got.

The story is packed with scientific concepts that are explained in a such a way that they're easy for laypeople to understand. (Whether the science is accurate, I have no idea, but it all seemed plausible to me.) Preston excels at making complex ideas accessible, and he never forgets that his primary goal is to entertain.

However, the action scenes dragged on a bit too long, particularly in the final third of the book. There was an incredibly drawn-out boat sequence that had me eager to be done with the whole thing already. Overall, though, IMPACT is a solid thriller. It’s a great pick for Crichton fans and anyone who enjoys a well-crafted mystery with a touch of the extraterrestrial. Despite some pacing issues in the action scenes, the book is engaging and thought-provoking throughout.

cloudchaimber's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

3.0

veganheathen's review against another edition

3.0

I liked this book for the most part. It was a fun sci-fi story and a bit of a thriller. I wasn’t sure if I would be lost starting at the third book in a series, but honestly, if the book hadn’t said it was a #3, I never would have noticed it wasn’t a stand-alone. I took a star away from the rating because the micro-aggression racism really bothers me. Every bad guy doesn’t need to utter racist slurs to prove how awful he is. People of colour don’t need to be portrayed as barely speaking English or Muslim extremists. It’s just unnecessary. While I loved Abbey, one of the main characters, and loved that she’s smarter than everyone else, I really take issue with the treatment of her character and backstory in the first few chapters. It rubbed me the wrong way for the author to go on and on about how “white” this black girl is inside. It’s not okay and is also the fault of the editor for letting this kind of thing into the book. It didn’t further the story in any way and again, was unnecessary.

ccollard58's review against another edition

3.0

I enjoyed the mystery aspect, and learned a little about strange matter. however i felt the science and astronomy could have been expanded, and the travails of Abby and Jackie seemed repetitive and comprised way too much of the book. there actually wasn't a lot of Wyman Ford in this instance of the series.

peter_gagne's review

1.0

This is a terrible book. The writing is poor and the story is unbelievable. If you're interested in reading any Preston books, stick to Tyranasaur Canyon, Relic and Still Life With Crows. The rest is a waste of time and money.

woody1881's review against another edition

3.0

This was a very good story and an entertaining read. The author uses some unique words that are not often encountered and the way they were used was almost like trying to read past a misspelling. This style adds nothing to the story, it just makes it harder to enjoy. The characters were not as well developed as I thought they should be. It was a bit difficult to even form a picture of the characters in my mind's eye due to scant attention paid to them.

All things considered this was a good book and I would recommend it if you are a Sci-Fi fan, but I am glad I picked it up in the bargain bin instead of full price.

readingjag's review against another edition

3.0

I'm not sure why Douglas Preston isn't at least as famous as Dan Brown. I found this to be similar in a lot of ways to Brown, but with far superior writing, more believable science, and more interesting characters. Fast paced with an interesting premise. It's grittier than Brown, with more swearing and violence.

ayaktruk's review against another edition

3.0

Very enjoyable tome, which I've come to expect from Preston. Engaging from chapter one. With only a slight stretching of the imagination needed to buy into the heroine character, I none-the-less anticipated the ending with anxious anticipation.

wdecora's review against another edition

3.0

Giving it three stars because of the end of the book. In some ways the end was really clever and in some ways it was completely ridiculous. I waiver as to whether I liked it or not.

machadofam8's review against another edition

A little silly, but nice and fast paced.