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A review by cheryl6of8
Chromosome 6 by Robin Cook
3.0
Well, it took me a long time to get around to reading this one and longer than it should have to finish it, but it did become unputdownable last night. I realized whle reading it that I am really much more of a Cozy Mystery type of person than a Thriller type, even when it is a Medical Thriller.
The whole reason it was even on my shelf was the premise of gene manipulation to address the shortage of organs for transplant. I am pretty sure what they were doing in this book is well within the realm of possibility and I would not be surprised to learn that the uberwealthy are engaging in some form of it already. The problem of the excited researcher who does what he does to see if he can do it and then has success before figuring out that it wasn't such a great idea to do it is one that has been addressed before (Jurassic Park), but is still very real in our world. And the ability to buy and sell governments in the developing world is one that the pharmaceutical giants already exploit. Who am I kidding? They have bought large portions of governments in the developed world as well. So much of the damage already done and the potential for catastrophe is hidden from the general public, but this book is not really that far from a possibility.
I enjoyed aspects of the book -- I liked Laurie the pathologist very much (I get the impression she may have appeared in other books by Cook and I am interested in reading them despite the probability of them being Medical Thrillers). I also like Jack and Lou in NYC and Kevin and Melanie and Candace in Cogo. I didn't like Bertram and the head security goon (whose name has just fled my brain), but they didn't really pretend to be more than what they were -- mercenaries attached to the world of science. Even the mobsters didn't bother me. Dr. Raymond Lyon to me was the hardest person to deal with because he seemed so far from whom he should have been. And I am glad there was not a lot of attention focused on Taylor Cabot, because he made my skin crawl. Even worse, you knew from the get-go that he would get off scot-free and it appears he did. The tension was kept at a decent rate throughout the book, although sometimes I got a little lost bouncing back and forth across the Atlantic.
All in all, a decent read, but I am gld to be finished with it at last.
The whole reason it was even on my shelf was the premise of gene manipulation to address the shortage of organs for transplant. I am pretty sure what they were doing in this book is well within the realm of possibility and I would not be surprised to learn that the uberwealthy are engaging in some form of it already. The problem of the excited researcher who does what he does to see if he can do it and then has success before figuring out that it wasn't such a great idea to do it is one that has been addressed before (Jurassic Park), but is still very real in our world. And the ability to buy and sell governments in the developing world is one that the pharmaceutical giants already exploit. Who am I kidding? They have bought large portions of governments in the developed world as well. So much of the damage already done and the potential for catastrophe is hidden from the general public, but this book is not really that far from a possibility.
I enjoyed aspects of the book -- I liked Laurie the pathologist very much (I get the impression she may have appeared in other books by Cook and I am interested in reading them despite the probability of them being Medical Thrillers). I also like Jack and Lou in NYC and Kevin and Melanie and Candace in Cogo. I didn't like Bertram and the head security goon (whose name has just fled my brain), but they didn't really pretend to be more than what they were -- mercenaries attached to the world of science. Even the mobsters didn't bother me. Dr. Raymond Lyon to me was the hardest person to deal with because he seemed so far from whom he should have been. And I am glad there was not a lot of attention focused on Taylor Cabot, because he made my skin crawl. Even worse, you knew from the get-go that he would get off scot-free and it appears he did. The tension was kept at a decent rate throughout the book, although sometimes I got a little lost bouncing back and forth across the Atlantic.
All in all, a decent read, but I am gld to be finished with it at last.