It is a distant future and after several agents disappeared during investigation of UFO report, top secret government agency (led by The Old Man) sends two top agents Sam and Mary to find more about what happened. They discover that alien creatures invaded planet Earth and attached themselves on the bodies of humans like some giant snails, usually on top of the backbone so they have full access to the brain.
After some serious read, I was in the mood for entertainment. People read for different reasons and according the mood - sometimes I love to read something serious, other times I simply need a good escapism. And this was excellent! I have noticed that my acquaintance with science fiction genre is very superficial and often was intimidated with too many technical details, but this time everything was just perfect. I have never read Robert A. Heinlein before (apparently one of the giants of this genre) and even though the novel was written back in 1951, it did not diminish any of its qualities - Heinlein is a top master in his field and science fiction is all about imagination anyway. Yes, the idea was later used and re-used countless times (notably in the several "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" movies) but it did not take anything away from this novel - it felt as combination of a good, old fashion hardboiled detective story and alien invasion horror, with some elements of completely plausible (but easily explained) technical informations that shows how nonchalantly authoritative Heinlein is. What impressed me the most is how skilfully the author keeps our attention (later I learned that the novel was originally serialized in science fiction magazine) so every chapter simply pulls you into the next, there is no empty talk or boring description - everything is perfectly tailored and edited to the point that the story itself is irresistible escapism. I could not wait to go back to the book, I read it even at work!
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