Toxin

When I read the description on the back of the book, I thought it sounded pretty cool. Can't get much creepier than E. coli. And all in all, I wan't THAT disappointed.

"Toxin" is an alright book. Not the best, but far from the worst.

The writing is good. Cook's strong point is great imagery, and there's a lot of it in this book. And all in all, the story isn't bad. It's a page-turner. It has its scary moments. There's plenty of tension in plenty of places. But there's something missing, and I think I figured out what it is:

Good dialogue.

This would be a great book if the characters didn't have to speak. Unfortunately, they do. There's plenty of dialogue in this book, and it's all rather fake. Cook was trying to make serious social commentary on here, and that's what the lines sound like. They don't sound like actual conversations people would have. They sound like a PSA exposing the horrors of the meat industry. And if this were a nonfiction, straight-forward critique of the corrupt and unclean meat industry, it would be good. But the fact of the matter is, it's supposed to be fiction. It's supposed to be a thriller. And while it certainly does its job in many areas, the dialogue can distract you from the story.

The ending leaves something to be desired too. This book goes from a serious, hard-hitting medical drama/meat industry exposé to something vaguely resembling a USA Network Original Movie. Toward the end, you can almost picture some washed-up action hero playing the main character. It fizzles and turns somewhat lame.

Overall, it's good. Not great, not bad, but good. If you can ignore cheesy dialogue, you'll enjoy it. The medical drama will make you sweat and hang on the edge of your seat. The parts about corruption in the meat industry have made me think twice, and a third time about eating ground beef. But the dialogue and the ending drag this otherwise great book down.

I give it 3 stars. ***

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