Parasite by Mira Grant

A decade in the future, humanity thrives in the absence of sickness and disease. We owe our good health to a humble parasite -- a genetically engineered tapeworm developed by the pioneering SymboGen Corporation. When implanted, the Intestinal Bodyguard worm protects us from illness, boosts our immune system -- even secretes designer drugs. It's been successful beyond the scientists' wildest dreams. Now, years on, almost every human being has a SymboGen tapeworm living within them. But these parasites are getting restless. They want their own lives . . . and will do anything to get them. ParasitologyParasiteSymbiont Chimera For more from Mira Grant, check out: Newsflesh FeedDeadlineBlackout Newsflesh Short Fiction (e-only novellas)Apocalypse Scenario #683: The BoxCountdownSan Diego 2014: The Last Stand of the California BrowncoatsHow Green This Land, How Blue This SeaThe Day the Dead Came to Show and TellPlease Do Not Taunt the Octopus

Disclaimer: I received an eARC through netgalley.com.

Only Mira Grant could write a scientifically accurate, character driven horror book that leaves you wishing the next book in the series was out. Parasite is a wonderful what-if book of the future where designer drugs that make many illnesses a thing of the past. Whereas, you'd be thinking this was a prelude to a zombie novel, you're wrong. Very wrong. The hint of what's to come lies in the novel's title.

At its core, Parasite, is the story about survival and the pitfalls of designer drugs. Sally, our protagonist, survived a fatal car accident, mostly due to a new drug manufactured by SymboGen. Six years later and Sal is owned by the company, for testing. They want to know how their product helped her survive. Of course, this being a horror book, things in this world, go horribly wrong and Sal finds herself at the core of a new global threat.

Grant writes wonderful worlds that are built as much as one can on reality. She has done her home work to make the designer drug featured in Parasite as real as she can. The results of the book are amazing and one heck of a fun ride. The characters, are very much alive and each has their own personality. The way the book cliff-hangs just begs the readers in wanting more faster.

I really enjoyed this book. In fact, I read it straight through and could not put it down because I wanted to know what happened next. I recommend this book for all of Mira Grant's fans, and those who want to delve into a horror series that isn't as gory as most of the books can be.

The ending of this book was a disaster - there's no resolution, and the supposed cliffhanger is a piece of information that became obvious about halfway through the book. Avoid.

This book lost a star only because I figured out the main character's thing so early and had to wait the entire book for her to get there. I mean, who couldn't figure it out from all the “hot, warm dark” dreams? There were still a couple of twists that I didn't see coming, and that was very nice.

I'm definitely going to pre-order the next one. And if she ever decided to sell the whole “Don't Go Out Alone” book, I would buy that too.

One of the things that I really wanted after reading the Newsflesh series (best zombie books ever) was to see what Mira would do with the story of the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. I got a little hint of that in places here, and it just makes me want to read that book even more.