By R. Scott Bakker Neuropath (Reprint) Mass Market Paperback

A philosophical horror thriller, relating the question "Are you actually conscious?".The nub of the book is The Argument, a 'discussion' about the nature of the mind (vs the brain), and whether we do in fact, have free will.This is a deep, meaningful and extremely horrific novel that is about something so intrinsic to our everyday experiences, that it hits way below the belt.The things down in the name of The Argument are incredibly dark and shocking, highlighting the fragility of the human mind, rather than the brain.This is one of the few books that has altered the way I view the world, and this is rare. It is a demanding, dark, difficult and deep. Not recommended to those of a nervous disposition.

There were some great and disturbing ideas in this book. For the most part it was pretty original. As a thriller it worked quite well but it did take a while to really get started.The writing style was generally quite decent. I found the `argument' to be fascinating. Some people will probably think that there was too much exposition but I felt that it generally stayed just about realistic. There were reasons why people were having these discussions and the info dumps were not too clunky. Though I did think that there should have been more action and when there was some action it was a little too generic.It is set slightly in the future and the treatment of it was somewhat inconsistent. Though again some of the possibilities of brain/mind manipulation are extremely intriguing.I think that this would make a great movie.

After finding Bakker's fantasy works rather long winded and dry, Neuropath begins at a refreshingly brisk pace. The scenes of horror portrayed by Bakker's neuropath are gruesome indeed, going that one step further than expected. The science (neurology and psychology) have certainly been well researched and are vital to the plot, however at times there's too much to digest, detracting from the tension that has been created. For most of the novel Neuropath adeptly juggles suspense and science, however the finale is too wordy and somewhat improbable. A simpler endgame would have been just as satisfying given that the book until then had been well constructed. A worthwhile read despite its downfalls.

As many reviews have mentioned, this book is dark and unsettling – less a thriller more of a horror.It has too many wordy parts for the pace it’s trying to set – the action/ scene will be moving swiftly only to be derailed by 300 words of philosophy, which doesn’t quite fit.However, this improves as the book goes on and the end/author’s notes are good enough to hold up the rest of the novel.Having read Baker’s fantasy series I’d suggest they are superior.Overall Neuropath is good, but it doesn’t have the same weight as they do.

The concept is fantastic and this could have been a great thriller but Scott Bakker just starts to preach his own theories about the human condition and the story gets lost.Psychologist Tom helps the FBI to track down his best friend and former "roomie" Neil, a neuroscientist who has embarked on a killing spree.There are parts of this book that I enjoyed, like the best friend betrayal and the horrible things that can be done when people's brains are tampered with but along with the lectures on consiousness comes hackneyed devices like the developing romance and the telegraphed "twist".If you fancy a textbook on how our minds work with some violence and the thread of a story thrown in then go for it but don't expect a fast paced thrill a minute hunt for the bad guy because that it aint.

I found this book left in apartment on hols and it had me hooked from the start.Unfortunately some pages were missing! So I downloaded onto my kindle.I read it quickly, and it was an unusual subject. I rated it 4* because of the subject matter and the thrilling read.I would recommend it to anyone who likes a thriller with an unusual premise, however, I found some of the psychological detail/plot difficult to understand at times. This did not put me off though and am eager to research the subject on a non fiction level.I would recommend to anyone who wants a good thriller with a good amount of science facts and questions.

This one will stick with you a long time - very dark, technologically realistic, and philosophic in some great ways - highly recommended along with the author’s other work

Here is a incredibly well researched and executed book which plays to our fears as human beings; do we have control over our actions with some greater purpose or are we simply a programmed machine that has exerted its dominance over the earth by managing to fool its self into believing it is more than just a meat puppet with the delusion of a soul and god?Bakker explores the future possibilities of neuro-science with frightening honesty, using shock descriptions of people irreversibly "brain-damaged" into extremes of certain behaviours/emotions which may leave squeamish readers feeling disgusted. However, what i found more disturbing than colourful descriptions of sex and torture was the argument itself - a more real, believable version of the matrix where human beings don't have free will and are simply responding to signals sent from the brain that have evolved over thousands of years of interaction with the world at large.The idea that we are not who we think we are, that we do not exist as percieved and perhaps the fact we do not exist at all.A fantastic book.