The Activist: Theodore Boone

Abduction by Robin Cook is a departure from his usual genre of medical mystery thriller. It suffers from some of the problems found in some of his other books, namely one dimensional flat characters.It is however a rather imaginative and interesting journey to an undersea civilisation which is far more advanced than our own.I did feel like the ending was a bit of a fizzler.

This is the 4th in John Grisham's Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer series, in which 13-year-old Theo is an otherwise pretty normal 8th grader who aspires to follow his parents' footsteps and become a lawyer. Here, he is reluctantly drawn into the public arena and the world of politics when a planned highway bypass for their quiet town threatens to take a friend's pastoral farm house and land, inflict noise and pollution on an elementary school and soccer fields, and enrich the coffers of its proponents. Theo organizes the resistance at the kids' level, and finds that standing up for what he sees as right can carry risks. This is a satisfying tale for young readers, and Grisham sneaks in some very useful civics lessons in a very palatable format.

A bit more boldly politically liberal than previous installments, but still entertaining story-wise.

Theodore Boone isn’t your typical 13 year old. Theo Boone, back in his fourth book in Grisham’s popular series, is a kid-lawyer extraordinaire. The only son of two lawyers, Theo has a knack for getting to the bottom of things, which consequently lead to some sticky situations. Think of these books as “John Grisham-lite” for readers: there is courtroom drama and legalities, all explained in detail that is not only educational, but downright entertaining. Who else can make a novel for middle-grade readers that centers of eminent domain that will keep young readers hooked other than John Grisham? As Theo finds himself in the center of a hot political battle over a proposed highway bypass through his town of Strattenberg, he finds discovers corruption and risks that have him questioning the ethics and motivations of everyone those involved, including his father. When his beloved canine sidekick Judge is badly injured in a confrontation with surveyors on his friend Hardy’s land, Theo quickly discovers that a dog is not only a boy’s best friend, but also his star witness. Richard Thomas is the perfect reader for this series, taking Theo’s voice and giving it the same earnestness and innocence that he brought to his character of John-Boy on the iconic television series, The Waltons. This audio recording is highly recommended in libraries where the series is popular, but is also a strong stand-alone installment that can be enjoyed on its own.

Narrated by Richard Thomas (John-Boy Walton!). The town is split over the proposal to build a bypass through town. Good for business and the local economy or bad for the health of the community? Theodore and his friends work intensely to keep the bypass from becoming reality. John Grisham can keep adult readers on the edges of their seats but he's tone deaf to the lives of children. No real kids talk like Theodore and his friends whose dialogue is stiff verging on formal. And chemistry class in middle school? Nahhhh... Richard Thomas does a fair job with the material though.

While the story is far from perfect, it is much better than the last two. It is also much easier to side with Theo in the animal trial of this book, because from the point of view of the reader, Theo is objectively right (we see his dog getting attacked).

I also like that Theo's actions, or rather his rank within the Scouts and the responsibility that comes with it, have consequences when someone gets injured. This and a moral dilemma that Theo has to deal with later in the book make The Activist a more mature book than books two and three.

I'd want my nieces and nephew's to read this. For younger teens but my husband and I enjoyed the audiobook. Good story and some great messages.

Fascinating and engaging sci-fi. Using some humor and imagination, Robin Cook has creating a fun read. Well thought out.

Okay, first I must admit that I wasn’t paying attention to what I was checking out at the library. I listened to this book, checked out from the online library. I looked at the title and the cover and thought “okay, that looks different.” I’d never read Cook before, so I checked it out and added it to the TBR. Then, I started it…..I DO NOT do aliens. And while the Interterrans aren't necessarily aliens, they are not exactly human. So, to say that I actually finished this book says something. After getting into it a few chapters, I went back to the net and looked up the book description. (Should probably have done that before I checked this out.) Anyway, I decided that I was far enough in and slightly interested, so I continued on.Cook is a fantastic writer. He’s intelligent and incredibly imaginative. The content and plot of this book is so beyond believable that I couldn’t help but get interested. Even though I found myself rolling my eyes a few times.The start of the book is set out in the ocean. There is a large drilling operation underway. The president of the company is on board the ship observing these operations since there have been recent difficulties. He boards a submersible with a scientist and captain to go under the water and check out the drilling apparatus. Three divers also enter the water. They will be the ones who actually work on the drilling rig, while the submersible observes. While waiting for the divers to reach depth, the other three venture west to check out a ridge. They are sucked into a deep whole. Shortly after, the divers, in search of the submersible, are also sucked into the whole. Once reunited, they are all in an underground world, much different than our own.The majority of the book describes life in this underground world. And while not aliens, per se, they are humans much different in their own ways. While the life there in Interterra was thought to be similar to Heaven, the crew wanted to go back to earth as they knew it. Overall, I’m okay with the fact that I spent time finishing this book. It was a little interesting and did allow my mind to drift. Unless scientific stories such as these are your thing, I can’t recommend this to you. Otherwise, be my guest! It wasn’t bad!

Being a long time fan of Robin Cook, I looked forward to reading this one. I experienced a bit of let down with Abduction however. I was not especially enamored with the story. It's about a group of oceanographers who dive deep into the sea to make repairs on a submersible research ship...but what they find is much more than they expected. They stumble upon an underground world, very different than the world above the water. I found myself looking forward to the end of the book very quickly, because, along with being just plain dumb, it seemed that the author was trying to fill the pages with ideas that did not flow together very well. It was so far removed from Dr. Cook's normal genre, I felt rather disappointed that I didn't get my "fix" of what he does best: medical thrillers. I would not recommend this book.