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Shock
Cutting-edge technology and personal greed converge in this spine-tingling novel of medicine run amok. Deborah Cochrane and Joanna Meissner, students and close friends, spot a campus newspaper ad that promises to solve their financial problems: an exclusive, highly profitable fertility clinic on Boston's North Shore is looking for donors. Deborah and Joanna figure they can perform a good deed in helping infertle couples, while earning some money for themselves. Although rumours surface of a fellow donor's unexplained disappearance, they remain undeterred. The procedures seem to go smoothly, but second thoughts and curiosity prompt the two women discover more. Stymied by the clinic's veil of secrecy, Deborah and Joanna obtain employment there to continue their probe. Working under aliases, they soon discover the horrifying true aims of Dr Windgate's research, immediately putting their lives - and their sanity - irrevocably at risk.
404 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
252 people are currently reading
2,282 people want to read
About the author
Robin Cook
167books4,849followersLibrarian Note: Not to be confused with British novelist Robin Cook a pseudonym of Robert William Arthur Cook.
Dr. Robin Cook (born May 4, 1940 in New York City, New York) is an American doctor / novelist who writes about medicine, biotechnology, and topics affecting public health.
He is best known for being the author who created the medical-thriller genre by combining medical writing with the thriller genre of writing. His books have been bestsellers on the "New York Times" Bestseller List with several at #1. A number of his books have also been featured in Reader's Digest. Many were also featured in the Literary Guild. Many have been made into motion pictures.
Cook is a graduate of Wesleyan University and Columbia University School of Medicine. He finished his postgraduate medical training at Harvard that included general surgery and ophthalmology. He divides his time between homes in Florida, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts where he lives with his wife Jean. He is currently on leave from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. He has successfully combined medical fact with fiction to produce a succession of bestselling books. Cook's medical thrillers are designed, in part, to make the public aware of both the technological possibilities of modern medicine and the ensuing ethical conundrums.
Cook got a taste of the larger world when the Cousteau Society recruited him to run its blood - gas lab in the South of France while he was in medical school. Intrigued by diving, he later called on a connection he made through Jacques Cousteau to become an aquanaut with the US Navy Sealab when he was drafted in the 60's. During his navy career he served on a nuclear submarine for a seventy-five day stay underwater where he wrote his first book! [1]
Cook was a private member of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Board of Trustees, appointed to a six-year term by the President George W. Bush.[2]
[edit] Doctor / Novelist
Dr. Cook's profession as a doctor has provided him with ideas and background for many of his novels. In each of his novels, he strives to write about the issues at the forefront of current medical practice.
To date, he has explored issues such as organ donation, genetic engineering,fertility treatment, medical research funding, managed care, medical malpractice, drug research, drug pricing, specialty hospitals, stem cells, and organ transplantation.[3]
Dr. Cook has been remarked to have an uncanny ability to anticipate national controversy. In an interview with Dr.Cook, Stephen McDonald talked to him about his novel Shock; Cook admits the timing of Shock was fortuitous. "I suppose that you could say that it's the most like Coma in that it deals with an issue that everybody seems to be concerned about," he says, "I wrote this book to address the stem cell issue, which the public really doesn't know much about. Besides entertaining readers, my main goal is to get people interested in some of these issues, because it's the public that ultimately really should decide which way we ought to go in something as that has enormous potential for treating disease and disability but touches up against the ethically problematic abortion issue."[4]
Keeping his lab coat handy helps him turn our fear of doctors into bestsellers. "I joke that if my books stop selling, I can always fall back on brain surgery," he says. "But I am still very interested in being a doctor. If I had to do it over again, I would still study medicine. I think of myself more as a doctor who writes, rather than a writer who happens to be a doctor." After 35 books,he has come up with a diagnosis to explain why his medical thrillers remain so popular. "The main reason is, we all realize we are at risk. We're all going to be patients sometime," he says. "You can write about great white sharks or haunted houses, and you can say I'm not going into the ocean or I'm not going in haunted houses, but you can't say you're n
Dr. Robin Cook (born May 4, 1940 in New York City, New York) is an American doctor / novelist who writes about medicine, biotechnology, and topics affecting public health.
He is best known for being the author who created the medical-thriller genre by combining medical writing with the thriller genre of writing. His books have been bestsellers on the "New York Times" Bestseller List with several at #1. A number of his books have also been featured in Reader's Digest. Many were also featured in the Literary Guild. Many have been made into motion pictures.
Cook is a graduate of Wesleyan University and Columbia University School of Medicine. He finished his postgraduate medical training at Harvard that included general surgery and ophthalmology. He divides his time between homes in Florida, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts where he lives with his wife Jean. He is currently on leave from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. He has successfully combined medical fact with fiction to produce a succession of bestselling books. Cook's medical thrillers are designed, in part, to make the public aware of both the technological possibilities of modern medicine and the ensuing ethical conundrums.
Cook got a taste of the larger world when the Cousteau Society recruited him to run its blood - gas lab in the South of France while he was in medical school. Intrigued by diving, he later called on a connection he made through Jacques Cousteau to become an aquanaut with the US Navy Sealab when he was drafted in the 60's. During his navy career he served on a nuclear submarine for a seventy-five day stay underwater where he wrote his first book! [1]
Cook was a private member of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Board of Trustees, appointed to a six-year term by the President George W. Bush.[2]
[edit] Doctor / Novelist
Dr. Cook's profession as a doctor has provided him with ideas and background for many of his novels. In each of his novels, he strives to write about the issues at the forefront of current medical practice.
To date, he has explored issues such as organ donation, genetic engineering,fertility treatment, medical research funding, managed care, medical malpractice, drug research, drug pricing, specialty hospitals, stem cells, and organ transplantation.[3]
Dr. Cook has been remarked to have an uncanny ability to anticipate national controversy. In an interview with Dr.Cook, Stephen McDonald talked to him about his novel Shock; Cook admits the timing of Shock was fortuitous. "I suppose that you could say that it's the most like Coma in that it deals with an issue that everybody seems to be concerned about," he says, "I wrote this book to address the stem cell issue, which the public really doesn't know much about. Besides entertaining readers, my main goal is to get people interested in some of these issues, because it's the public that ultimately really should decide which way we ought to go in something as that has enormous potential for treating disease and disability but touches up against the ethically problematic abortion issue."[4]
Keeping his lab coat handy helps him turn our fear of doctors into bestsellers. "I joke that if my books stop selling, I can always fall back on brain surgery," he says. "But I am still very interested in being a doctor. If I had to do it over again, I would still study medicine. I think of myself more as a doctor who writes, rather than a writer who happens to be a doctor." After 35 books,he has come up with a diagnosis to explain why his medical thrillers remain so popular. "The main reason is, we all realize we are at risk. We're all going to be patients sometime," he says. "You can write about great white sharks or haunted houses, and you can say I'm not going into the ocean or I'm not going in haunted houses, but you can't say you're n
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January 5, 2023
This is a medical thriller novel. In this one two female college students decide to donate eggs to a medical facility for a big windfall. There is more to this medical facility than meets the eye.
I couldn't understand while reading this why all the negative reviews. I was really enjoying it and I was going to give it four stars. Then the ending and I understand. I have read many books by this author so I knew what I was getting into. I know the plot might be a little outlandish. I know the characters are not going to be the best developed. What this author excels at is taking an everyday medical situation and evolving it into an harrowing experience. This book had all these attributes. I get why this would put off some readers but it did not affect me. The characters made asinine decisions and their dialogue was off. But the medical drama for this book was on point and I was enthralled by it. I wanted to know how it would be all resolved. And that is where this point disappointed. The resolution. What was that? It left me feeling incomplete. The author basically did a summary of the resolution instead of taking the reader along for the ride. Very disappointing.
I really don't know if I would suggest reading this book. I enjoyed the first three hundred pages and I was excited about it. The last thirty pages were awful. Not for how it played out but the execution of it. It was like you were listening to a terrific song and you are waiting for the final chorus. But it just ends and you are left wondering where is the rest of it. That is how I feel about this novel.
I couldn't understand while reading this why all the negative reviews. I was really enjoying it and I was going to give it four stars. Then the ending and I understand. I have read many books by this author so I knew what I was getting into. I know the plot might be a little outlandish. I know the characters are not going to be the best developed. What this author excels at is taking an everyday medical situation and evolving it into an harrowing experience. This book had all these attributes. I get why this would put off some readers but it did not affect me. The characters made asinine decisions and their dialogue was off. But the medical drama for this book was on point and I was enthralled by it. I wanted to know how it would be all resolved. And that is where this point disappointed. The resolution. What was that? It left me feeling incomplete. The author basically did a summary of the resolution instead of taking the reader along for the ride. Very disappointing.
I really don't know if I would suggest reading this book. I enjoyed the first three hundred pages and I was excited about it. The last thirty pages were awful. Not for how it played out but the execution of it. It was like you were listening to a terrific song and you are waiting for the final chorus. But it just ends and you are left wondering where is the rest of it. That is how I feel about this novel.
August 13, 2012
Robin, Robin, Robin, what the hell was going on with you when you were writing this? Were you off your meds? Past deadline and feeling lazy? Going through a drunken spell?
The word Shock describes how I felt reading this. I like the idea behind it but the execution was really sloppy. I suspect even some of the characters were shocked at finding themselves in this book.
Joanna Meissner and her room mate Deborah Cochrane are in a PhD program at Harvard. Joanna is an economics/computer systems major while Deborah is in microbiology. You wouldn't guess it from their stupid and outrageous behavior.
Deborah is the freewheeling one who sees relationships as a game and is passed from man to man , fully in touch with her inner whore. Joanna comes from Houston and somehow feels that getting married, having kids, and being a housewife is where it's at (so why is she getting a PhD) and there is a presumption that Robin Cook makes here that he makes in his other books that it is an either/or thing where women are concerned. You can get a top notch education and have a satisfying career OR you can become a housewife and mother and become a drudge. It never occurs to him that you can be a wife, mom and educated career woman just as a man can enjoy a career and be a husband and father. Do join us in the 21st century Dr. Cook.
I also hate sloppy research. The two women keep talking about doing a PhD thesis. If Dr. Cook could be bothered to research, he'd know that a master's degree candidate does a thesis. PhD students do a dissertation based on a long period of deep individual research under the guidance of a faculty member and then must defend it. He treats it as if the gals are off to do a undergraduate term paper!
At the beginning, we find that Joanna has been dating Dr. Carlton Williams since 9th grade and has been pressuring him to get married since then. It is said they have been dating for 11 years yet how is it they were 15 when they started dating and have dated for 11 years yet somehow she is supposed to be 23 (26 is more likely?). Also, if Carlton is also her age, how is is he has finished 4 years of college and 4 years of medical school and is in a residency? That would put him at about age 27 or 28. Cook needs to get his act together here.
Okay, let's roll. Our story involves these two graduate students who are friends and roommates. Though Joanna has been pressuring her fiance for 11 years to get married and they are engaged, when he tells her that he thinks they should wait and marry once he finishes his residency since he is on call for days on end and gets no sleep and isn't making much money and feels that they would be in a better position to start life with residency behind him when he has a job.
Joanna's reaction is to break up with him and tell Deborah she no longer ever wants to be married. She just wants to do as Deborah does. Deborah has what she thinks is a brilliant idea. She saw an ad in the Harvard student paper. An infertility clinic wants to purchase eggs from college students who are smart,skinny, athletic, beautiful, and under 24. Wow. That describes our girls. Robin Cook only allows the stars of his book to be super model gorgeous.
The clinic will pay $45,000 to collect the egg, payable the second the work is done, and Deborah has it all planned out. They will donate eggs, grab the money, buy a condo, and then spend a year living in Italy writing their "theses". The only thing they would be writing is a dissertation and that would need to be written alongside research under supervision but Robin doesn't let that trouble him. Pesky details.
When they call about the ad, one of the doctors runs to their apartment that afternoon. They are signed up and ready to donate. What they don't know is that this clinic, locked in a fortress that used to be a mental hospital turned tb hospital, is not on the level. They are stealing ovaries from women, impregnating hispanics then aborting them at 20 weeks to get eggs from their unborn fetuses, and doing human cloning, including putting fetuses into pigs. Oh and the doctor is serving as daddy to all the babies despite the fact that he has a genetic based problem he is passing on.
Our gals are blissfully unaware that one of their fellow students woke up during her procedure, was killed accidentally and then had her body and that of her very living friend who drove her there dumped (after their ovaries were stolen). This is NOT a nice place .
Deborah insists on local anesthetic and can't figure why this makes the doc mad. Joanna takes the general and winds up missing more than eggs- she loses a whole ovary.
Naturally this means the two women must investigate as Joanna becomes obsessed with finding out if any of her eggs resulted in a pregnancy and then seeing the kids. Deborah thinks this is crazy but goes along.
Here is where Robin was a slouch about research. The ladies decide to get jobs at the clinic where they had the procedure, a place with about 40 members of the staff. Of course they had seen them but the ladies decide that no one will remember them after a year if they just color their hair and dress differently. Uh huh. This may work with a 3 year old watching Hannah Montana (if I just put on a blonde wig, no one will know I am Miley) but not in the real world. You still have the same voices, faces, bodies, and car.
How will they manage this? To get a job, one needs a social security card and photo ID. They decide to take on the names of recently deceased young women who died in accidents. I will grant that you can find that info in the paper but you will NOT get access to any death certificate you want. Birth certificates and death certificates are only issued to the person listed or the next of kin and you have to show photo ID to prove it even if ordering by mail. They will not have the social security number on the death certificate. In fact, Social Security is notified at the time of death and the number will be marked deceased on their computer. Somehow Robin had them do it anyway and of course they were hired on the spot, even with no photo ID or ss cards.
Deborah wants to work in the lab but dresses like a hooker which gets the old dude who owns the place to think she is hot (while the repressed christian security guard thinks she is a slut and must be killed- he kills whores in his spare time, murder for the lord, you know) and he tries to have a three way with them.
There is some heartpounding action and a lot of running, sneaking into labs, and other Cook staples. Some more unreal circumstances include Carlton , a first year resident, being able to get Joanna into his hospital for a free ultrasound done by another resident (oh sure, don't all hospitals allow this) to find if her ovary has been stolen.
The end is about as unsatisfactory as can be. If you can even call it an end. Oh, yes, it is a Shock.
The word Shock describes how I felt reading this. I like the idea behind it but the execution was really sloppy. I suspect even some of the characters were shocked at finding themselves in this book.
Joanna Meissner and her room mate Deborah Cochrane are in a PhD program at Harvard. Joanna is an economics/computer systems major while Deborah is in microbiology. You wouldn't guess it from their stupid and outrageous behavior.
Deborah is the freewheeling one who sees relationships as a game and is passed from man to man , fully in touch with her inner whore. Joanna comes from Houston and somehow feels that getting married, having kids, and being a housewife is where it's at (so why is she getting a PhD) and there is a presumption that Robin Cook makes here that he makes in his other books that it is an either/or thing where women are concerned. You can get a top notch education and have a satisfying career OR you can become a housewife and mother and become a drudge. It never occurs to him that you can be a wife, mom and educated career woman just as a man can enjoy a career and be a husband and father. Do join us in the 21st century Dr. Cook.
I also hate sloppy research. The two women keep talking about doing a PhD thesis. If Dr. Cook could be bothered to research, he'd know that a master's degree candidate does a thesis. PhD students do a dissertation based on a long period of deep individual research under the guidance of a faculty member and then must defend it. He treats it as if the gals are off to do a undergraduate term paper!
At the beginning, we find that Joanna has been dating Dr. Carlton Williams since 9th grade and has been pressuring him to get married since then. It is said they have been dating for 11 years yet how is it they were 15 when they started dating and have dated for 11 years yet somehow she is supposed to be 23 (26 is more likely?). Also, if Carlton is also her age, how is is he has finished 4 years of college and 4 years of medical school and is in a residency? That would put him at about age 27 or 28. Cook needs to get his act together here.
Okay, let's roll. Our story involves these two graduate students who are friends and roommates. Though Joanna has been pressuring her fiance for 11 years to get married and they are engaged, when he tells her that he thinks they should wait and marry once he finishes his residency since he is on call for days on end and gets no sleep and isn't making much money and feels that they would be in a better position to start life with residency behind him when he has a job.
Joanna's reaction is to break up with him and tell Deborah she no longer ever wants to be married. She just wants to do as Deborah does. Deborah has what she thinks is a brilliant idea. She saw an ad in the Harvard student paper. An infertility clinic wants to purchase eggs from college students who are smart,skinny, athletic, beautiful, and under 24. Wow. That describes our girls. Robin Cook only allows the stars of his book to be super model gorgeous.
The clinic will pay $45,000 to collect the egg, payable the second the work is done, and Deborah has it all planned out. They will donate eggs, grab the money, buy a condo, and then spend a year living in Italy writing their "theses". The only thing they would be writing is a dissertation and that would need to be written alongside research under supervision but Robin doesn't let that trouble him. Pesky details.
When they call about the ad, one of the doctors runs to their apartment that afternoon. They are signed up and ready to donate. What they don't know is that this clinic, locked in a fortress that used to be a mental hospital turned tb hospital, is not on the level. They are stealing ovaries from women, impregnating hispanics then aborting them at 20 weeks to get eggs from their unborn fetuses, and doing human cloning, including putting fetuses into pigs. Oh and the doctor is serving as daddy to all the babies despite the fact that he has a genetic based problem he is passing on.
Our gals are blissfully unaware that one of their fellow students woke up during her procedure, was killed accidentally and then had her body and that of her very living friend who drove her there dumped (after their ovaries were stolen). This is NOT a nice place .
Deborah insists on local anesthetic and can't figure why this makes the doc mad. Joanna takes the general and winds up missing more than eggs- she loses a whole ovary.
Naturally this means the two women must investigate as Joanna becomes obsessed with finding out if any of her eggs resulted in a pregnancy and then seeing the kids. Deborah thinks this is crazy but goes along.
Here is where Robin was a slouch about research. The ladies decide to get jobs at the clinic where they had the procedure, a place with about 40 members of the staff. Of course they had seen them but the ladies decide that no one will remember them after a year if they just color their hair and dress differently. Uh huh. This may work with a 3 year old watching Hannah Montana (if I just put on a blonde wig, no one will know I am Miley) but not in the real world. You still have the same voices, faces, bodies, and car.
How will they manage this? To get a job, one needs a social security card and photo ID. They decide to take on the names of recently deceased young women who died in accidents. I will grant that you can find that info in the paper but you will NOT get access to any death certificate you want. Birth certificates and death certificates are only issued to the person listed or the next of kin and you have to show photo ID to prove it even if ordering by mail. They will not have the social security number on the death certificate. In fact, Social Security is notified at the time of death and the number will be marked deceased on their computer. Somehow Robin had them do it anyway and of course they were hired on the spot, even with no photo ID or ss cards.
Deborah wants to work in the lab but dresses like a hooker which gets the old dude who owns the place to think she is hot (while the repressed christian security guard thinks she is a slut and must be killed- he kills whores in his spare time, murder for the lord, you know) and he tries to have a three way with them.
There is some heartpounding action and a lot of running, sneaking into labs, and other Cook staples. Some more unreal circumstances include Carlton , a first year resident, being able to get Joanna into his hospital for a free ultrasound done by another resident (oh sure, don't all hospitals allow this) to find if her ovary has been stolen.
The end is about as unsatisfactory as can be. If you can even call it an end. Oh, yes, it is a Shock.
November 10, 2009
I picked this book up in a hotel I was staying in (the previous occupant had left it, and the staff had kindly left it for the next patron), and finished only because of the sense of obligation I feel to myself when I get more than ten pages into anything.
Shock was terrible. The exposition was awful, the dialogue atrocious, physically cringe-worthy, and the whole format and arc had the feeling of a trashy midday movie.
Cook has many books published, and if they are all as poor as Shock, I am desperate to know why. His style and execution of writing is appalling, the work I'd expect of an amateur fanfic writer.
Second to dialogue which was the worst I've experienced of any published work, Cook has obviously never heard the phrase 'show don't tell' or at least, he's heard it, and decided it doesn't apply to him. If he isn't able to tell us explicitly what he happening, we don't find out, at many times a detriment to the already lacklustre story.
Highly disappointing, especially considering I had no particular expectations to begin with. If I had to recommend this book for anything, it is good airplane material as, if nothing else, it is extremely easy to plough through.
Shock was terrible. The exposition was awful, the dialogue atrocious, physically cringe-worthy, and the whole format and arc had the feeling of a trashy midday movie.
Cook has many books published, and if they are all as poor as Shock, I am desperate to know why. His style and execution of writing is appalling, the work I'd expect of an amateur fanfic writer.
Second to dialogue which was the worst I've experienced of any published work, Cook has obviously never heard the phrase 'show don't tell' or at least, he's heard it, and decided it doesn't apply to him. If he isn't able to tell us explicitly what he happening, we don't find out, at many times a detriment to the already lacklustre story.
Highly disappointing, especially considering I had no particular expectations to begin with. If I had to recommend this book for anything, it is good airplane material as, if nothing else, it is extremely easy to plough through.
December 13, 2012
It's my opinion that the book was published incomplete. There were a number of inconsistencies and loose ends.
#SPOILER#
1) Why would the Wingate clinic bother paying premium prices to harvest ova when they could have paid the market rate (which would be less suspicious)? Also, why specifically ova from Harvard undergraduates when the nuclear material is removed anyway? The same biological results could have been obtained from just about anybody's eggs. (Eventually the eggs were taken from Nicaraguan women which is more consistent). Anyway it would stand to reason that highly educated women would probably be more likely to have access to medical facilities that would reveal the loss of an entire ovary, and might probably get more riled up over the deception.
2) The book didn't explain why Joanna's ovary was more pock-marked than the ovaries of the two murdered undergraduates even though that seemed to be a major plot point when Cook mentioned it. It seemed that he intended to write more about it, except...
3) The book ends leaving us in doubt about the fate of the two girls. Perhaps that was intentional; however, I feel that it doesn't add anything to the reading experience of this particular book. In other cases it might be a useful literary device to have the reader ponder certain ethical/moral questions at the end of the book, or the fate of the characters, but definitely not for this. Oh well, might have just saved us the pain of the cheesy ending. Maybe he was rushed to publish or something.
Besides the unanswered questions, the characters were classic Cook: academically intelligent but amazingly naive and also exceedingly impulsive. You get two attractive, well-formed Harvard post-grads who are armed with massive intellectual capabilities who decide to commit major felonies in order to have a look at the babies that came from the ova they sold to the Wingate clinic. Let's just say that the debate that ensued over the ethical aspect of this just lasted a maximum of 5 lines before they decide to break the law in the most spectacular way. That is disappointing considering that Deborah is a Biology graduate who should be intimate with the ethical and moral problems regarding genetic engineering.
There is a lot of dialogue in this book, as with Cook's other books. However, the characters always say exactly what they are thinking, unless Cook intends to have the character blatantly lying. There are no raging internal debates. Thought processes are rarely outlined. This makes the characters less complex. Although I can sympathize with them, I cannot feel empathy in the slightest. Another reviewer is absolutely right on the money: "If he isn't able to tell us explicitly what he happening, we don't find out, at many times a detriment to the already lackluster story."
There are instances where I feel more could have been written. For example, I would feel extremely violated if an ovary were removed without my consent or knowledge. It would be something akin to having a kidney stolen. There are parallels: these are both accessory organs (kind of, you won't die with only one) that most people would rather have a full complement of. Kind of like running a hard disk configuration in RAID, y' know!? Sure, you can probably mother hundreds of children with just one remaining ovary, but what if it stops producing the necessary hormones? What if you get ovarian cancer on the remaining one? What if there is a blockage or medical condition in the fallopian tube on that side? All I can say is that Joanna accepts her discovery of the missing ovary with incredible equanimity.
Her ex-fiance as well: acts like a total douche but ends up worrying for her and calling the police. Some kind of deus ex machina, I guess. More could be written about him -- I would love to know why is he so weird!??!
I find the book more entertaining than the Twilight novels, because one of the main characters wears a miniskirt throughout the novel, and also because both chicks seem hotter than Kristen Stewart. For some reason this book reminded me very much of the Nancy Drew stories.
#SPOILER#
1) Why would the Wingate clinic bother paying premium prices to harvest ova when they could have paid the market rate (which would be less suspicious)? Also, why specifically ova from Harvard undergraduates when the nuclear material is removed anyway? The same biological results could have been obtained from just about anybody's eggs. (Eventually the eggs were taken from Nicaraguan women which is more consistent). Anyway it would stand to reason that highly educated women would probably be more likely to have access to medical facilities that would reveal the loss of an entire ovary, and might probably get more riled up over the deception.
2) The book didn't explain why Joanna's ovary was more pock-marked than the ovaries of the two murdered undergraduates even though that seemed to be a major plot point when Cook mentioned it. It seemed that he intended to write more about it, except...
3) The book ends leaving us in doubt about the fate of the two girls. Perhaps that was intentional; however, I feel that it doesn't add anything to the reading experience of this particular book. In other cases it might be a useful literary device to have the reader ponder certain ethical/moral questions at the end of the book, or the fate of the characters, but definitely not for this. Oh well, might have just saved us the pain of the cheesy ending. Maybe he was rushed to publish or something.
Besides the unanswered questions, the characters were classic Cook: academically intelligent but amazingly naive and also exceedingly impulsive. You get two attractive, well-formed Harvard post-grads who are armed with massive intellectual capabilities who decide to commit major felonies in order to have a look at the babies that came from the ova they sold to the Wingate clinic. Let's just say that the debate that ensued over the ethical aspect of this just lasted a maximum of 5 lines before they decide to break the law in the most spectacular way. That is disappointing considering that Deborah is a Biology graduate who should be intimate with the ethical and moral problems regarding genetic engineering.
There is a lot of dialogue in this book, as with Cook's other books. However, the characters always say exactly what they are thinking, unless Cook intends to have the character blatantly lying. There are no raging internal debates. Thought processes are rarely outlined. This makes the characters less complex. Although I can sympathize with them, I cannot feel empathy in the slightest. Another reviewer is absolutely right on the money: "If he isn't able to tell us explicitly what he happening, we don't find out, at many times a detriment to the already lackluster story."
There are instances where I feel more could have been written. For example, I would feel extremely violated if an ovary were removed without my consent or knowledge. It would be something akin to having a kidney stolen. There are parallels: these are both accessory organs (kind of, you won't die with only one) that most people would rather have a full complement of. Kind of like running a hard disk configuration in RAID, y' know!? Sure, you can probably mother hundreds of children with just one remaining ovary, but what if it stops producing the necessary hormones? What if you get ovarian cancer on the remaining one? What if there is a blockage or medical condition in the fallopian tube on that side? All I can say is that Joanna accepts her discovery of the missing ovary with incredible equanimity.
Her ex-fiance as well: acts like a total douche but ends up worrying for her and calling the police. Some kind of deus ex machina, I guess. More could be written about him -- I would love to know why is he so weird!??!
I find the book more entertaining than the Twilight novels, because one of the main characters wears a miniskirt throughout the novel, and also because both chicks seem hotter than Kristen Stewart. For some reason this book reminded me very much of the Nancy Drew stories.
August 6, 2024
1) This is not how intellectuals act!
2) I read this because I am not capable of not finishing a book aka this was boring to get through
3) And I cannot imagine this dumb and RECKLESS behaviour of the main characters especially
4) Who tf will trust the a suspicious looking infertility clinic in a former mental asylum which doesn't even have a student program/organisation, is paying unusual amount to egg doners, has been in record with the connection of the disappearance of 2 student donners, and you YOURSELF are chary about it. TELL ME PLS.
5) Wtf is that ending. There was no need to read the entire book to have that ending
6) Besides the medical part I only enjoyed the last 3 or so chapters (not the epilogue i.e ending). Maybe because of the shit ton of enid blyton I read when I was a kid (nostalgia ahem).
I thought I'd give a 2.5 or 3 because yk reason 6 but after writing reason 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 I'm done
2/5
2) I read this because I am not capable of not finishing a book aka this was boring to get through
3) And I cannot imagine this dumb and RECKLESS behaviour of the main characters especially
4) Who tf will trust the a suspicious looking infertility clinic in a former mental asylum which doesn't even have a student program/organisation, is paying unusual amount to egg doners, has been in record with the connection of the disappearance of 2 student donners, and you YOURSELF are chary about it. TELL ME PLS.
5) Wtf is that ending. There was no need to read the entire book to have that ending
6) Besides the medical part I only enjoyed the last 3 or so chapters (not the epilogue i.e ending). Maybe because of the shit ton of enid blyton I read when I was a kid (nostalgia ahem).
I thought I'd give a 2.5 or 3 because yk reason 6 but after writing reason 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 I'm done
2/5
June 19, 2010
This book started off well and had it stayed like this I would have given it a 3. But the main characters' inane talk and unbelievably stupid behaviour earned it a 2. They're trying to escape, but stop to examine things and engage in inane talk. Oh come on, this is not believable I wanted to shout. Then they go to visit a doctor for help. Again I wanted to shout, "He's one of them. And don't be so thick and get in that boot of the car." We were told the characters were intelligent, but shown they were stupid. They never went to the authorities for help. I also realised straight after the operation an ovary had been removed and thought go and get an ultrasound, but no, they were too thick and didn't think of this for ages.
September 27, 2019
Creo que en mi vida pasada fui un cientifico loco jajaja me encantó este libro también, los temas que trata son de lo más interesantes y lo disfruté mucho, aunque el final... bueno.. podía ser mejor.
May 21, 2021
DISCLAIMER: I did not finish this book. However, I got over halfway through with it before I decided to call it quits.
I'm relatively new to Cook's work, but based on the first novel of his that I read, I was extremely excited to discover that he had written quite a few books. I really enjoyed , and only found some of the main character's actions a bit unrealistic and definitely reckless.
This one, was a different story. The two main characters are graduate students working on their PhDs. You would think that as Harvard graduates, they would have a little more common sense, but they are extremely reckless and clueless, running into things without a second thought and casually trying to steal identities (as if that were a normal thing to do) and getting away with it way too easily. The way the doctors at the clinic stumble over themselves and drool at one of the women's overzealous and over-exaggerated "disguise" as basically a hooker is honestly a bit insulting, their desperation for sex is gross and unrealistic.
The fact that one of the women was hired as a lab assistant and proceeded to walk into a research lab wearing heels and an extremely short dress is also laughable, I would think that as a doctor, Cook could write things a bit more true to what an actual believable experience would be, but I guess not. This is borderline fantasy. It seems almost like its supposed to be some sort of satire. I just simply could not finish it. I am hoping that if I return to Cook's writings in the future, I find his other novels more similar in quality to Mortal Fear, because this was frankly a huge disappointment.
I'm relatively new to Cook's work, but based on the first novel of his that I read, I was extremely excited to discover that he had written quite a few books. I really enjoyed , and only found some of the main character's actions a bit unrealistic and definitely reckless.
This one, was a different story. The two main characters are graduate students working on their PhDs. You would think that as Harvard graduates, they would have a little more common sense, but they are extremely reckless and clueless, running into things without a second thought and casually trying to steal identities (as if that were a normal thing to do) and getting away with it way too easily. The way the doctors at the clinic stumble over themselves and drool at one of the women's overzealous and over-exaggerated "disguise" as basically a hooker is honestly a bit insulting, their desperation for sex is gross and unrealistic.
The fact that one of the women was hired as a lab assistant and proceeded to walk into a research lab wearing heels and an extremely short dress is also laughable, I would think that as a doctor, Cook could write things a bit more true to what an actual believable experience would be, but I guess not. This is borderline fantasy. It seems almost like its supposed to be some sort of satire. I just simply could not finish it. I am hoping that if I return to Cook's writings in the future, I find his other novels more similar in quality to Mortal Fear, because this was frankly a huge disappointment.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 9, 2012
Very disappointed with this book. Read a lot of Robin Cook books and I thought this would have something to do with "shock" since I am a physician. Have no idea where the title came from except that I was shocked he wrote such a bad book with poor characters who were unbelievable. Got the book at a used bookstore where I bought it back to. Very disappointing, there are many books he has written much better. I guess even good authors have a bad day.
May 17, 2018
kept me on the edge of my seat. Likeable characters, good story line. Well written. My only complaint, the ending. Don't know if there's a sequel, but with this ending, it should be required!
November 5, 2023
3.5/5
Such a page-turner, but I can't believe how far these ladies went for info LMAO. They literally risked EVERYTHING on a whim. Plus the EVIL POV'S?! I know the ending was supposed to seem somewhat unresolved (what happens to J&D, Wingate's actual stance on things)...but I want to know more!
Such a page-turner, but I can't believe how far these ladies went for info LMAO. They literally risked EVERYTHING on a whim. Plus the EVIL POV'S?! I know the ending was supposed to seem somewhat unresolved (what happens to J&D, Wingate's actual stance on things)...but I want to know more!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 26, 2015
Robin Cook's SHOCK is a page-turner--but only to the extent that one wants to get to the end so they can start reading another book.
I'm giving SHOCK a barely-deserved two stars because the premise was somewhat interesting. The book opens with a young woman donating her eggs (in exchange for a hefty sum of cash) at a fertility clinic. The procedure goes *very* badly and not only does the donor not survive, nor does her friend who drove her to the clinic. Apparently, these are *really* bad people.
Jump ahead another year or so and two young Harvard PhD candidates see a print advertisement for egg donors (from the same clinic). The pay is astonishingly good, and they both decide it's worth whatever small risks there are in having the procedure. From the moment we meet these young ladies though, it's clear that something is off with them. And what's off is the writing... the dialogue between them is stilted at best and as the story proceeds, it's not only the dialogue that becomes unnerving... it's their actions.
I'm okay with fiction. I'm even okay with "fantasy" fiction. Stephen King gives the reader a young girl who can start fires with her mind in FIRESTARTER? No problem. Ghosts coming to life in THE SHINING? Again, not an issue....as long as there's an understanding that the author isn't trying to pass fantasy off as fact.
But in Robin Cook's SHOCK, the actions of the characters themselves is simply off-the-charts ridiculous. The main characters might be ivy-league-educated young women yet I kept getting the impression that they had just stepped off the "short bus." In more than one scene they're carrying on a conversation with each other "quietly," even though the individual(s) who are well within earshot would likely figure out they're committing a felony as a result of what they're saying.
I can't count the number of times that I put the book down while muttering to myself, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
I won't give away the ending, but as any number of other reviewers have noted, it was abrupt and completely unsatisfying. I got the impression that Dr. Cook was up against a deadline and decided to delete 25 pages just to wrap things up in a single sentence and fire off the manuscript to the editor.
Open this book at your own risk!
I'm giving SHOCK a barely-deserved two stars because the premise was somewhat interesting. The book opens with a young woman donating her eggs (in exchange for a hefty sum of cash) at a fertility clinic. The procedure goes *very* badly and not only does the donor not survive, nor does her friend who drove her to the clinic. Apparently, these are *really* bad people.
Jump ahead another year or so and two young Harvard PhD candidates see a print advertisement for egg donors (from the same clinic). The pay is astonishingly good, and they both decide it's worth whatever small risks there are in having the procedure. From the moment we meet these young ladies though, it's clear that something is off with them. And what's off is the writing... the dialogue between them is stilted at best and as the story proceeds, it's not only the dialogue that becomes unnerving... it's their actions.
I'm okay with fiction. I'm even okay with "fantasy" fiction. Stephen King gives the reader a young girl who can start fires with her mind in FIRESTARTER? No problem. Ghosts coming to life in THE SHINING? Again, not an issue....as long as there's an understanding that the author isn't trying to pass fantasy off as fact.
But in Robin Cook's SHOCK, the actions of the characters themselves is simply off-the-charts ridiculous. The main characters might be ivy-league-educated young women yet I kept getting the impression that they had just stepped off the "short bus." In more than one scene they're carrying on a conversation with each other "quietly," even though the individual(s) who are well within earshot would likely figure out they're committing a felony as a result of what they're saying.
I can't count the number of times that I put the book down while muttering to myself, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
I won't give away the ending, but as any number of other reviewers have noted, it was abrupt and completely unsatisfying. I got the impression that Dr. Cook was up against a deadline and decided to delete 25 pages just to wrap things up in a single sentence and fire off the manuscript to the editor.
Open this book at your own risk!
January 23, 2021
Spoiler Alert - this review discusses the ending of the book in general.
Up to this point I've been a fan of Robin Cook's books, and I have read at least five others. His medical background means he has the correct knowledge to write accurate and engrossing stories about new and upcoming procedures and technology in this field, which interests me because of my interest in the medical field and future tech.
There are two issues with this particular book. Although I found the differences between the two main characters and their interaction amusing, theys seem a bit stereotyped and a bit dense. The main problem with the book for me, however, is the abrupt and unsatisfying ending. It's as if the publisher told Cook to cut 10 or so pages off the length and he literally did. He ended the book with a rather unsatisfying quick scene featuring the bad guys, leaving you to create the ending. If I want to write an ending, I'll write a book. I read a book so someone else can write the ending. This book didn't "end."
I'll still read Cook's books, but never with the same confidence that I'll like the endings.
Up to this point I've been a fan of Robin Cook's books, and I have read at least five others. His medical background means he has the correct knowledge to write accurate and engrossing stories about new and upcoming procedures and technology in this field, which interests me because of my interest in the medical field and future tech.
There are two issues with this particular book. Although I found the differences between the two main characters and their interaction amusing, theys seem a bit stereotyped and a bit dense. The main problem with the book for me, however, is the abrupt and unsatisfying ending. It's as if the publisher told Cook to cut 10 or so pages off the length and he literally did. He ended the book with a rather unsatisfying quick scene featuring the bad guys, leaving you to create the ending. If I want to write an ending, I'll write a book. I read a book so someone else can write the ending. This book didn't "end."
I'll still read Cook's books, but never with the same confidence that I'll like the endings.
October 29, 2020
I've read books by Robin Cook before and have enjoyed them. But this one was a stinker. Nothing seemed plausible, not the characters, not the plot, not the dialog, not the situations, nothing. The book plodded on, action didn't start until the last 75 pages or so. And don't get me started on the ending. It seemed as though the author suddenly had to meet his deadline, or had to end the book quickly to get to an appointment The ending was awful. After spending several days reading the book, the ending was abrupt and unclear. I hate when that happens. I won't be reading another Robin Cook book for a long time, if ever.
Read
July 16, 2017I hated pretty much everything about this book. The characters were terrible. The action and plot points were terrible. I'm not even going to go into how flawed the whole stolen identity to get a job thing was. I just thought this was terrible, through and through.
February 19, 2016
4,5⭐️
Faltou qq coisa no final.
Faltou qq coisa no final.
January 22, 2024
It seems like a bad omen that this random book I found in my shelf had to be my first read for this year.
The plot is interesting but that’s as far as it goes. The writing is terrible, especially the way the female characters are written makes you instantly guess that the author must be a man. Random characters that mean nothing to the plot but are given full names and excessive detailing just because the author likes to have fun with names? There is also the bizarre obsession that perfect pious Joanna has with just casually becoming a full time heist master only to know if her eggs became babies. I skipped through a ton of pages only because I couldn’t focus any more on the ‘they entered a room which had a grilled window, Victorian couches and all architectural description nonsense that you can think of�
I don’t want to be too critical since this is two decades old but I did burst out laughing when I realized there are possibly three black characters peppered in for diversity and they all talk like ‘hey girl! You go girl�
The plot is interesting but that’s as far as it goes. The writing is terrible, especially the way the female characters are written makes you instantly guess that the author must be a man. Random characters that mean nothing to the plot but are given full names and excessive detailing just because the author likes to have fun with names? There is also the bizarre obsession that perfect pious Joanna has with just casually becoming a full time heist master only to know if her eggs became babies. I skipped through a ton of pages only because I couldn’t focus any more on the ‘they entered a room which had a grilled window, Victorian couches and all architectural description nonsense that you can think of�
I don’t want to be too critical since this is two decades old but I did burst out laughing when I realized there are possibly three black characters peppered in for diversity and they all talk like ‘hey girl! You go girl�
December 5, 2020
Yazarın kitapları belli bir sayıyı geçtikten sonra tat vermemeye başlıyor. Laura Montgomery & Jack Stapleton serisine ait kitaplar bir nebze fark yaratsa da geri kalan çoğu kitap neredeyse aynı şablon üzerine yazılı. Okunuyor mu; evet okunuyor ama fark yaratmıyor. Hatta o kadar ki kitaplığımda duran Robin Cook kitaplarına karşıdan baktığımda hangisinin konusu neydi hepsi birbirine karışıyor. Çünkü hepsi birbirine benziyor.
March 27, 2024
la verdad que ns que dir. Tengo sentimientos encontrados (buenos y malos)
May 25, 2018
Now had I read these back when it came out maybe I would have liked it?
But this read like a bad first time author.
The dialogue was weird between the two lead characters.
I skimmed to the end.
One and done with Robin Cook.
But this read like a bad first time author.
The dialogue was weird between the two lead characters.
I skimmed to the end.
One and done with Robin Cook.
August 5, 2022
Not one of his best efforts. Premise is interesting, but execution... and I think he forgot to write the last few chapters, or was up against a deadline and needed to end it, fast.
September 9, 2018
Horrible book!
October 7, 2021
No up to Previous Robin Cook material! A lot of she said he said and a weirdly abrupt ending! Like oh I guess I’ll end this here because I can’t think of anything else! Not all of his books are like this! Good premise !
June 5, 2017
Formulaic medical thriller without too many thrills. By page 5, we know it's all about cloning, and by page 7 we know there's an infertility clinic involved. Cue the usual plot points: ... yeah, if you've read anything with this premise, you've probably seen all of those already, haven't you? The story could be saved by its protagonists, but I found them to be cardboard cutouts and couldn't relate much to either ... I found their motivations to be paper-thin, to be honest!
Sounds negative, I know, but the fact is that it's just formulaic rather than being flat-out bad. There are some reasonable attempts at twists and turns, but you can often see what's coming up and the protagonists don't ever suffer any serious setbacks. The book was published in 1999 and maybe the story was cutting-edge at that time � if I'd never read anything similar, it would be gripping! � but in 2017 I found that it falls a bit flat.
Sounds negative, I know, but the fact is that it's just formulaic rather than being flat-out bad. There are some reasonable attempts at twists and turns, but you can often see what's coming up and the protagonists don't ever suffer any serious setbacks. The book was published in 1999 and maybe the story was cutting-edge at that time � if I'd never read anything similar, it would be gripping! � but in 2017 I found that it falls a bit flat.
May 28, 2012
I could barely finish this. I read plenty of books that could be considered far fetched, but this one was just silly. The kicker was one gets a job in a lab and the other gets an office position - both with fictitious identification. No one checks education or job histories. Plus the dialogue was just awful. I've read other Robin Cook novels and have not been this disappointed.
I would have given it less than 1 star if I could.
I would have given it less than 1 star if I could.
August 30, 2013
Surprisingly poor given how much I've liked the other books by Cook that I've read so far. I suppose when one is prolific, at least one book might turn out not so well. While the premise was interesting, the way events unfolded was so far-fetched and ridiculous as to snap that tenuous thread of credulity, and a completely unsatisfying ending leaving everything hanging, but not cliff-hanger style, more like limp spaghetti.
January 9, 2022
Pues lo cierto es que me ha gustado mucho. No es una gran novela y hay algunos puntos que me gustaría comentar, pero en general me ha parecido muy entretenida.
En cuanto a las cosas positivas destacables, mencionaría que me ha hecho comprender (muy) leventemente los conceptos médicos que tienen que ver con la clonación y me ha resultado muy interesante. Por otro lado, la amistad entre las protas me ha gustado mucho y, aunque tiene sus cosas de la época (aunque no son tan chirriantes como cabría esperar), me parece muy feminista por parte del autor el poner a dos personajes femeninos para dirigir un thriller médico, y no solo lo digo en este caso, sino que, por lo que he leído, también suele hacerlo en otros libros. En este aspecto, me gustaría recalcar para finalizar que me resulta un thriller diferente, principalmente por el hecho de que se trata de una historia cuyas protas son gente que nada tiene que ver con la investigación ni quieren, pero que por cosas del destino, prácticamente por error, sin hacer ningún trabajo de detective, acaban envueltas en un barullo. Están metidas es un thriller sin saberlo hasta casi ir acabando el libro. Supongo que alguien que haya leído más thrillers que yo esto no le parezca tan original, pero a mí me resulta bastante fresco a la típica novela de misterio en donde una persona se inmiscuye a conciencia en una investigación haciendo de detective de forma activa (sin contar, claro está, el "plus" del ambiente médico).
Sin embargo, hay cosas que no me han acabado de cuajar. No tengo fuertes críticas para esta historia, pero me gustaría recalcar cosas como la falta de introspección en los personas. Es decir, las novelas se prestan mucho a la exploración interna de las personas (en realidad, cualquier medio puede, pero la literatura tiene un fuerte especial) y, no obstante, aquí carece un poco de ello, en especial en momentos que deberían plantear dilemas a los personajes, como todo el tema de la clonación, o donde se deberían explorar los sentimientos, como cuando Joanna descubre que le falta un ovario. No es que no haya ninguna clase de introspección por parte de los personajes, pero me faltó un poco más.
También, algo que me ha decepcionado un poco es el tema que trata el libro: la clonación. Por lo que me he informado, y es por lo que me atrajo el autor en primer lugar, es que Robin Cook con sus libros nos quiere hacer ver peligros actuales o hipotéticos de la medicina y todo lo que acarrea a nivel ético o incluso de salud física. En este caso, la clonación es el tema que se toca, pero... me ha decepcionado el modo en que trata. Es decir, desde el comienzo te da un juicio de valor totalmente negativo de estas prácticas y te presenta como megalómanos a los médicos (de la novela) que la fomentan, en lugar de explicar, explorar y profundizar en todo lo que el tema puede ofrecer. No digo que tenga que ser ambiguo en su opinión, pero la clonación parece más un recurso narrativo para que suceda toda la trama que el supuesto tema médico que nos quiere exponer, y de la forma más simple posible: "la clonación da miedo y está mal". En "Death Note", por ejemplo, los autores dejan bien clara su postura frente a la pena muerte, pero el tema se explora de una manera mucho más profunda, evidenciando los motivos de ambos bandos, exponiendo los diferentes tonos de grises, y no con una estructura maniqueísta.
Es quizás por estos dos motivos que al acabar el libro sentí en cierto modo que acababa de ver una película de Antena 3 en una tarde de domingo, es decir, una historia más. ¿Lo es, realmente? No lo diría. Joanna y Deborah me gustan como protas y el libro es bueno, pero la falta de introspección en los personajes y la flaqueza con la que el tema es tratado, provocan que no sea tan memorable ni impactante como debería, y no todo los libros lo tienen que ser, pero es que este aspiraba a eso con las intenciones que supuestamente tiene el autor a la hora de escribir sus historias.
Por última, pero gustaría hablar del final, que, para mi sorpresa, a mucha gente no le ha gustado y he llegado a leer que parecía que no tenía final. Yo no percibo eso en absoluto, pues no hace falta que Robin Cook nos dijese que Joanna y Deborah fueron rescatadas y que luego sucedía tal cosa con la clínica Wingate. La forma tan escueta en que nos los dice hace que se sobreentienda. No hace falta dárselo todo mascadito al lector. De hecho, me parece muy elegante esa forma de decirnos cómo acaba todo, incluidas las protas, sin llegar a ese momento y con los personajes secundarios. Buen punto ahí. Mi único dilema con el final es que, en lo personal, me hubiese gustado que fuese mas crudo. Sentí mucha pena cuando dijeron que las habían atrapado y el futuro que les esperaba, pero me parecía un final muy real que podría haber realzado un poco el tema de la corrupción médica y, aunque me alegré de que las salvaran, es cierto que, pese a que me doliese, prefería que hubiese acabado de la otra forma.
Aun con todo lo anterior, siendo la pobre forma de tratar el tema de la clonación la parte más decepcionante, "Shock" es un libro muy entretenido e interesante que he disfrutado mucho y que me ha dado curiosidad por leer más cosas del autor. Eso sí, mi edición necesita una corrección urgente, pues tiene varias faltas ortográficas y sospecho que algunos fallos en la escritura (como la repetición de palabras en un mismo párrafo o línea) son culpa de la edición, o al menos eso quiero pensar...
En cuanto a las cosas positivas destacables, mencionaría que me ha hecho comprender (muy) leventemente los conceptos médicos que tienen que ver con la clonación y me ha resultado muy interesante. Por otro lado, la amistad entre las protas me ha gustado mucho y, aunque tiene sus cosas de la época (aunque no son tan chirriantes como cabría esperar), me parece muy feminista por parte del autor el poner a dos personajes femeninos para dirigir un thriller médico, y no solo lo digo en este caso, sino que, por lo que he leído, también suele hacerlo en otros libros. En este aspecto, me gustaría recalcar para finalizar que me resulta un thriller diferente, principalmente por el hecho de que se trata de una historia cuyas protas son gente que nada tiene que ver con la investigación ni quieren, pero que por cosas del destino, prácticamente por error, sin hacer ningún trabajo de detective, acaban envueltas en un barullo. Están metidas es un thriller sin saberlo hasta casi ir acabando el libro. Supongo que alguien que haya leído más thrillers que yo esto no le parezca tan original, pero a mí me resulta bastante fresco a la típica novela de misterio en donde una persona se inmiscuye a conciencia en una investigación haciendo de detective de forma activa (sin contar, claro está, el "plus" del ambiente médico).
Sin embargo, hay cosas que no me han acabado de cuajar. No tengo fuertes críticas para esta historia, pero me gustaría recalcar cosas como la falta de introspección en los personas. Es decir, las novelas se prestan mucho a la exploración interna de las personas (en realidad, cualquier medio puede, pero la literatura tiene un fuerte especial) y, no obstante, aquí carece un poco de ello, en especial en momentos que deberían plantear dilemas a los personajes, como todo el tema de la clonación, o donde se deberían explorar los sentimientos, como cuando Joanna descubre que le falta un ovario. No es que no haya ninguna clase de introspección por parte de los personajes, pero me faltó un poco más.
También, algo que me ha decepcionado un poco es el tema que trata el libro: la clonación. Por lo que me he informado, y es por lo que me atrajo el autor en primer lugar, es que Robin Cook con sus libros nos quiere hacer ver peligros actuales o hipotéticos de la medicina y todo lo que acarrea a nivel ético o incluso de salud física. En este caso, la clonación es el tema que se toca, pero... me ha decepcionado el modo en que trata. Es decir, desde el comienzo te da un juicio de valor totalmente negativo de estas prácticas y te presenta como megalómanos a los médicos (de la novela) que la fomentan, en lugar de explicar, explorar y profundizar en todo lo que el tema puede ofrecer. No digo que tenga que ser ambiguo en su opinión, pero la clonación parece más un recurso narrativo para que suceda toda la trama que el supuesto tema médico que nos quiere exponer, y de la forma más simple posible: "la clonación da miedo y está mal". En "Death Note", por ejemplo, los autores dejan bien clara su postura frente a la pena muerte, pero el tema se explora de una manera mucho más profunda, evidenciando los motivos de ambos bandos, exponiendo los diferentes tonos de grises, y no con una estructura maniqueísta.
Es quizás por estos dos motivos que al acabar el libro sentí en cierto modo que acababa de ver una película de Antena 3 en una tarde de domingo, es decir, una historia más. ¿Lo es, realmente? No lo diría. Joanna y Deborah me gustan como protas y el libro es bueno, pero la falta de introspección en los personajes y la flaqueza con la que el tema es tratado, provocan que no sea tan memorable ni impactante como debería, y no todo los libros lo tienen que ser, pero es que este aspiraba a eso con las intenciones que supuestamente tiene el autor a la hora de escribir sus historias.
Por última, pero gustaría hablar del final, que, para mi sorpresa, a mucha gente no le ha gustado y he llegado a leer que parecía que no tenía final. Yo no percibo eso en absoluto, pues no hace falta que Robin Cook nos dijese que Joanna y Deborah fueron rescatadas y que luego sucedía tal cosa con la clínica Wingate. La forma tan escueta en que nos los dice hace que se sobreentienda. No hace falta dárselo todo mascadito al lector. De hecho, me parece muy elegante esa forma de decirnos cómo acaba todo, incluidas las protas, sin llegar a ese momento y con los personajes secundarios. Buen punto ahí. Mi único dilema con el final es que, en lo personal, me hubiese gustado que fuese mas crudo. Sentí mucha pena cuando dijeron que las habían atrapado y el futuro que les esperaba, pero me parecía un final muy real que podría haber realzado un poco el tema de la corrupción médica y, aunque me alegré de que las salvaran, es cierto que, pese a que me doliese, prefería que hubiese acabado de la otra forma.
Aun con todo lo anterior, siendo la pobre forma de tratar el tema de la clonación la parte más decepcionante, "Shock" es un libro muy entretenido e interesante que he disfrutado mucho y que me ha dado curiosidad por leer más cosas del autor. Eso sí, mi edición necesita una corrección urgente, pues tiene varias faltas ortográficas y sospecho que algunos fallos en la escritura (como la repetición de palabras en un mismo párrafo o línea) son culpa de la edición, o al menos eso quiero pensar...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 27, 2021
Interesting but slow paced, having all the ingredients of a typical Robin Cook novel. Though not his best work, it's a quick read.
October 8, 2021
I enjoy Robin Cook's work, yet somehow I missed this one when it first came out, probably because of 9/11 and the shift in focus of the world at that time. The book follows 2 graduate students at Harvard who decide to sell their eggs in order to fund a trip to Italy to finish their respective theses, only to return home and wonder what ever became of those eggs. Not getting any direct answers, they choose to take jobs at the Wingate Clinic, where they donated, in hopes of cracking their computer system and finding out if their donations enabled infertile women to start families of their own. What they find is far more than they bargained for.
'Shock' started off rather slow, and while it gradually picked up the pace, it never really hit a climax. That said, Cook leaves a lot of questions unanswered, that I feel like I need to be looking for a sequel, even though I'm pretty sure I've read all of his books after this and do not remember any of the characters. I didn't feel much of a connection with the 2 main characters, and it was hard keeping them straight because in every situation, it was as if they completely disagreed with each other so I built up a whole list of A vs. B characteristics in my mind but I didn't feel like they were clearly divided such that the woman who made the more conservative choice in a given scenario would be the one always choosing the conservative option going forward.
20 years later, the book is also a lot less believable. Scientifically, yes, what goes on at the Wingate Clinic seems very plausible nowadays. However, I think technology and security have also come a long way since Cook's 2001 world, that the old 'steal a social security number' trick to hide your true identity wouldn't work anymore, and you probably don't need to be physically in the server room to expertly hack a computer network. Plus, having worked in a lab since 2007, there's no way 2 women would be able to apply for jobs one day, interview the next and be hired on the spot, and start the following day, given freedom to do their jobs and take breaks whenever with no supervision.
Overall, an OK book and if I can find a sequel that continues this storyline, then perhaps my overall impression will improve, but for now I see it as a cool idea based on an outdated and thus shaky foundation, with weak lead characters and a lot of unanswered questions. The concept of the Wingate and what they are doing behind closed doors is what I expect from Robin Cook, but the story of the two women who discover those secrets just didn't sell the book as a whole to me.
'Shock' started off rather slow, and while it gradually picked up the pace, it never really hit a climax. That said, Cook leaves a lot of questions unanswered, that I feel like I need to be looking for a sequel, even though I'm pretty sure I've read all of his books after this and do not remember any of the characters. I didn't feel much of a connection with the 2 main characters, and it was hard keeping them straight because in every situation, it was as if they completely disagreed with each other so I built up a whole list of A vs. B characteristics in my mind but I didn't feel like they were clearly divided such that the woman who made the more conservative choice in a given scenario would be the one always choosing the conservative option going forward.
20 years later, the book is also a lot less believable. Scientifically, yes, what goes on at the Wingate Clinic seems very plausible nowadays. However, I think technology and security have also come a long way since Cook's 2001 world, that the old 'steal a social security number' trick to hide your true identity wouldn't work anymore, and you probably don't need to be physically in the server room to expertly hack a computer network. Plus, having worked in a lab since 2007, there's no way 2 women would be able to apply for jobs one day, interview the next and be hired on the spot, and start the following day, given freedom to do their jobs and take breaks whenever with no supervision.
Overall, an OK book and if I can find a sequel that continues this storyline, then perhaps my overall impression will improve, but for now I see it as a cool idea based on an outdated and thus shaky foundation, with weak lead characters and a lot of unanswered questions. The concept of the Wingate and what they are doing behind closed doors is what I expect from Robin Cook, but the story of the two women who discover those secrets just didn't sell the book as a whole to me.
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