It has taken me a long time to review this book. I actually finished it a couple of weeks ago, but have been putting off my review for a while. WHY? First, I have been waffling between giving it a one star or a two star rating, and I am still not sure. Secondly, because I am not quite as comfortable with giving negative feedback as I am with positive feedback. Especially with all of the attention that one and two star reviews seem to be getting these days. But the bottom line is, this book was just not for me, no matter how I think about it. I actually had to force myself to finish it, and therefore I cannot in good conscience give it more than 1.5 stars out of 5. In my opinion, and face it, reader reviews are opinions, there was a lot I didn't like about the book. When I decided to read the book, it was presented in such a way that it seemed like it would be funny. The thing is....I did not find it funny at all. I usually like books with quirky characters and sarcastic humor, both of which this book was supposed to have. To me, though, both the sarcasm and the quirkiness of the characters seemed forced. In addition, although the story line sounded promising, the way it played out left me flat. I also had trouble with the flow of the writing as it seemed very choppy to me, which also hampered the flow of the book. Lastly, the book was billed as an eco-thriller, which created two problems for me. First, the story was not thrilling...it did not keep me on the edge of my seat the way that [b:Jurassic Park|7677|Jurassic Park (Jurassic Park, #1)|Michael Crichton|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1348796998s/7677.jpg|3376836]. [b:Deception Point|976|Deception Point|Dan Brown|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1266447971s/976.jpg|3135896], or [b:Blasphemy|1234704|Blasphemy|Douglas Preston|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1312064277s/1234704.jpg|2498661] did. In fact, I felt this book was actually trying to be a spoof of eco-thrillers, but really just ended up mocking them.
Any way, I'm sure there are people out there for whom this book would be just the thing, and they are probably reading my review, shaking their heads, and saying, "You just don't get it." And they are right, I don't, so for me the book gets a low rating. I hope that the book does develop a following, though, as the issues it discusses are important ones. If satire and mocking can get the point across (and I am sure it can to many others), then that is better than not addressing the issues at all.
