Vitals (Audio Download): Amazon.co.uk: Greg Bear, Jeff Woodman: Books

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Audio Download
Listening Length: 5 hours and 8 minutes
Program Type: Audiobook
Version: Abridged
Publisher: Random House AudioBooks
Audible Release Date: 21 Dec 2001
Language: English
ASIN: B0046ZYBVO

Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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Product Description

Hal Cousins is one of a handful of scientists nearing the most sought-after discovery in human history: the key to short-circuiting the aging process. Fueled by a wealth of research, an overdose of self-confidence, and the money of influential patrons to whom he makes outrageous promises, Hal experiments with organisms living in the thermal plumes in the ocean depths. But as he journeys beneath the sea, his other world is falling apart.

Across the country, scientists are being inexplicably murdered - including Hal's identical twin brother, who was also working to unlock the secret to immortality. Hal himself barely eludes a cold-blooded attack at sea, and when he returns home to Seattle, he finds himself walking into an eerie realm where voices speak to him from the dead...where a once-brilliant historian turned crackpot is leading him on a deadly game of hide-and-seek...and where the beautiful, rich widow of his twin is more than willing to pick up the pieces of Hal's life - and take him places he's never been before.

Suddenly Hal is trapped inside an ever-twisting maze of shocking revelations. For he is not the first person to come close to ending aging forever - and those who came before him will stop at nothing to keep the secret to themselves. Now every person on earth is at risk of being made an unsuspecting player in one man's spectacular and horrifying master plan.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

Lots of interesting biology, but... 23 July 2003

By Morten Steinhauer

Format:Mass Market Paperback

After reading Blood Music (the novel) and Darwin's Radio, I bought Vitals and thought I was going to have a good time reading interesting things about biology.
The book started well, and I was looking forward to learning the secret about stopping the aging process in humans. The thriller aspect was there as well (who is "programming" humans, and who is trying to keep the secret from Hal Cousins, and why?), until the story goes over the top, so to say.
It seems to me that the author had to many ideas he wanted to stuff in the book with too few pages to do it on.

The fact that there are two "I" persons telling the story is not confusing.. but it isn't exactly helpful for the plot, in my opinion.

If you haven't read anything from Bear, don't start with this one. Save it until later.

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

Not worth reading 10 Feb 2004

By Anthony Douglas

Format:Paperback

I agree with other reviewers though I struggled through to the end of the book. The basic premise could have been interesting, but the conspiracy stuff got a bit "X Files"/"Alias". The characters were cardboard cut outs, especially the women. The writing style was jarring. And the plot got itself so tangled up that it made no sense in the end. Perhaps Mr Bear knew what the story was but he didn't manage to communicate it. Give it a miss

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful

A Vital Read 10 April 2003

By A Customer

Format:Hardcover

Greg Bear's Vitals is a science fiction thriller with just a hint of horror thrown in for good measure. It starts promisingly, hitting the ground running with Hal Cousins, the main protagonist for most of the book, receiving a strange phone call from his twin brother. This sets the tone for the rest of the book and the tension and paranoia just keep increasing.
Perhaps I am biased (I came to this title already admiring Greg Bear's work - especially blood music and Eon), but I found Vitals to be both a genuine page turner and an intellectually engaging read (quite a rare combination). It is also a very frightening book, in the way that 1984 is frightening, as it deals with issues of identity and freedom of thought. Not since 1984 have I felt the fragility of my own personality so starkly while reading a novel.
Ok, Vitals cannot compete with 1984 for sheer literary power, and it falls short of something like Thomas Disch's Camp Concentration on that score also. But Bear is writing a thriller and as such has slightly different concerns where plot, structure and characterisation are concerned.
As an out and out thriller, the novel stands up extremely well. It manages to create and maintain a sense of fear and paranoia all the while moving along at great pace. Add to that the extremely well handled scientific speculation and you have one hell of a SF thriller.

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2.6 out of 5 stars

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› See all 9 customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk

Most Recent Customer Reviews

Unbalanced

I've been a fan of Bear for a while, but Quantico failed to engage me, and unfortunately Vitals left me cold about half way through. Read more

Published on 28 Jun 2007 by Mr. G. Battle

Good book until the lazy ending

A epic of contemporary hopes and fears. Good build up with many twisting subpolts and then............. the author got bored and wanted to finish the book quickly. Read more

Published on 28 Dec 2005

Exciting conspiracy plot

I must say I was gobsmacked to see negative reviews posted here. I read this book during a two-week holiday and it was easily the best book out of the five I read. Read more

Published on 21 Dec 2004 by Gareth

A missed opportunity

I perservered and managed to finish it.

The idea is great (I won't spoil it), and he obviously did some research but Bear should have given this concept to an author able to... Read more

Published on 3 Dec 2003 by "n_m"

Unreadably awful

I couldn't actually complete this book, giving up in disgust 2/3 of the way through. Possibly a clever plot idea hides within this book somewhere but the jerky plotline makes this... Read more

Published on 4 Nov 2003

The Rule of Paranoia

This could have an exciting, gripping techno-thriller. This could have been a deep examination into the hows, whys, and moral correctness of immortality. Read more

Published on 5 Sep 2003 by Patrick Shepherd


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Vitals [Audio Download]

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