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Achieving a successful and profitable life in spite of a troubled past, doctor Angela Dawson pursues business opportunities in three major cities only to find her efforts compromised by a surge of drug-resistant staph infections, which are investigated by medical examiner newlyweds Laurie Montgomery and Jack Stapleton. 250,000 first printing.
452 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
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About the author
Robin Cook
166Ìýbooks4,849ÌýfollowersLibrarian 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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 362 reviews
February 13, 2021
This book is part of a series but each book can be read as a stand alone. In this one, Jack is about to have surgery in a hospital that is currently having a rash of deaths from infections that happen during surgeries. Laurie doesn't want Jack to have the surgery and she is determined to find the reason for all these infections.
I am probably being a little too harsh in my rating for this book. I know the reason that I am being harsh is because of the previous book in this series and I will explain why that affected this rating. But first, this book is well below my expectations from books from this author. I know that he isn't the best writer in the world but this one was way below his standards. I always enjoy how Robin Cook tells a story of a medical issue that could happen and it is usually scary. The medical issue in this book fits under this category. The problem is that we seemed to put it as a secondary issue. We delve into mafia doings that took center stage. And this is where my problems with the previous book of this series come into play. This was hinted at in the previous book too so that is back to back books that had a mafia concept in books that are considered medical thrillers. Just no. Another issue which was prevalent in the previous book also is the epilogue. It stinks. Cook needs to know when to call it quits. I hope this and the mafia concept is not becoming a pattern.
This book was a let down which is very surprising as usually Cook's novels entertain me. One of the main characters felt off, too much reliance on medical terms (I know this is a fine line in a medical thriller), and it seemed like the actual antagonists were an after thought. If you are reading the whole series I would skip this offering.
I am probably being a little too harsh in my rating for this book. I know the reason that I am being harsh is because of the previous book in this series and I will explain why that affected this rating. But first, this book is well below my expectations from books from this author. I know that he isn't the best writer in the world but this one was way below his standards. I always enjoy how Robin Cook tells a story of a medical issue that could happen and it is usually scary. The medical issue in this book fits under this category. The problem is that we seemed to put it as a secondary issue. We delve into mafia doings that took center stage. And this is where my problems with the previous book of this series come into play. This was hinted at in the previous book too so that is back to back books that had a mafia concept in books that are considered medical thrillers. Just no. Another issue which was prevalent in the previous book also is the epilogue. It stinks. Cook needs to know when to call it quits. I hope this and the mafia concept is not becoming a pattern.
This book was a let down which is very surprising as usually Cook's novels entertain me. One of the main characters felt off, too much reliance on medical terms (I know this is a fine line in a medical thriller), and it seemed like the actual antagonists were an after thought. If you are reading the whole series I would skip this offering.
June 7, 2024
“In the financial world, whether it involved manufacturing lightbulbs or delivering healthcare, fairness was at best an afterthought�
CRITICAL is enjoyable, to be sure, and one might even say it verged on gripping. But it certainly wasn’t groundbreaking or innovative by any stretch of the imagination. Light years, if I may say, from his single-handed creation of the medical thriller genre in COMA so many years ago.
CRITICAL is a riff on a pair of overworked, old chestnut, medical thriller tropes � the medical corporation as the greedy, money-grubbing nasty in the USA in which health care is any-thing but universal; and, the epidemiological battle to isolate post-operative nosocomial infections that ruthlessly attack and kill their hosts in mere hours, a losing war that is almost over before the doctors determine that they are even in such a lethal battle.
That said, Cook’s description of specialty hospitals as an especially egregious example of capitalist greed in American healthcare is quite riveting:
“� the success of the specialty hospital depended exclusively on the doctor-owners admitting their paying patients, meaning those patients with insurance, either private or Medicare, or those patients with adequate wealth. The specialty-hospital business � was not interested � in charity cases, or for that matter, any cases where cost might exceed revenue.�
Dialogue was credible and flowed naturally. I was rather taken with one instance of a female doctor’s caustic (and, if I may say so, perhaps typically female) response to a male colleague who had the temerity to call her bullheaded. �You are bullheaded. I’m merely persistent, and, of course, I have the added benefit of being right.�
LOL, definitely sounds like someone was listening to my last conversation with my wife. But, I digress �
An enjoyable addition to the ever expanding library of available medical thrillers and an easy novel to recommend.
Paul Weiss
CRITICAL is enjoyable, to be sure, and one might even say it verged on gripping. But it certainly wasn’t groundbreaking or innovative by any stretch of the imagination. Light years, if I may say, from his single-handed creation of the medical thriller genre in COMA so many years ago.
CRITICAL is a riff on a pair of overworked, old chestnut, medical thriller tropes � the medical corporation as the greedy, money-grubbing nasty in the USA in which health care is any-thing but universal; and, the epidemiological battle to isolate post-operative nosocomial infections that ruthlessly attack and kill their hosts in mere hours, a losing war that is almost over before the doctors determine that they are even in such a lethal battle.
That said, Cook’s description of specialty hospitals as an especially egregious example of capitalist greed in American healthcare is quite riveting:
“� the success of the specialty hospital depended exclusively on the doctor-owners admitting their paying patients, meaning those patients with insurance, either private or Medicare, or those patients with adequate wealth. The specialty-hospital business � was not interested � in charity cases, or for that matter, any cases where cost might exceed revenue.�
Dialogue was credible and flowed naturally. I was rather taken with one instance of a female doctor’s caustic (and, if I may say so, perhaps typically female) response to a male colleague who had the temerity to call her bullheaded. �You are bullheaded. I’m merely persistent, and, of course, I have the added benefit of being right.�
LOL, definitely sounds like someone was listening to my last conversation with my wife. But, I digress �
An enjoyable addition to the ever expanding library of available medical thrillers and an easy novel to recommend.
Paul Weiss
June 29, 2011
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.
September 10, 2021
I went through a Robin Cook phase about 15- 20 years ago. Most of the books I read by him, including this one, I have had a hard time remembering plot points and endings. Therefore this is also added to my re-read list
I remember being engaged in this book and enjoyed the hospital obligation to the sick versus Healthcare, insurance and payment argument. I have read a few in the Stapleton / Montgomery series and always enjoyed them.
I'll keep it at 5 stars and edit after my second reading of this novel.
I remember being engaged in this book and enjoyed the hospital obligation to the sick versus Healthcare, insurance and payment argument. I have read a few in the Stapleton / Montgomery series and always enjoyed them.
I'll keep it at 5 stars and edit after my second reading of this novel.
January 21, 2010
Halfway through it, listening to it on CD as I commuted, I couldn't decide whether to finish the silly thing or not. It just about killed me with its terrible writing. I went ahead and skipped to the end to find out what happened. What a huge waste of time. Spare yourself the trouble. Just read the final few pages, and you'll get the entire point of the book.
October 9, 2023
Creo que es el que menos me ha gustado de Cook hasta ahora. Que estuvo bien, eh?, pero menos. Tardó mucho en arrancar la acción, cosa rarÃsima en él.
No deja en muy buen lugar el sistema sanitario estadounidense de la época. Me gusta cuando las crÃticas están insertas en la trama sin sermones.
También aparecen antiguos enemigos, enredando más la trama.
Pero esa tensión de tenerte mordiéndote las uñas, tan propio de él, fue sólo fue un ratÃn al final. El resto despertaba una cierta curiosidad, pero no era esa adrenalina en vena a la que me tenÃa acostumbrada. La eché de menos.
No deja en muy buen lugar el sistema sanitario estadounidense de la época. Me gusta cuando las crÃticas están insertas en la trama sin sermones.
También aparecen antiguos enemigos, enredando más la trama.
Pero esa tensión de tenerte mordiéndote las uñas, tan propio de él, fue sólo fue un ratÃn al final. El resto despertaba una cierta curiosidad, pero no era esa adrenalina en vena a la que me tenÃa acostumbrada. La eché de menos.
August 12, 2016
Another "tenacious, feisty coroner solves crimes that the cops can't" sort of book. While I jumped in at book 7, the author was able to fill me in on who the characters were, their relationships with one another...unlike some other authors (I'm looking at YOU, Martha Grimes). Specialty hospitals have cropped up to maximize profits: they perform all the procedures that pay off vs offering general treatments that may or may not get paid for by medicare/caid. Unfortunately, there has been a rash of very fast moving infections that are hitting their patients, and their patients only. Laurie Montgomery, said feisty coroner, has discovered the pattern & is desperately trying to find out the cause before her coworker-coroner/husband mulishly goes ahead with his surgery in the face of huge red flags against doing so. Honestly, that was my biggest gripe. Jack completely ignores the evidence, his intelligent wife's opinion, and isn't willing to wait to have the operation to fix his torn ACL.
The book was fine for what it was. I might pick up the first in the series, but I'm not rushing out to do so.
The book was fine for what it was. I might pick up the first in the series, but I'm not rushing out to do so.
July 28, 2012
Critical (Jack & Laurie Montgomery, #7) by Robin Cook.
I picked up this book because I have read some other books by Robin Cook and was very impressed.I feel that this novel was okay but not one of his best.
Laurie Montgomery and Jack Stapleton, are married and are medical examiners in New York City.Jack injures his knee during a basketball game and is in a rush to have surgery and be back to riding his bike and playing basketball again. Laurie thinks that Jack is rushing his surgery, and should wait a bit.Laurie does an autopsy on a Mr. Jeffries who had undergone the same procedure as Jack will undergo, but he died from a postoperative MRSA infection.Laurie is worried and is not in favor of Jack proceeding so quickly.Laurie discovered that within the last three and a half months, there has been a number of very severe MRSA inpatient infections resulting in rapid death, all occurring at three Hospitals owned by Angels Health-Care, 23 cases in total.
So Laurie is racing against time,to solve the mystery before Jack goes under the knife.
I picked up this book because I have read some other books by Robin Cook and was very impressed.I feel that this novel was okay but not one of his best.
Laurie Montgomery and Jack Stapleton, are married and are medical examiners in New York City.Jack injures his knee during a basketball game and is in a rush to have surgery and be back to riding his bike and playing basketball again. Laurie thinks that Jack is rushing his surgery, and should wait a bit.Laurie does an autopsy on a Mr. Jeffries who had undergone the same procedure as Jack will undergo, but he died from a postoperative MRSA infection.Laurie is worried and is not in favor of Jack proceeding so quickly.Laurie discovered that within the last three and a half months, there has been a number of very severe MRSA inpatient infections resulting in rapid death, all occurring at three Hospitals owned by Angels Health-Care, 23 cases in total.
So Laurie is racing against time,to solve the mystery before Jack goes under the knife.
July 14, 2019
Wasn't terribly exciting, and a little predictable, but still engaging; a thriller of reasonable quality.
September 8, 2023
MRSA, czyli gronkowiec złocisty oporny na metycylinę, to drobnoustrój powodujący dużą część zakażeń wewnątrzszpitalnych. Bestyjka uodporniła się na większość antybiotyków, przez co stanowi bardzo poważny problem w ochronie zdrowia. I jest on głównym bohaterem tej książki.
Na kanał do Laurie Montgomery zaczynają trafiać pacjenci, których zgon spowodowany został zakażeniem MRSA. Sprawa zaczyna wyglądać podejrzanie, ponieważ zakażenia dotyczą jednej z sieci szpitali, i mimo prowadzonych działań zapobiegawczych, nadal się powtarzają. Intuicja Laurie podpowiada, że zakażenia te nie są przypadkowe, a na domiar złego, właśnie w jednej z placówek sieci Angels Healthcare, jej mąż Jack ma mieć operowane kolano.
Klasycznie, bez udziwnień, po prostu dobry thriller medyczny. Oczywiście wszystkie nieszczęścia muszą kręcić się wokół głównych bohaterów, ale na to już chyba trzeba przymknąć oko. Jacka za to dopadła rzecz straszna � starość! :)
7/10
Na kanał do Laurie Montgomery zaczynają trafiać pacjenci, których zgon spowodowany został zakażeniem MRSA. Sprawa zaczyna wyglądać podejrzanie, ponieważ zakażenia dotyczą jednej z sieci szpitali, i mimo prowadzonych działań zapobiegawczych, nadal się powtarzają. Intuicja Laurie podpowiada, że zakażenia te nie są przypadkowe, a na domiar złego, właśnie w jednej z placówek sieci Angels Healthcare, jej mąż Jack ma mieć operowane kolano.
Klasycznie, bez udziwnień, po prostu dobry thriller medyczny. Oczywiście wszystkie nieszczęścia muszą kręcić się wokół głównych bohaterów, ale na to już chyba trzeba przymknąć oko. Jacka za to dopadła rzecz straszna � starość! :)
7/10
January 15, 2024
Another enjoyable read, as someone that doesn't really know much about the business side of medicine, especially in the US, I do appreciate how Robin Cook's novels tackle topical items, in this case the exploitation of legal loopholes to create specialty "hospitals" that extract money from higher end and well-insured patients for elective surgery, but without traditional services like an ICU or an ER, might not be well-placed to intervene if something goes wrong during an operation.
December 26, 2024
Se trata de un libro ameno y fácil de leer por la forma de expresarse del autor, sin embargo, me da la sensación de que sus tramas son muy repetitivas en la saga de Jack y Laurie. No me parece extraño ya que son 10 libros, pero se hace muy tedioso leer siempre sobre corrupción médica y mafias de Nueva York. El caso de este libro pintaba ser una denuncia o aviso sobre las bacterias multirresistentes y el potencial daño que pueden provocar en la sociedad, pero al final se ha convertido en otro caso más de homicidio. Me habrÃa gustado más la idea de una bacteria ya conocida que hubiera adquirido nuevas caracterÃsticas potencialmente peligrosas para la humanidad, como un aviso de lo que se nos puede venir como sigamos usando los antibióticos tan a la ligera. Por otro lado, también considero que el final es muy abrupto y me sigue decepcionando que le haya quitado protagonismo a Jack (quien también ha perdido su habitual sarcasmo) en favor de Laurie que hace que los libros sean más aburridos.
December 18, 2017
So I've finally finished this book after working on it over the course of a week long vacation and taking almost a month to finish it. I loved the plot but a lot of the story wasn't very attention grabbing for me. I found myself putting it down time and again after only reading a chapter or two. Still the ending is satisfying but I don't know if I'll read another of Robin Cook's books again.
April 29, 2023
Another of Robin Cook's cheesy thrillers. I keep reading his book in the hope of finding something of the level of Coma or Brain, but keep getting disillusioned. He seems to be bent on page flashing and mixing a lot of things plus throwing in social messages with good measure. The plot was OK, but it's like 97% of the book keeps weaving the plot and the 3% hurries with the watery climax.
April 14, 2023
The beginning is not interesting then the plot twisted and I couldn't get away from it. I know now that i love medical thrillers
November 16, 2021
Pretty technical for the first few chapters--- yet I enjoyed the book once done them.
February 18, 2020
Come on, Cook, podés hacerlo mejor, ambos lo sabemos...
July 4, 2010
Typical recent Cook "Message" book does little to excite his fans
One can hardly think of the "medical thriller" genre without acknowledging the contributions of Michael Palmer and Robin Cook. In recent years, Cook has traded all-out suspense and intrigue for books that strive to not only entertain with a decent plot but also lecture the reader on a medical topic of concern, if not pet peeve, of the author's. While we are spared an outright after-word essay in "Critical", nonetheless we get a heavy dose of explanation about what a specialty hospital is (one that only takes referred surgery patients) and the evils associated with doctors themselves owning such hospitals.
In the storyline, a series of very unusual hospital deaths, occurring within 12 hours or less of minor to major surgery, from a particularly nasty strain of staph infection, leads one of Cook's favorite heroines, Medical Examiner Laurie Montgomery, to eventually establish the connection between the untimely deaths and three specific hospitals all owned by Angels Healthcare. Angels is in the process of going public with an IPO, sure to make a fortune for all its owners - but the unsettling nature of the deaths, and the need to suspend operations to clean operating rooms and so forth, engages the business in a cash flow crisis just weeks shy of the IPO. The gist of the plot is to discover both what's happening and why. Adding to the intrigue is Laurie's fears for hubby and fellow med examiner Jack Stapleton, who is scheduled for imminent knee surgery at Angels.
When all the dust settles, we find out, to no surprise, that the deaths are the result of a merciless tyrant trying to interfere with the IPO. That outcome not only strains credibility given the three dozen or so murders involved, but other than keeping Jack out of harm's way, there was very little to care about in this whole book. The CEO of Angels, and her dating a colleague of Laurie's was nothing short of boring; and why the hospitals involved hadn't long before just plain been barred shut by the authorities made no sense. Meanwhile, the lecture on specialty hospitals, with pages and pages devoted to something hard to care about but easy to understand, got old fast.
In short, despite a now lengthy booklist of best sellers, Cook's ability to thrill and chill is at best on the wane - it seemed to us that even he took little delight in this particular novel. Maybe he's running out of messages, er -- make that, good ideas !!
One can hardly think of the "medical thriller" genre without acknowledging the contributions of Michael Palmer and Robin Cook. In recent years, Cook has traded all-out suspense and intrigue for books that strive to not only entertain with a decent plot but also lecture the reader on a medical topic of concern, if not pet peeve, of the author's. While we are spared an outright after-word essay in "Critical", nonetheless we get a heavy dose of explanation about what a specialty hospital is (one that only takes referred surgery patients) and the evils associated with doctors themselves owning such hospitals.
In the storyline, a series of very unusual hospital deaths, occurring within 12 hours or less of minor to major surgery, from a particularly nasty strain of staph infection, leads one of Cook's favorite heroines, Medical Examiner Laurie Montgomery, to eventually establish the connection between the untimely deaths and three specific hospitals all owned by Angels Healthcare. Angels is in the process of going public with an IPO, sure to make a fortune for all its owners - but the unsettling nature of the deaths, and the need to suspend operations to clean operating rooms and so forth, engages the business in a cash flow crisis just weeks shy of the IPO. The gist of the plot is to discover both what's happening and why. Adding to the intrigue is Laurie's fears for hubby and fellow med examiner Jack Stapleton, who is scheduled for imminent knee surgery at Angels.
When all the dust settles, we find out, to no surprise, that the deaths are the result of a merciless tyrant trying to interfere with the IPO. That outcome not only strains credibility given the three dozen or so murders involved, but other than keeping Jack out of harm's way, there was very little to care about in this whole book. The CEO of Angels, and her dating a colleague of Laurie's was nothing short of boring; and why the hospitals involved hadn't long before just plain been barred shut by the authorities made no sense. Meanwhile, the lecture on specialty hospitals, with pages and pages devoted to something hard to care about but easy to understand, got old fast.
In short, despite a now lengthy booklist of best sellers, Cook's ability to thrill and chill is at best on the wane - it seemed to us that even he took little delight in this particular novel. Maybe he's running out of messages, er -- make that, good ideas !!
January 26, 2014
First Robin Cook book that I've read, it was suggested to me by a friend. I had really high hopes since I've seen the movies "Contagion" and "Outbreak" and really enjoyed them, but this one was a little to out there for me. It was pretty engaging at first with the discovery of a terrible virus that seems to be spreading under the noses of most of the medical community and killed folks (at least a few of them) very rapidly. Then the mafia got involved. Then to make matters worse a contract killer got involved as well! Totally ridiculous that these two groups of people would all want to kill one medical examiner for having a hunch about a virus. It was just too far fetched. And on a side note, Robin Cook is obviously male because the way that his female characters act and their internal dialogue is just not very well informed.
I have a couple more Robin Cook books (got a few all at once at a local used book sale to benefit the library) and I will read them, I just hope that they turn out a little more believable.
I have a couple more Robin Cook books (got a few all at once at a local used book sale to benefit the library) and I will read them, I just hope that they turn out a little more believable.
December 22, 2020
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.
September 22, 2013
I've read lots of Robin Cook's before. And always liked them. Until now. I don't know if it was because I had trouble staying awake and therefore couldn't put the story together or if it just wasn't there to start with.
People were dying in a certain chain of hospitals from a fast killing MRSA. But it drug on forever discovering it was all the same strain and we kept following these mob guys around and it wasn't till it was all over with and in the epilogue that we find out who did it and why. I just did not like this one.
People were dying in a certain chain of hospitals from a fast killing MRSA. But it drug on forever discovering it was all the same strain and we kept following these mob guys around and it wasn't till it was all over with and in the epilogue that we find out who did it and why. I just did not like this one.
March 13, 2011
Wow. I liked Robin Cook's books before I stumbled upon this little mess. It was a big ball of nothing happened. At one point a character is given a "cement boot" and then shot in the head execution style and thrown into the water by the force of the bullet. Yeah. That's what needed to happen to this book. It needs to be buried and never shown the light.... it is just that disappointing.
October 29, 2008
I normally love Robin Cook but this one was just too formulaic and too much detail on the medical stuff. I found it impossible to get into and found myself constantly flipping ahead just to get through it.
June 21, 2020
Jack needs surgery. Laurie is worries. The new specialty hospitals have a flood of Staph infections -- and otherwise healthy people -- are dying!
It was a thrilling read. Mafia. Revenge. Vengeance. Swimming with the fishies ... If ya get what I'm saying.
Phillip Tomasso
It was a thrilling read. Mafia. Revenge. Vengeance. Swimming with the fishies ... If ya get what I'm saying.
Phillip Tomasso
February 2, 2013
I usually love Cook's books especially with Jack Stapleton and Lori Montgomery. But this one couldn't hold my attention. I realized that I don't even care how or why these people are getting sick. In Cook novels, that's a REALLY bad sign. So i put it down and I won't be picking it back up.
July 7, 2016
Read several years ago. I'm a certified research nurse co-ordinator & conducted trials for non FDA approved drugs for over 25 years. I enjoy medical mysteries & have been a fan of Robin Cooks for many years.
August 23, 2008
Cook's writing, especially the dialogue, is stilted. The plot is okay, but I've read much more skillfully written thrillers. He sells a lot of books, but . . . .
January 31, 2016
Review to come soon...
October 23, 2018
It is a good medical thriller & a great story that holds your attention to the very end.
September 21, 2024
Que thriller emocionante cheio de tantos pormenores cientÃficos e de epidemiologia, tanto em alta com a COVID-19.
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