Time for a little bit of couch surfing y’all. So much horror currently in the movies is either played for humor or so desperate to chill you to the bone that all the enjoyment is sucked out of it.

Ergo, bookie-book time! And this one’s a doozy. I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. Let get this party started, shall we?

Plot, what plot?: Sally got into a horrifying car crash that left her brain dead. However, just as life support is about to be pulled, she wakes up, but with no memories. Could genetically engineered tapeworms that serve as “Intestinal Bodyguards” have something to do with her recovery, as well as the sudden rash of a strange “sleeping sickness”? C’mon.

Anyone worth caring about?: Indeed. Sally is a compelling, fully fleshed character whose motivation, fears and struggles are not only easy to understand, but are at times heartbreaking. Grant does an excellent job of getting into Sally’s though processes, delivering a character I’m rooting for, and kinda wanna be. Sally’s family are more crudely drawn, but dependable, loving boyfriend Nathan is a dreamboat in a lab coat. Favorite supporting character? Definitely Tansy, who is wacky in a good – and bad – way.

What’s cool, new or different: Tapeworms that take over the world! Oh wait, that’s been done, but the science behind this particular riff on the zombie genre is new and exciting. I’m looking forward to following books in the series getting us deeper into the Us Vs. Them that’s only beginning here.

I’m also loving the way Grant skewers the medical establishment’s ability to gloss over troubling items, and how we as individuals are willing to turn a blind eye to those things as long as we’re given something that makes our lives easier. (Bonus points for the awesome SymboGen website!)

What’s exactly like something you’ve read before: A definite feel of Stephanie Meyer’s The Host, in terms of things living inside us, but in Parasite they’re not aliens, they’re a product of humanity’s need to tinker. I had a prickly feeling along the back of my neck, as I did with The Ruins, regarding the worms and their ability to adapt and take over. But the same can be said for any story about humans forced to become Other.

Series or stand-alone?: First in the Parasitology series.

Gushing/Gobsmacked: Gotta gush about the attention to medical and scientific detail here. It’s no Robin Cook or Michael Crichton novel, but there’s tons of cool technical talky-talk for the wannabe CDC researcher in me. Parasite kicks this new series off with a bang; it’s been awhile since I had a true nonstop page-turner, but this book more than makes up for that dry spell. I started it in late afternoon, took a short dinner break, then read til 2:30 am. Forced myself to sleep, and then wrapped up first thing in the morning. That’s the definition of a fun ride, y’all.

But I’m absolutely gobsmacked by the unsurprising endnote, a reveal shocking to only those who weren’t paying attention. I won’t completely spoil it here, but just my mentioning the We Knew That Already ending will probably…. Nah. There’s no way to further spoil that twist. Grant all but clobbers you with it from the get go. Doesn’t spoil any characters for me, and there are other twists that are harder to spot, but still. Tada! Nup.

Rating: 4 out of 5. I’d love to give Parasite 5 stars, but I can’t in good conscience let that known-from-the-start “twist” sail by.

I got this thanks to: my own devices. No free ARC, no champagne, no licorice.