Books for a roadtrip.
 

Im going on a trip with my family to visit a aunt in a few weeks. the trip is going to take about six hours one way, so i'll need to keep myself entertained. Can anyone recommend me a book(s) that i could find at my local library in the mystery/detective/suspense (Dan Brown style)/dystopian(i read 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Clockwork Orange) genres ? thanks. :D

World War Z might serve you well.

+1

It may not be exactly what you normally read (it's technically a "techno-thriller") but "The Andromeda Strain" Is a pretty good book. I just started reading it a couple days ago and couldn't put it down until I finished it.

Another book that I 100% suggest is "The Cobra Event". Just to take the summary from Amazon:

"In New York City in the late '90s, a 17-year-old girl heads off to her private school even though she has a cold. By art class her nose is gushing mucus and she's severely disoriented. Within seconds, it seems, she's in convulsions and, most bizarrely, can't stop biting herself. All the reader can do is hope she'll die quickly, but Kate Moran's body still has a few more disgusting turns to undergo, and Richard Preston--a Jacobean master of ceremonies par excellence--takes us through them in bizarre and bloody detail.

Clearly, whatever Kate had was a head cold with a scientific vengeance. Preston's heroine, Alice Austen, a doctor with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, realizes--in the first of several gripping autopsy scenes--that the girl's nervous system had been virtually destroyed. So far, only one other person is known to have died in the same way, but he was a homeless man. Austen must connect the two cases, seemingly linked only by the subway, before the media gets hold of them and drums up a paranoia-fest--and before the virus's creator can kill again.

The Cobra Event is itself a paranoia-fest, a provocative thriller that makes you wonder exactly how much bioterrorism is taking place in the real world. Preston, best known for his terrifying chronicle of the Ebola virus, The Hot Zone, and other impeccably researched nonfictions, is not content to create fast-paced nightmarish scenes. His novel is instead a complex morality tale anchored in uncomfortable fact. Preston is keen to convey the "invisible history" of bioweapons engineering and, equally, to show the unsung heroism of his scientific detectives (along with that of the nurses and technicians who literally sacrifice their lives for medicine). Like their creator, these characters are not without a sense of humor. One calls the manmade virus "the ultimate head cold." Readers will never forget literally dozens of scenes and will never again see the subway, rodents, autopsy knives, and--above all--runny noses in the same light."


I like books about science and biology I guess. XD The cobra event is a great detective-type story.

If I may ignore what you're asking for and just suggest a good book for ignoring a ride, read Frankenstein. I have this fantasy that if enough people read it, the outcry for a proper movie will be large enough that we'll finally get one.

[ignores what that really means]

Thud! by Terry Pratchett.

[/ignores what that really means]

G'night folks!

Is the book as gross as it sounds? 'cause im more of a casual reader then a Goosebumps-type "scare/disgust yourself" type reader.

If you like 1984 you would probably like "A Brave New World". Not very detectivy/mystery/suspence though.

I loved 1984. It changed my views on alot of things when i read it (years ago).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rule_of_Four

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prometheus_Deception



has anyone read "the rule of four"? also, does anyone like Robert Ludlum's other spy thrillers that are not the classic Bourne trilogy?

It can get pretty graphic in it's descriptions, but it's not done in a "oooh scaaary their brain popped out" kind of way. It's more like "Oh it's about them trying to figure out this biological weapon and what it does and how it's transferred so obviously there will be some autopsies and you get to read about that." It's purpose isn't to gross you out.

To put it in perspective, I'm a very squeemish person (I can't handle pretty much any medical shows) and I don't have any memories of being grossed out or freaked out when I read it. We had to read it for my microbiology class in high school, which also means my friend who is 100x more squeemish than I am (and a germaphobic to boot) had to read it, and I don't remember her complaining of the book being overly gross or anything either.

I'm going to suggest something completely different here: State of the world 2008 by the Worldwatch -institute.

I am going to suggest reading The Road. The descriptive style is very simplistic, but is great at painting the picture. It has this dry tone, which not only works but makes sense for the story, which takes place post-apocalypse. Dialogue is done in a way that it just seems part of the description, not actual dialogue, but that's what makes it great. I haven't finished it yet, myself, but I'm loving it so far. Besides, how much more dystopian can you get than post-apocalypse?

Hmm. I've heard of the Road before. Okay.

How about mystery/detective/suspense/thriller genres?

The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul, by Douglas Adams. Ending feels a bit rushed, but it's funny and a good ride. About a detective doing detective stuff, but there are also Norse gods.