The Contest is both cheesey and engrossing. It reads like a Michael Crichton novel and smacks of a blockbuster movie with way too many CGI characters in our future. Despite that, however, The Contest is a highly enjoyable read, though the premise of hardly believable. But if you're looking for a good book to curl up with on a rainy day - or something to take with you to the beach this summer - The Contest is definitely a book worth checking out. Suspend your reality for a day, and give it a try. However, I'll take a moment to mention this is the only Matthew Reilly novel I would recommend. I attempted to read his other novels after reading this one and found them all to be stale and boring.