GJ

As a med student and as someone who watched the whole of Six Feet Under series in under 6 days, in the recent past, I would characterize the first three chapters of this book as mildly interesting and the rest of it as sleep inducing - not curious, definitely not. No one suggested this book to me. I picked it as a random read. It is my fault that this terrible thing has happened. You see, the first image that came to my mind as I read the catching title of the book was that of a middle-aged introverted bespectacled pathologist elbow deep in a cadaver's body cavity standing in a dimly lit morgue in the basement with flickering lights and a buzzing refrigerator, walls painted green. I imagined some good soul coaxed this recluse to share her knowledge and the secrets of the dead she gleaned over decades of dedicated work. I hadn't heard of Mary Roach before. And I didn't this media-like person butting in while science people doing science. You could call me elitist. But I have seen the other books she wrote, there is an image of her in zero gravity simulation on Google. I don't really mind her writing this book, I'm just envious that she gets do all that without even a degree in science.

Over 11 chapters the author narrates an account of her visits to experts in various fields that make use of cadavers for different purposes. I went into the book with only the idea of medical and academic uses of cadavers in mind. It is true that 80% of cadavers end up in anatomy labs, but there are few other intriguing final resting places too. Like the compost or someone else's stomach. The author gets into all this in a really detailed fashion (only detailed not deep) and at times veering off to obscure history.

Humor is an essential part of the book. It's what makes this palatable. Though at times I felt that it was a little overdone, I have no complaints in that regard. It is a funny book. You get to read stuff like:
“Compost should not be ugly,” she is saying. “It should be lively, it should be romantic.”“There are ten fetuses here, all aborted this morning,” the Express reporter claims she was told...“Normally we doctors take them home to eat, Since you don't look well, you can take them.”

I have a new found appreciation for modern medicine and the people who contributed to it (alive and dead). Humor in a book about dead bodies does not come out as disrespectful. In fact how people, who have to shoot at cadavers, put them in cars and simulate head on collisions, everyday as part of their jobs is discussed multiple times, throughout the book. There are also chapters on beating hard cadavers (brain dead people for organ transplant) and cannibalism and early experiments on brain transplant.

Someone who is not acquainted to the topic and is not too squeamish might find this interesting.
“Because all the bacteria in the mouth chew through the palate,” explains Arpad. And because brains are soft and easy to eat. “The brain liquefies very quickly. It just pours out the ears and bubbles out the mouth”
If you are okay with that sentence, you may try this book. Happy reading!

p.s : you may skip the shroud of turin chapter, some guy trying to prove the shroud was real after crucifying recently dead cadavers. It adds nothing to the book.

“Not before I draw more of your blood, husband” I promised him right back, meeting his eyes.

Do people talk like this irl?

As I read in someone else's review this is smut for smut's sake. Plotline is horribly boring, or maybe just not my thing.
Futuristic vampires - alpha male - submission type thingy. Steam 5/5.

Also.
Kyzaire - the king type person.
Kylaira - queen equivalent.
Kaazor - nearby enemy state
Kylorr - this huge alien-vampire species
Krynn - planet of the Kylorrs
Kyrana - bloodmate. A sexualised version of a soul mate.
Kythel - the MMC's brother.
Kaldur - MMC' other brother.
Kyriv - some enemy creature from Kaazor ig.
Killup- another less terrifying species.

Does all of them have to start with a K?

Consult your fantasy register to decide on this book.

It's really good, if you are into it. Which is a completely useless statement for someone who hasn't read it, but I don't want to give away anything, except a trigger warning maybe. It's violent. There is death and cruelty.

Blackwood is a huge estate, owned by a handsome gruff recluse. Intent on doing a survey and for other personal reasons, Elise who is doing research in archeology, knocks on the owner's thick wooden door to ask for permission. As the door opens all see can she is his dirty black fingers, and unkempt beard as he yells at her to go away. She doesn't.

It's not safe out there in the woods. People hear women screaming at night. That could be a local myth, only Elise herself hears a scream one night.

Romance and suspense is decently mixed throughout the novel, making it a quick read. Although not entirely predictable, there's no mind blowing revelation at the end. The suspense only serves to flip the pages faster, not as the main skeleton of the story. There are enough creepy, squirrely and face less characters introduced in the beginning of the novel to raise our antennae in all directions. There is a confusion of who is good and bad throughout the novel.

There is not much story in the development of relationship between MMC and FMC. They have sex once, she finds out that she had a kink she didn't know she had, and she's all in love with him. The author could have tried a little to make it a little original. Good one time read.

4.5 stars. Only because the last 30% was tedious.

Why anyone with the slightest interest in science should read this?

1. It is a comprehensive yet simple account of everything DNA related. It is funny. The necessary concepts are explained in an easily understandable manner.
2. It is nothing like a textbook. It is fully made up of anecdotes and experiments and interesting pieces of history. There are no complicated terms used, no endless sentences. It speaks in layman language, yet it conveys so much.
3. People who once studied genetics as a part of your curriculum but later forgot about it, would love this. This would be only a revision, much better than your original source.
4. It's fascinating. Not the book. Genetics itself, and the book does a wonderful job of showing it to us.

I'll just mention a few random facts from the book here.
1. Toxoplasma can manipulate you into liking it.
2. Polar bear liver is lethal
3. Human genes make up 2 percent of our genome. Virus genes make up 8 percent of our genome. We are 4 times more virus than human.
4. “sonic hedgehog” is gene which determines left-right symmetry when you are an embryo.
5. Cells overwhelmed with DNA damage can sense trouble and will kill themselves rather than live with the malfunction.
6. Toba is - or was - before the top 650 cubic miles blew off - a mountain in Indonesia that erupted seventy odd thousand years ago.
7. Ancient Egyptians ashamed of inbreeding Tutankhamen family (for disregarding their gods), hid them so well and built buildings over the tomb. As a result Tut's treasures survived mostly intact over the centuries. Treasures that in time would grant his heretical incestuous family something like immortality again.
8. Genghis Khan is the ancestor of 16 million men today. One in 200 males on earth carries his testes determining chromosome.

Check out my highlights.

2 stars for mindless suspense. This book gave me anxiety, I didn't need right now. The author creates a very likable MC, who can memorize his patient's cell number, the phone number of the acquaintance in the apartment below his. He is politically correct, a doctor who works for Medicaid. Lost his wife and never had a serious relationship for 8 years. Perfect hero. When something unlikable is happening to him, however bad the writing is it gives me palpitations and I hated it.

Writing is subpar. I used to enjoy thrillers like this. But after reading books like the Millenium Series and Gone Girl, you can't help but compare every other thriller to these. Plot twists are very appealing. They are the most attractive part of any thriller. But at times it can be one too many. I never knew. Now I know. It's just tiring. Bigger fewer twists are better than numerous tiny twists. Once you start questioning the plausibility it is impossible to stop.

Quality of Writing in thrillers, adds so much to the book, than we assume. It becomes obvious only after we have read stories with different standards. I was in awe at every sentence written in “We need to talk about Kevin”. I kept wondering, so articulate, this lady is. A thriller that triggered emotions.
This book has short matter-of-fact sentences. That barely work to convey information and nothing else.
If you need an analogy, I'll compare the above novels with a sewing machine, and this book with a spade.

If you are beginner, trying to start reading, you may try it. If not, better let it stay on the shelf.