Speaking of overrated...

I rarely get disappointed when my expectations are low, but damn you, DB! When I picked up your book I expected to at least be gripped by suspense, not by rage at how your bad writing ruined a promising plot. And this comes from someone so lowbrow she actually has a Twilight blog.

It was so predictable that that bit of drama about the villain's true identity at the end almost made me laugh, because I smelled that 'twist' from the onset. Geez! And for supposedly smart people--a Harvard professor and a bleeding-edge scientist--the characters made stupid decisions. Case in point: if you knew the information you had is the only thing keeping you alive, would you reveal it and expect to live? Guess what... that's exactly what the main protagonist did! And the information he revealed, of course, proved to be pivotal in the plot, as it set in motion the sequence of events that the reader was led to believe could end in a cosmic Armageddon.

That part about the protagonist revealing crucial information at the threat of death was just an obvious cop out, an indicator of a lack of sound technique on the part of the storyteller. It's such a pity because the plot had a lot of promise. It was also obviously well researched. It had the potential to spark curiosity, to trigger questions of long-held beliefs, but that opportunity was wasted. Now, why would anyone take seriously the part that tried to debunk popular beliefs, when the characters that challenged these beliefs were obviously just caricatures of real people? That's what I mean about the bad writing distracting readers from whatever nuggets of gold are in the book.

Overall, reading it felt like watching a B-movie. No, worse--it felt like watching that ultimate bomber, 'Legion.'