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"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 tapeworm 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."

This book takes us on an adventure with Sally as she tries to return to a life she doesn't remember.
In the beginning of the book Sally gets into a car crash that lands her in a coma, she shows no brain function, and her family makes the ultimate dicision...to end her suffering.
But that would be a pretty boring book.
Sally wakes at the eleventh hour without any idea who she, or anyone else, is.

We follow her as she learns who to trust and what exactly is going on.Why is Symbogen so interested in her?
Soon people start to act strange...first just random people...then her neighbors.
What's wrong with everyone?
Sally sets out to find out what's really behind the cutain, with the help of her boyfriend, and a childrens book.

By the end we know some of what's waiting to be learned but have more questions than answers.
We meet an impressive cast of characters with personalities to love and/or loath as you see fit.
(I loved the aspect of the childrens book, it was almost a character unto itself, and where it leads her is fascinating.)
I recommend this series to anyone who enjoys science fiction, or horror for thar matter, as there are moments in this book that made me want to check the locks.

I found no fault in the writing or the science in this book. It reads as a clever medical scifi in the vein of Michael Crichton.
I enjoyed it thoroughly and am waiting (impatiently) for the second book of the trilogy.

This book is on my tbr list and I intend to read it this month.

Thank you for the lovely review. The plot does sound intriguing.

I finished this book about a month ago and sadly I didn’t liked it. The plot was too predictable for me, since the beginning one could guess that Sally had died in the car crash and a tapeworm was living her life. There are some cool parts though, like when Sally is trapped inside her own house with Beverly the lovable labrador retriever scared because of the zombies/parasites... in fact, most of the time I felt more worried about that dog than for Sally and her boyfriend. Anyway, I don’t think I’ll be buying the next book.

-- 04 Sep 2014, 18:51 --

I finished this book about a month ago and sadly I didn’t liked it. The plot was too predictable for me, since the beginning one could guess that Sally had died in the car crash and a tapeworm was living her life. There are some cool parts though, like when Sally is trapped inside her own house with Beverly the lovable labrador retriever scared because of the zombies/parasites... in fact, most of the time I felt more worried about that dog than for Sally and her boyfriend. Anyway, I don’t think I’ll be buying the next book.

I agree with you that I knew about Sally from the start of the book, but I felt like it was an open secret. After all the book is titled parasite, the series parasitology, and the second book (which I already knew the title to when I read the first one) is symbiont. I also never feared for Sally, though I did feel her fear.
From very early on I believed the "infected" were drawn to her as a leader of sorts rather than with any malice.
I can't help it...I really enjoyed this book!

i read this with a book club and i agree that you really saw where this was going but i don't think that took anything from the actual journey for me personally. was i annoyed with sally? yes. did i want to shake her sometimes for being so obtuse? yes. am i waiting impatiently for the next book? you better believe it

Fully agree with you. Tansy was actually my favorite character. This happenes as often as not that I like another character more than the main character.
Tansy is just super strange and has id type qualities. I love that. Alot of my favorite characters have this quality about them.
And I'm so happy the new one will be out soon.
Did anyone else like Tansy or find her to be an interesting character?

i loved Tansy too!!! she is so strange and over the top but so honest and clever as well. i loved her mood shifts and how they threw everyone off balance. she had the best one liners throughout the book and i cannot wait to see more of her

Flu2reader wrote:i loved Tansy too!!! she is so strange and over the top but so honest and clever as well. i loved her mood shifts and how they threw everyone off balance. she had the best one liners throughout the book and i cannot wait to see more of her

Have you read the author as Seanan McGuire?
Her Toby Daye series has a character very much like Tansy...The Luidaeg
She looks very tom-boyish, is petite, has freckles, and everyone is (rightfully) afraid of her! It's awesome!

Flu2reader wrote:i loved Tansy too!!! she is so strange and over the top but so honest and clever as well. i loved her mood shifts and how they threw everyone off balance. she had the best one liners throughout the book and i cannot wait to see more of her

Mira Grant seems to always have a loveable "Tansy" type character woven into her books. I love it!

As for the book itself, I found it a worthwhile read even though it was predictable. Someone else used the term 'open secret', which is pretty much the perfect term for it. Yes, it was obvious that Sally was the tapeworm, but that wasn't the main issue in the book.
I love the way Mira Grant writes, it's always witty and entertaining!

This book sounds great, adding it to my TBR. Thanks!

Read Symbiont

Did not expect some of the stuff that happens...
Love it just as much.

Now...can't wait for Chimera...
If only it didn't have to end