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abbywebb's review against another edition
2.0
When I first started reading this book, I expected Jack Bauer to appear at any minute. Alas, no such luck.
I liked the medical theme that this book offered, I guess I'm just not that enthralled by mysteries. Also, the writing is unlike what I am accustomed to reading. For some reason, there were gangsters talking like they had PhDs. I just thought that was a bit inconsistent, not that I know any gangsters in real life.
Oh and can I mention the abrupt ending?! At least there was an epilogue. There was one character, Angela, who was a major character and then was never mentioned for almost the second half of the book. Like I said, a tad inconsistent.
This book probably deserves more than two stars, but I'm not comfortable going up to three stars, so let's just leave it where it is.
I liked the medical theme that this book offered, I guess I'm just not that enthralled by mysteries. Also, the writing is unlike what I am accustomed to reading. For some reason, there were gangsters talking like they had PhDs. I just thought that was a bit inconsistent, not that I know any gangsters in real life.
Oh and can I mention the abrupt ending?! At least there was an epilogue. There was one character, Angela, who was a major character and then was never mentioned for almost the second half of the book. Like I said, a tad inconsistent.
This book probably deserves more than two stars, but I'm not comfortable going up to three stars, so let's just leave it where it is.
devansbooklife's review against another edition
3.0
Despite working in the medical field this is the first medical suspense book I have read. I liked it actually. I found the medical jargon refreshing. No doubt Dr Robin Cook knows his stuff.
I enjoyed how thoroughly Laurie did her job. I thought the plot was well written and executed. I think the main reason the rating is so low is because it was rather boring. The mystery is about a very virulent strain of MRSA killing multiple people after elective surgeries. All of the surgeries occur in the same hospital group, Angels Healthcare, a newly opened specialty hospital group in the area. The hospital group is trying to keep this information secret and out of the press. They had been losing money due to tge MRSA outbreak.Obviously there are multiple parties who want to keep this information as hush-hush as possible, so Laurie ends up in danger.
While I loved the science, I hated the politics. I read this quickly but with emotion. I also found Jack annoying and immature. So much that I would likely never read a book that had him as a character again. He completely ignored his wife's concerns and disrespected her knowledge. I found his disrespect distasteful.
I enjoyed how thoroughly Laurie did her job. I thought the plot was well written and executed. I think the main reason the rating is so low is because it was rather boring. The mystery is about a very virulent strain of MRSA killing multiple people after elective surgeries. All of the surgeries occur in the same hospital group, Angels Healthcare, a newly opened specialty hospital group in the area. The hospital group is trying to keep this information secret and out of the press. They had been losing money due to tge MRSA outbreak.Obviously there are multiple parties who want to keep this information as hush-hush as possible, so Laurie ends up in danger.
While I loved the science, I hated the politics. I read this quickly but with emotion. I also found Jack annoying and immature. So much that I would likely never read a book that had him as a character again. He completely ignored his wife's concerns and disrespected her knowledge. I found his disrespect distasteful.
svnz's review against another edition
2.0
This started out decent with a premise I found interesting. Medical thrillers are exciting for me to read as it's easy to get spooked about potential infections that can wreck our bodies.
The main character, Laurie, was okay but I found her husband to be quite infuriating given the circumstances happening in the story. Laurie was doing a lot within her power to help him and he had little empathy to show her in return. The other characters were okay but they were somewhat one dimensional which is forgivable in a thriller as long as the plot is great.
As for the plot, I expected it to be slightly faster paced with something useful happening in every chapter, but mostly I found it a bit of a chore to read during the middle parts. It did pickup somewhat towards the second half but the resolution was still a let down and not very satisfying.
The main character, Laurie, was okay but I found her husband to be quite infuriating given the circumstances happening in the story. Laurie was doing a lot within her power to help him and he had little empathy to show her in return. The other characters were okay but they were somewhat one dimensional which is forgivable in a thriller as long as the plot is great.
As for the plot, I expected it to be slightly faster paced with something useful happening in every chapter, but mostly I found it a bit of a chore to read during the middle parts. It did pickup somewhat towards the second half but the resolution was still a let down and not very satisfying.
athouse's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
His worst book imo
pathu's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
kelseyum's review
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
latas's review against another edition
4.0
I have read a few Robin Cook books in the past, the last one I read was almost 7 years ago. I stopped reading them, as I got bored of the same old medical conspiracy theories and the unbelievable plots. However, when I picked up critical, I was surprised to find that I still remembered the characters of Jack, Laurie, Lou, Riva, and others quite well, though I didn't remember specific plots. This is a testimony of how well Robin Cook has portrayed his characters in his books.
The story was similar to other Robin Cook books and was predictable. Though the technical details were interesting, there was lot of medical terminology used and at times became too text bookish and boring. I got confused by similar sounding names of Italian gangsters and doctors (Angela, Angelo, Franco, Michael.......) and had to consciously place them in separate groups.
The story was similar to other Robin Cook books and was predictable. Though the technical details were interesting, there was lot of medical terminology used and at times became too text bookish and boring. I got confused by similar sounding names of Italian gangsters and doctors (Angela, Angelo, Franco, Michael.......) and had to consciously place them in separate groups.
hannahrgeyer's review
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
cats22's review against another edition
2.0
This was my first book by Robin Cook and I guess I shouldn't have started with this one, since I can see it didn't get very good reviews.
The main problems I had with this book: I guess the gangsters annoyed me the most. I'm not sure what they were doing in a medical thriller in the first place. It seems a huge part of the middle of the book was taken up by these incompetent, 2-bit, hack small-time gangsters with the cheesiest dialogue ever.
They even used phrases like, "The bird has flown," and "The fish have been fed." Ye Gods. Yeah, the local mafioso's name is Vinny. What else?
Anyway, these guys just sit around a lot spying on each other, and you just know that eventually they'll get in each others' way, thus helping out the protag in some way, but for the longest time they're sitting in cars getting on each others nerves and whacking each other up the side of the head like the Three Stooges. "Why I oughta...." "Nyuck, nyuck..."
Other plot points are just a little too much of a stretch for me. Don't want to give anything important away, here, but does anyone believe that one completely unsuspecting person can just happen to accidentally keep avoiding TWO dedicated, trained hit men for a couple of days? Maybe Mr. Bean.
I also don't believe that if a couple of dozen people have contracted an incurable, super-charged flesh-eating virus after surgery, Jack would still insist on going through with HIS surgery. The surgery time and date are obviously an artificial deadline for Laurie to find out what causes the bacteria. It also gets very annoying with Laurie going "Please don't have the surgery...." and Jack going "You're not going to talk me out of it!" THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE NOVEL.
I also thought the "message" was not only annoying but an economic impossibility. Cook seems to think that hospitals shouldn't make any money. They should help everybody regardless of the ability to pay. That means taxpayers picking up the bill, which means eventually bankrupting Medicare and Medicaid, which equals really big UH-OH. If business and medicine really can't co-exist in any way, we're screwed. My guess is that business and medicine aren't really completely incompatible.
Anyway, this could have been written much better.
The main problems I had with this book: I guess the gangsters annoyed me the most. I'm not sure what they were doing in a medical thriller in the first place. It seems a huge part of the middle of the book was taken up by these incompetent, 2-bit, hack small-time gangsters with the cheesiest dialogue ever.
They even used phrases like, "The bird has flown," and "The fish have been fed." Ye Gods. Yeah, the local mafioso's name is Vinny. What else?
Anyway, these guys just sit around a lot spying on each other, and you just know that eventually they'll get in each others' way, thus helping out the protag in some way, but for the longest time they're sitting in cars getting on each others nerves and whacking each other up the side of the head like the Three Stooges. "Why I oughta...." "Nyuck, nyuck..."
Other plot points are just a little too much of a stretch for me. Don't want to give anything important away, here, but does anyone believe that one completely unsuspecting person can just happen to accidentally keep avoiding TWO dedicated, trained hit men for a couple of days? Maybe Mr. Bean.
I also don't believe that if a couple of dozen people have contracted an incurable, super-charged flesh-eating virus after surgery, Jack would still insist on going through with HIS surgery. The surgery time and date are obviously an artificial deadline for Laurie to find out what causes the bacteria. It also gets very annoying with Laurie going "Please don't have the surgery...." and Jack going "You're not going to talk me out of it!" THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE NOVEL.
I also thought the "message" was not only annoying but an economic impossibility. Cook seems to think that hospitals shouldn't make any money. They should help everybody regardless of the ability to pay. That means taxpayers picking up the bill, which means eventually bankrupting Medicare and Medicaid, which equals really big UH-OH. If business and medicine really can't co-exist in any way, we're screwed. My guess is that business and medicine aren't really completely incompatible.
Anyway, this could have been written much better.