The New York Times� bestselling author and master of the medical thriller returns with a top-notch fusion of groundbreaking medical science and edge-of-your-seat suspense. George Wilson, M.D., a radiology resident in Los Angeles, is about to enter a profession on the brink of an enormous paradigm shift, foreshadowing a vastly different role for doctors everywhere. The smartphone is poised to take on a new role in medicine, no longer as a mere medical app but rather as a fully customizable personal physician capable of diagnosing and treating even better than the real thing. It is called iDoc. George’s initial collision with this incredible innovation is devastating. He awakens one morning to find his fiancée dead in bed alongside him, not long after she participated in an iDoc beta test. Then several of his patients die after undergoing imaging procedures. All of them had been part of the same beta test. Is it possible that iDoc is being subverted by hackers—and that the U.S. government is involved in a cover-up? Despite threats to both his career and his freedom, George relentlessly seeks the truth, knowing that if he’s right, the consequences could be lethal.

ROBIN COOK--New York Times-best selling author and master of the medical thriller--returns with another crackling tale of unchecked greed, medical malfeasance, adn starling science. PIA GRAZDANI is an exceptional yet aloof medical student working closely with Columbia University Medical Center's premier scientist on cutting-edge research that could revolutionize health care by creating replacement organs for critically ill patients. Thorough her work with the brilliant molecular geneticist Dr. Tobias Rothman, Pia knows she will be given the chance to fulfill her ambition to participate in medical discoveries that can help millions while bringing her a measure of personal peace that might once and for all push aside memories of her difficult and abusive childhood.But when tragedy strikes in the lab, Pia, with the help of infatuated classmate George Wilson, must investigate the unforeseen calamity in the hospital's supposedly secure biosafety lab. Meanwhile, two ex-Wall Street whiz kids think they have found another loadstone in the nation's multi-trillion dollar life insurance industry. They race to find ways to control actuarial data and securitize the policies of the aged and infirm to make another killing. As Pia and George dig deeper into the events at the lab one question remains unanswered: is someone attempting to manipulate private insurance information to allow investors to benefit from the deaths of others?

Deborah y Joanna, dos estudiantes que están preparando su tesis doctoral, deciden ponerse en contacto con la clínica Wingate cuando leen su anuncio: ofrecen $45.000 a donantes de óvulos. Tanto dinero les atrae mucho. Cuando la clínica las acepta como donantes, deciden pagar la entrada de un apartamento y luego viajar a Venecia donde las dos acabarán su tesis doctoral. La clínica se especializa en problemas de infertilidad y está situada en una enorme parcela de una aislada zona rural fuera de Boston. Había sido un hospital psiquiátrico con casas para los empleados e instalaciones diversas. Se les hace la intervención, reciben sus talones y se marchan felices a Italia. Entonces, Joanna empieza a meditar sobre su donación. Quiere saber si su implantación ha tenido éxito y decide llamar a la clínica. Como es de esperar, se niegan a facilitarle esta información por ser confidencial. Pide ayuda a un amigo suyo, hacker experto, pero la base de datos de la clínica está muy bien protegida y le informa que solamente se podría ganar acceso desde dentro de la clínica. Y aquí las dos amigas, muy lanzadas, inventan un plan de acción. Solicitarán trabajo en la clínica para conseguir los datos que buscan. Y así es, fácilmente consiguen trabajo y Joanna sigue las instrucciones de su amigo hacker.

One of Cook's most successful--and timely--bestsellers. Contagion is a terrifying cautionary tale for the millennium as a deadly epidemic is spread not merely by microbes--but by sabotage...

Both of them suspected that something was wrong--terribly wrong--in the great medical research center where they worked. Both of them wondered why a beautiful young woman had died on the operating table and her brain secretly removed. Both of them found it impossible to explain the rash of female patients exhibiting bizarre mental breakdowns and shocking behavior. Both of them were placing their careers and very lives in deadly jeopardy as they penetrated the eerie inner sanctums of a medical world gone mad with technological power and the lust for more...

Intervention, by Cook, Robin

From the roots of an ancient witchcraft ... a new terror to destroy. With billions of dollars at stake, every scientist in America is fighting to discover the next Prozac, the latest 'feel good' drug. Edward Armstrong believes he has hit the jackpot. He has isolated a stunningly effective anti-depressant from a bacterial mould first uncovered over two hundred years ago. But there is more to the drug than anyone could have imagined. When Edward turns violent and the corpses of mutilated animals appear near the laboratory, his girlfriend decides to investigate the truth about this new 'miracle' drug. Before it claims any more innocent lives... From the best-selling doctor whose high-voltage thrillers regularly quicken readers' pulses comes a harrowing tale of greed, abandoned ethics, and ambition run awry in the newest area of medical intervention: cosmetic psychopharmacology. Prozac-like drugs are being prescribed not only for their original purposes but increasingly to alter individual personalities to currently valued norms. With dead-on accuracy and the pre-science of tomorrow's headlines, Robin Cook explores the perilous intersection where fame and unfathomable lucre waylay and seduce the very best and brightest of those sworn to do no harm. When neuroscientist Edward Armstrong begins dating Kimberly Stewart, a descendant of a woman who was hanged as a witch at the time of the Salem witch trials, he takes advantage of the opportunity to delve into a pet theory: that the "devil" in Salem in 1692 had been a hallucinogenic drug inadvertently consumed with mould-tainted grain. In an attempt to prove his theory, Edward grows the mould he believes responsible from samples taken from the Stewart estate. In a brilliant designer-drug transformation, the poison becomes Ultra, the next generation of antidepressants with truly startling therapeutic capabilities.

Parce que l'idée d'avoir un enfant surdoué lui semble attirante, parce qu'il a découvert les gènes qui permettent la croissance des cellules nerveuses et que le flou juridique est notable en matière de manipulation génétique, Victor Franck, chercheur en biotechnologie, décide de faire naître un enfant à l'intelligence sans limites. Créateur d'un être mi-prodige, mi-monstre, Frank pourra-t-il accepter que le génie scientifique de son fils se détourne des lois morales les plus essentielles ? Ou bien, tel Abraham, devra-t-il sacrifier la chair de sa chair ?Un livre qui nous tient en haleine jusqu'à la réponse finale, magistrale. Spécialiste incontesté du thriller médical, Robin Cook doit ses connaissances scientifiques à son expérience de chirurgien. Mutation est son huitième livre.

Behind the headlines on cloning--Dr. Robin Cook blends fact with fiction in one of his most terrifying bestsellers...Chromosome 6 is a prophetic thriller that challenges the medical ethics of genetic manipulation and cloning in the jungles of equatorial Africa, where one mistake could bridge the gap between man and ape--and forever change the genetic map of our existence...

Robin Cook's "pressure cooker of a thriller" ("Booklist") takes medical technology into a new realm, where everything we know about the human body-and the universe we live in-is about to be challenged.

Enter the extraordinary world of Arthurian legend in an adventure overflowing with knightly chivalry, the danger of jousting and the warmth of true love. But the Legend of Parzival is more than the tale of one knight's epic journey to find the elusive Holy Grail; along the way Parzival faces a challenging journey of self-discovery. He must conquer his ignorance and pride, and learn humility and compassion before he is finally worthy of becoming a Grail Knight. This accessible prose retelling of the medieval German epic brings the wonderful story of the Arthurian knight (known variously as Parzival, Parsifal and Percival) to life for today's readers, while faithfully preserving the story, characters and tone of Wolfram von Eschenbach's thirteenth century narrative poem. In Steiner-Waldorf education, Parzival's quest is seen as a metaphor for the difficult journey through life, which speaks strongly to the adolescent, and its study is at the heart of the Class 11 curriculum. As a hugely experienced Steiner-Waldorf teacher, Robin Cook's engaging retelling will provide valuable inspiration for other teachers and students, as well as enjoyment and enrichment for all readers.

Charles Martel is a brilliant cancer researcher who discovers that his own daughter is the victim of leukemia. The cause: a chemical plant conspiracy that not only promises to kill her, but will destroy him as a doctor and a man if he tries to fight it...

It should have been a routine childbirth. But somehow, the mother died in the delivery, the baby was born brain-damaged, and Jeffrey Rhodes, the anesthesiologist, is running for his life. Charged with malpractice, he is found guilty of harmful intent and reckless disregard for human life. To clear his name, Rhodes must follow a fugitive trail into the heart of medical nightmare. A trail that, for some, may end in suicide--and for others, in the most shocking conspiracy of our time...

A series of unexplained deaths in foreign hospitals sends an idealistic UCLA medical student on a desperate search for answers, in this chilling tale from the master of the medical thriller. Jennifer Hernandez is a fourth-year medical student at UCLA, just completing an elective in general surgery, whose world is shattered during a break in an otherwise ordinary day. While relaxing in the surgical lounge of L.A.’s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, she half-listens to a piece on medical tourism, where first-world citizens travel to third-world countries for surgery. But when she hears her beloved grandmother’s name mentioned, her own heart nearly stops: the CNN reporter says Maria Suarez-Hernandez had died, a day after undergoing a hip replacement in New Delhi’s Queen Victoria Hospital. Maria had raised Jennifer and her brothers from infancy, and their bond was unshakable. Still, the news that Maria had traveled to India was a shock to Jennifer, until she realized that it was the only viable option for the hardworking yet uninsured woman. Devastated, and desperate for answers, Jennifer takes emergency leave from school and heads to India, where relations with local officials go from sympathetic to sour as she presses for more information. With the discovery of other unexplained deaths followed by hasty cremations, Jennifer reaches out to her mentor, New York City medical examiner Dr. Laurie Montgomery, who has her own deep connection to Maria. Laurie, along with her husband, Dr. Jack Stapleton, rushes to the younger woman’s side, discovering a sophisticated medical facility with little margin for error. As the death count grows, so do the questions, leading Laurie and Jennifer to unveil a sinister, multilayered conspiracy of global proportions.

When a future doctor trusts his pregnant wife's care to the clinic operated by the giant chemical company where he works, he does not suspect that she will be subjected to terrifying experimentation. "Chillingly entertaining and thought-provoking".--Associated Press.

Robin Cook is the author -- and Coma is the book -- for which the term "medical thriller" was first used. It's a spine-chilling shocker about a crime beyond imagining and the committed young medical student who brings it to light. The surgery was routine -- the kind performed many times a day at Boston's most prestigious hospital. The teams that worked in OR #8 were among the best in the world. But even their incredible skill couldn't make up for what was happening around them. Several patients, admitted to the hospital for minor surgery, never awoke. For some inexplicable reason, their brains had been destroyed.

Here is Robin Cook's most controversial medical thriller-the shocking story of experimental fertilization, the passion to create life, and the power to destroy it.

With his signature blend of suspense and science, Robin Cook delivers an electrifying page-turner that delves into the murky ethics of developing genomic medicine and modern-day health care.

At a prestigious Florida medical center, brain cancer patients are treated with a one-hundred-percent success rate. Sean Murphy, a young medical student, finds it hard to believe. Is it a miracle cure? Or the biggest con job in the history of medicine?

The bestselling master of medical suspense Robin Cook mines the mysteries of Egypt's magnificent past to deliver a one-of-a-kind thriller packed with compelling realism and unrelenting suspense. An excitement-packed thriller. (Chicago Thriller) Rates top marks for unmitigated tension and surprise. (Los Angeles Times)

"Charlatans is an explosive thriller from New York Times bestselling author and master of the medical thriller Robin Cook. Noah Rothauser is the new super chief resident at Boston Memorial Hospital. Housing state-of-the-art medical facilities, it’s always been Noah’s dream to work for such an esteemed institution. But the pressures of the role become all too clear when a seemingly routine operation results in the tragic death of an otherwise healthy man. With potential malpractice suspected it falls to the newly appointed surgical doctor to investigate what happened. Questioning those involved uncovers bitter feuds within the hospital’s surgical staff when Dr. William Mason, the egotistical, world-class surgeon who performed the operation, is quick to blame staff anaeshtetist Dr. Ava London for the disastrous outcome. However Dr. London, along with the nursing staff, point the finger at the surgeon. When two more anaesthesia-related deaths occur, Noah is forced to look closer at the impressively competent, charming, yet mysterious Dr. London, and he quickly realizes there’s far more to her than meets the eye. With his own job and integrity coming into jeopardy, Noah must decide which doctor is at fault and who he can believe – before any more lives are lost . . ."

From the master of the medical thriller comes a heart-stopping tale of intrigue and mystery set at the uncertain juncture of medical care and financial pragmatism; a story that reads like today's headlines. Fatal Cure is a hair-raising, timely foray into the dark side of medical reform, proving that with "managed care" the unthinkable can be as close as the local hospital. Doctors Angela and David Wilson believe they have found personal and professional bliss when they opt to leave the university medical center for Bartlet Community Hospital, a modern, state-of-the-art medical facility in scenic Bartlet, Vermont. For Angela, a pathologist, and David, an internist/primary-care physician, Bartlet seems to be a dream come true: a town with green lawns and crystal lakes that is an idyllic haven from urban crime and pollution; a chance for a home of their own and a resurgence of romance in their relationship; a perfect environment for their eight-year-old daughter, Nikki, who suffers from cystic fibrosis; and the opportunity to work within an enlightened system of "managed care." But all is not what it seems. After a resplendent fall, a stark landscape looms in Bartlet that reveals more than the skeletons of the trees. Gradually at first and then at a quickening pace, the Wilsons' earthly Nirvana disintegrates as mysterious, unexplained deaths become more than coincidences. The deadly nightmare of their life threatens them all, even Nikki, the most vulnerable. Fighting for their careers as well as for the very survival of their family, Angela and David must conquer the evil that confronts each of them before they are consumed by the horror. Mystery thriller and romance, a story rich inmedical lore, Fatal Cure is Robin Cook at his probing, timely, page-turning best.

New York City medical examiners Laurie Montgomery and Jack Stapleton return in this stunning new novel from the ?master of the medical thriller? (New York Times)?a ripped-from-the-headlines tale of an innovative doctor's dangerous downward spiral.

Robin Cook is back—with a shocking story of medical conspiracy. Today, organ transplants are common miracles of science. But if the supply cannot meet the demand, how far will people go to find donors? Dr. Laurie Montgomery, a forensic pathologist, learns the terrifying answer when she investigates a series of fatal "overdose" of young professionals. Some crimes are beyond comprehension. But seeing is believing... *A Literary Guild Dual Selection

The explosive new thriller from New York Times–bestselling author and master of the medical thriller, Robin Cook. Lynn Peirce, a fourth-year medical student at South Carolina’s Mason-Dixon University, thinks she has her life figured out. But when her otherwise healthy boyfriend, Carl, enters the hospital for routine surgery, her neatly ordered life is thrown into total chaos. Carl fails to return to consciousness after the procedure, and an MRI confirms brain death. Devastated by Carl’s condition, Lynn searches for answers. Convinced there’s more to the story than what the authorities are willing to reveal, Lynn uses all her resources at Mason-Dixon—including her initially reluctant lab partner, Michael Pender—to hunt down evidence of medical error or malpractice. What she uncovers, however, is far more disturbing. Hospitals associated with Middleton Healthcare, including the Mason-Dixon Medical Center, have unnervingly high rates of unexplained anesthetic complications and patients contracting serious and terminal illness in the wake of routine hospital admissions. When Lynn and Michael begin to receive death threats, they know they’re into something bigger than either of them anticipated. They soon enter a desperate race against time for answers before shadowy forces behind Middleton Healthcare and their partner, Sidereal Pharmaceuticals, can put a stop to their efforts once and for all.

When Dr. Craig Bowman is served with a summons for medical malpractice, he's shocked, enraged, and more than a little humiliated. A devoted physician who works continuously in the service of others, he endured grueling years of training and is now a partner in an exclusive concierge medical practice. No longer forced to see more and more patients while spending less and less time with each one just to keep his office door open, he now provides the kind of medical care he is trained to do, lavishing twenty-four-hour availability and personalized attention on his handpicked patients. And at last, he is earning a significant income, no longer burdened by falling reimbursements from insurance companies.But this idyllic practice comes to a grinding halt one sunny afternoon-and gets much, much worse. Enter Dr. Jack Stapleton, a medical examiner in New York City and Bowman's brother-in-law: Jack's sister Alexis-now Craig's estranged wife-tearfully begs for his help as her husband's trial drags on. Jack agrees to travel to Boston to offer his forensic services and expert witness experience to Craig's beleaguered defense attorney. But when Jack's irreverent suggestion to exhume the corpse to disprove the alleged malpractice is taken seriously, he opens a Pandora's box of trouble. As Craig Bowman's life and career are put on the line, Jack is on the verge of making a most unwelcome discovery of tremendous legal and medical significance-and there are people who will do anything to keep him from learning the truth.

A disgruntled Russian emigre is poised to lash out at the adoptive nation he believes has denied him the American dream. A former technician in the Soviet biological weapons systems, he possesses the knowledge to unleash into the streets of New York City the ultimate terror: a modern bioweapon. But before he executes his final act of vengeance, he must first experiment on a few unsuspecting victims ...

The New York Times bestseller is now in paperback. Power, religion, and bioscience collide in the new novel from the master of the medical thriller.

New York Times-bestselling author Robin Cook takes on the ripped-from-the-headlines topic of using genealogical DNA database tracking to catch a killer in this unforgettable new medical thriller.When the body of twenty-nine-year-old social worker Gloria Montoya, seven weeks pregnant with her first child, shows up on Chief New York City Medical Examiner Laurie Montgomery's autopsy table, she's baffled to find no apparent causes of death. With no clues to go on, Laurie enlists the help of Dr. Tricia Albanese, a forensic pathology resident with a background in genetic science, to help her trace the identity of the unborn baby's father using DNA from the mother and child. But when Tricia is found dead in her apartment in a manner strikingly similar to Gloria's death, Laurie realizes she might have two linked homicides on her hands...and now it's up to her, with the help of her husband, ME Jack Stapleton, to continue the tracking work Tricia had begun before a killer...

After a tumultuous year in which her mentor is murdered and her estranged father comes back into her life, Pia Grazdani, the embattled medical student from Death Benefit, decides to take a year off from her medical studies and escape New York City. Intrigued by the promise of the burgeoning field of medical technology and the chance to clear her head, Pia takes a job at Nano, LLC, a lavishly funded, security-conscious nanotechnology insititute in the picturesque foothills of the Rockies. Nano, LLC is ahead of the curve in the competitive world of molecular manufacturing, including the construction of microbivores, tiny nano-robots with the ability to gobble up viruses and bacteria. But the corporate campus is a place of secrets. She's warned by her boss not to investigate the other work being done at the gigantic facility, nor to ask questions about the source of the seemingly endless capital that funds the institute's research. And when Pia encounters a fellow employee on a corporate jogging path, suffering the effects of a seizure, she soon realizes she may have literally stumbled upon Nano LLC's human guinea pigs. Is the tech giant on the cusp of one of the biggest medical discoveries of the twenty-first century—a treatment option for millions—or have they already sold out to the highest bidder?

In this exhilarating new medical thriller by bestselling author Robin Cook, fan favorites Jack and Laurie are lured into the dark underbelly of hospital dangers when an internist dies mysteriously.Colleagues-turned-spouses Dr. Laurie Montgomery and Dr. Jack Stapleton already have their plates full with demanding forensic pathology work and family pressures. The last thing they need is the sudden death of a colleague. Yet when Laurie’s apparently vital and healthy longtime friend Dr. Sue Passero dies mysteriously in the hopsital parking garage, an autopsy is required, and it falls uncomfortably under Laurie’s purview as the chief medical examiner. So when Laurie asks Jack to take special care with the case, he can hardly refuse.With his curiosity sparked by an inconclusive autopsy, the indefatigable Jack is compelled to resolve the case at hand, and sets out to investigate on-site at Manhattan Memorial Hospital, even though it means blatantly defying the...

Murder and mystery reach epidemic proportions when a devastating plague sweeps the country. Dr. Marissa Blumenthal of the Atlanta Centers for Disease Control investigates--and soon uncovers the medical world's deadliest secret.

Just how safe is America's meat supply? Recent health scares and new public awareness have made this one of today's most controversial subjects --- and the basis of Robin Cook's most startling, and important novel. When a doctor's daughter becomes infected with E. coli, the widespread dangers of bacterial contamination are no longer a subject for debate, but a grim reality. In desperation, he is forced to follow a trail of ignorance and corruption from the tangled red-tape of the medical community to the highest levels of the powerful meat industry. It is an eye-opening thriller that every American should read ...

New York Times-bestselling author Robin Cook takes on the cutting-edge world of gene-modification in this pulse-pounding new medical thriller.When an unidentified, seemingly healthy young woman collapses suddenly on the New York City subway and dies upon reaching the hospital, her case is an eerie reminder for veteran medical examiner Jack Stapleton of the 1918 flu pandemic. Fearful of a repeat on the one hundredth anniversary of the nightmarish contagion, Jack autopsies the woman within hours of her demise and discovers some striking anomalies: first, that she has had a heart transplant, and second, that, against all odds, her DNA matches that of the transplanted heart. Although the facts don't add up to influenza, Jack must race against the clock to identify the woman and determine what kind of virus could wreak such havoc—a task made more urgent when two other victims succumb to a similar rapid death. But nothing makes sense until his investigation...

A mysterious transmission from the depths of the Atlantic Ocean sends a team of oceanographers and divers on a perilous quest in search of a discovery that could transform modern science and the future of humankind.

In this electrifying medical thriller from New York Times bestselling author Robin Cook, a family’s exposure to a rare yet deadly virus ensnares them in a growing danger to mankind—and pulls back the curtain on a healthcare system powered by profit and greed. Trying to find some normalcy during the Covid-19 pandemic, Brian Murphy and his family are on a summer excursion in Cape Cod when his wife, Emma, comes down with concerning flu-like symptoms. But their leisurely return home to New York City quickly becomes a race to the local hospital as she suddenly begins seizing in the car. At the ICU, she is diagnosed with eastern equine encephalitis, a rare and highly lethal mosquito-borne viral disease seemingly caught during one of their evening cookouts. Complicating the situation further, Brian and Emma’s young daughter then begins to exhibit alarming physical and behavioral symptoms, too. Emma’s harrowing...

In the new fast-paced medical thriller from bestselling author Robin Cook, fan favorites Jack and Laurie are inadvertently drawn into a dangerous vortex of a series of homocides that have been cleverly staged as suicides.After Dr. Jack Stapleton’s near-death confrontation with a medical serial killer, his wife, NYC Chief Medical Examiner Laurie Montgomery, is carrying the load both at work and at home. When Laurie insists that Dr. Ryan Sullivan—an underperforming senior pathology resident who is spending his required month at the medical examiner's office but who truly detests doing forensic autopsies—assist her on a suicide autopsy in hopes of stimulating his interest in the field, the last thing she expects is to be unwittingly drawn into a major conspiracy that puts her own life in jeopardy. Desperate to avoid performing as many forensic autopsies as possible, Dr. Ryan Sullivan offers to participate in a research project on a series of...

From Publishers WeeklyCook's lack of ability as a stylist generally has been masked by his talent for fashioning a solid medical drama--often ripped from current headlines--that keeps readers turning pages. Unfortuately, that's not the case in his 12th novel (after Vital Signs ), which has a plot so ludicrous that the weak characters and silly dialogue are all too obvious. Most offensive in the latter category are the stilted, out-of-kilter exchanges between a pair of Mafia hitmen who run about New York City "whacking" (murdering) people with increasing frequency. Meanwhile, Dr. Laurie Montgomery, a forensic pathologist in the NYC Medical Examiner's office, finds a pattern of unrelated cocaine overdose deaths among career-oriented people never known to have used drugs. Despite the obvious evidence that she's onto something, her boss couldn't care less, while the homicide detective she becomes involved with is more concerned about the mob killings, and, like her boss, cannot understand why she is outraged by the behavior of two corrupt, thieving uniformed cops in her department. As luck would have it, there's also another man in Laurie's life, a self-centered ophthalmologist whose patients just happen to include the mob boss behind both the cocaine deaths and the murder spree. Readers who plow through this amateurish effort will guess the ending long before any of the characters has a clue. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus ReviewsAn ironically revealing title for ophthalmologist Cook's fuzziest novel in years--an awesomely inept medical/crime thriller about a forensic pathologist up against the mob. As the story opens, the mind of one Duncan Andrews is racing like a runaway train,'' his lethargy having evaporated like a drip of water falling onto a sizzling skillet.'' Hours and several more clich‚s later, theWall Street whiz kid'' is dead of a cocaine overdose and lying on the autopsy table of generic Cook heroine (young, spunky, pretty doc) Laurie Montgomery, an N.Y.C. medical examiner. Days and several more dead yuppies later, Laurie is convinced that someone is flooding the upscale market with bad cocaine. Of course, no one will listen to her--not her boss, who wants to chill this political hot potato; not silver-tongued, gold- plated ophthalmologist Jordan Scheffield, who's wooing her with limos and swank dinners; not cop Lou Soldano (a bit like Colombo''), to whom Laurie explains the exact difference between ophthalmologists, optometrists, and opticians and who wants to woo her with his sedan and spaghetti but can't match Jordan's glitz and anyway is busy worrying about the mob-related corpses stacking up next to the yuppies in Laurie's morgue. For meanwhile, in scenes stiff with clich‚, two mobsters are blowing away a seemingly random group of citizens on orders from mob kingpin Paul Cerino, who, Laurie learns, is one of Jordan's patients--and who deals coke. Laurie sleuths; the mobsters lock her in a coffin; Laurie sobs; the mobsters let her out; Laurie remembers the flammable properties of ethylene, handily within reach, and blows up the mobsters. Finally, Laurie dumps Jordan for Lou, and she and the cop talk about the motives behind the wholehorrid affair''--which owe more than a little to Coma. A slack and ragged retread, with Cook parodying himself in a tale that's about as stylish and suspenseful as an eye-chart. (Literary Guild Dual Selection for February) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery, the dueling forensic pathologists who bounced off each other in Cook's Chromosome 6, collide and combine once again as a mad Russian cabdriver, who used to work in a Moscow bio-weapons factory, comes up with a plan to punish America for not welcoming him with open arms. The cabby forms an unlikely alliance with two firemen who happen to be white supremacists; they fund his anthrax research to further their own lunatic schemes. Cook is, as ever, best at creating scenes of perfectly realized medical terror which plug into the paranoia of the moment. But if you want deep characters and sensitive description, read Fay Weldon.

EDITORIAL REVIEW: **The *New York Times*-bestselling author and master of the medical thriller returns with another heart-pounding story of medical intrigue. ** With her young son's potentially fatal neuroblastoma in complete remission, New York City medical examiner Laurie Montgomery returns to work, only to face the case of her career. The investigation into the death of CIA agent Kevin Markham is a professional challenge-and has Laurie's colleagues wondering if she still has what it takes after so much time away. Markham's autopsy results are inconclusive, and though it appears he's been poisoned, toxicology fails to corroborate Laurie's suspicions. While her coworkers doubt her assassination theory, her determination wins over her husband, fellow medical examiner Jack Stapleton, and together they discover associations to a large pharmaceutical company and several biomedical start-ups dealing with stem-cell research. Laurie and Jack race to connect the dots before they are consumed in a dangerous game of biotech espionage. FromCook's latest thriller opens not with a microscopic medical event, as so many of his previous novels have, but with theft at a research lab in Kyoto, Japan. The perpetrator is Ben Corey, a doctor and the founder of a company designed to profit from stem cell research, and his crime is stealing away Satoshi Machita, one of Kyoto University's top researchers. But soon after he sneaks Satoshi and his family into the U.S., Satoshi disappears—the target of an attack orchestrated by the Japanese yakuza and the American Mafia. Satoshi's body turns up at the Office of the County Medical Examiner in New York City, where Laurie Montgomery, just returned from maternity leave, is assigned the case. Though there's no identification on the body and he appears to have died of natural causes, Laurie digs deeper, much to the consternation of the killers. When Laurie refuses to back off the case, the Mafia threatens the young son she shares with fellow ME Jack Stapleton. The dialogue is clunky and the mobsters dull, but readers invested in Cook's married ME duo will rapidly turn the pages as danger finds Laurie and Jack once again. --Kristine Huntley Product DescriptionNumber-one New York Times-bestselling author and master of the medical thriller Robin Cook returns with another heart-pounding story of medical intrigue. "Cook can write up a storm and spin a taut tale...a master." - Kirkus Reviews With her young son's potentially fatal neuroblastoma in complete remission, New York City medical examiner Laurie Montgomery returns to work at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, where she's been employed for more than two decades. Worried about whether she still has what it takes after so much time away, Laurie finds her first case back to be a dangerous puzzler of the highest order, involving organized crime and two start-up bio-tech companies caught in a zero- sum game. Against the advice of her colleagues and her husband, fellow medical examiner Jack Stapleton, Laurie is determined to solve the mystery the case comes to represent. Satoshi Machita, a former Kyoto University researcher, is set to own a valuable patent controlling pluripotent stem cells, which are destined to spark a trillion-dollar industry of regenerative medicine. When he dies on a crowded New York subway platform, Laurie must decide whether his death was natural - or something more fiendish. Behind the scenes, there are people who would like to see Laurie as far away from the investigation as possible. Despite threats against her, Laurie presses on, until threats are carried out against the person she loves most in the world: her son, JJ. Suddenly Laurie must face solving the crime - and saving her son's life.

There have always been many ways to die. But now, in an ultra-modern hospital, there was a new one… the most horrifying one of all. "A tissue-tingling thriller… keeps you poised on the sleek points of steel pins and flashing hypodermic needles".-Detroit News.

Two doctors place their lives in jeopardy to find out why a young woman died on the operating table—and had her brain secretly removed."Absorbing...provocative." —Houston Chronicle

A harrowing medical nightmare on the cutting edge of genetic research, Mortal Fear goes into the controversial future of modern medicine. At a large Boston clinic, a world-class biologist stumbles upon a miraculous discovery, a major scientific breakthrough. Soon, healthy, middle-aged patients are dying of old age. And the ultimate experiment in terror begins…

Murder and intrigue reach epidemic proportions when a devastating plague sweeps the country. Dr. Marissa Blumenthal of the Atlanta Centers for Disease Control investigates—and soon uncovers the medical world’s deadliest secret…

With her son's illness in complete remission, New York City medical examiner Laurie Montgomery returns to work-and finds her first case back to be a dangerous puzzle of the highest order, involving organized crime and two start- up biotech companies caught in a zero-sum game...

From Publishers Weekly Cook's lack of ability as a stylist generally has been masked by his talent for fashioning a solid medical drama-often ripped from current headlines-that keeps readers turning pages. Unfortuately, that's not the case in his 12th novel (after Vital Signs), which has a plot so ludicrous that the weak characters and silly dialogue are all too obvious. Most offensive in the latter category are the stilted, out-of-kilter exchanges between a pair of Mafia hitmen who run about New York City "whacking" (murdering) people with increasing frequency. Meanwhile, Dr. Laurie Montgomery, a forensic pathologist in the NYC Medical Examiner's office, finds a pattern of unrelated cocaine overdose deaths among career-oriented people never known to have used drugs. Despite the obvious evidence that she's onto something, her boss couldn't care less, while the homicide detective she becomes involved with is more concerned about the mob killings, and, like her boss, cannot understand why she is outraged by the behavior of two corrupt, thieving uniformed cops in her department. As luck would have it, there's also another man in Laurie's life, a self-centered ophthalmologist whose patients just happen to include the mob boss behind both the cocaine deaths and the murder spree. Readers who plow through this amateurish effort will guess the ending long before any of the characters has a clue. From Kirkus Reviews An ironically revealing title for ophthalmologist Cook's fuzziest novel in years-an awesomely inept medical/crime thriller about a forensic pathologist up against the mob. As the story opens, the mind of one Duncan Andrews is "racing like a runaway train,'' his lethargy having "evaporated like a drip of water falling onto a sizzling skillet.'' Hours and several more clich‚s later, the "Wall Street whiz kid'' is dead of a cocaine overdose and lying on the autopsy table of generic Cook heroine (young, spunky, pretty doc) Laurie Montgomery, an N.Y.C. medical examiner. Days and several more dead yuppies later, Laurie is convinced that someone is flooding the upscale market with bad cocaine. Of course, no one will listen to her-not her boss, who wants to chill this political hot potato; not silver-tongued, gold- plated ophthalmologist Jordan Scheffield, who's wooing her with limos and swank dinners; not cop Lou Soldano ("a bit like Colombo''), to whom Laurie explains the exact difference between ophthalmologists, optometrists, and opticians and who wants to woo her with his sedan and spaghetti but can't match Jordan's glitz and anyway is busy worrying about the mob-related corpses stacking up next to the yuppies in Laurie's morgue. For meanwhile, in scenes stiff with clich, two mobsters are blowing away a seemingly random group of citizens on orders from mob kingpin Paul Cerino, who, Laurie learns, is one of Jordan's patients-and who deals coke. Laurie sleuths; the mobsters lock her in a coffin; Laurie sobs; the mobsters let her out; Laurie remembers the flammable properties of ethylene, handily within reach, and blows up the mobsters. Finally, Laurie dumps Jordan for Lou, and she and the cop talk about the motives behind the whole "horrid affair''-which owe more than a little to Coma. A slack and ragged retread, with Cook parodying himself in a tale that's about as stylish and suspenseful as an eye-chart.

Enter the extraordinary world of Arthurian legend in an adventure overflowing with knightly chivalry, the danger of jousting and the warmth of true love. But the Legend of Parzival is more than the tale of one knight's epic journey to find the elusive Holy Grail; along the way Parzival faces a challenging journey of self-discovery. He must conquer his ignorance and pride, and learn humility and compassion before he is finally worthy of becoming a Grail Knight. This accessible prose retelling of the medieval German epic brings the wonderful story of the Arthurian knight (known variously as Parzival, Parsifal and Percival) to life for today's readers, while faithfully preserving the story, characters and tone of Wolfram von Eschenbach's thirteenth century narrative poem. In Steiner-Waldorf education, Parzival's quest is seen as a metaphor for the difficult journey through life, which speaks strongly to the adolescent, and its study is at the heart of the Class 11 curriculum. As a...

Cook's popular medical thrillers are designed, in part, to keep the public aware of both the technological possibilities of modern medicine and the ensuing ethical problems. His topic this time is reproductive science and the often murky baby-making business. Epidemiologist Marissa Blumenthal, seen before in Outbreak, now has a successful pediatrics practice near Boston and an affluent health-care-entrepreneur husband. But her inability to become pregnant threatens both her marriage and her career. After unsuccessful visits to a local fertility clinic, she discovers a suprising and suspicious link between her medical records and those of an inordinate number of the clinic's clients. Traveling to Australia to learn more about a worldwide in vitro fertilization organization, Marissa and her friend Wendy are trailed, and a tragedy occurs. Marissa, now accompanied by the physician whose work she had come to Australia to investigate, goes to Hong Kong and eventually China — fleeing murderous assailants every step of the way — before a billion-dollar international scam is revealed. As always, Cook enlivens predictable action and shallow characterization with medical expertise and timely subject matter.

The nurse's voice on the phone is desperate, but young Dr. Peters, in his first weeks of internship, is only bone-tired and a little afraid. He has forgotten when he last slept. Yet he knows that in the coming hours he will have to make life-or-death decisions regarding patients, assist contemptuous surgeons in the operating room, deal with nurses who may know more than he does, cope with worried relatives and friends of the injured and ill, and pretend at all times to be what he has not yet become — a fully qualified doctor. This book is about what happens to a young intern as he goes through the year that promises to make him into a doctor, and threatens to destroy him as a human being — The Year of the Intern.

In this uneven medical thriller from bestseller Cook ( Foreign Body ), Dr. Jack Stapleton, a New York City forensic pathologist who lost his first wife and their two children in a plane crash, is devastated when his newborn son by his second wife is diagnosed with high-risk neuroblastoma. As a diversion from his efforts to find a cure for his son, Stapleton seeks to expose unscrupulous practitioners of alternative medicine. In particular, he investigates the death of a healthy woman whose vertebral arteries were damaged by a chiropractor. Then the plot swerves into Da Vinci Code territory as two of Stapleton's college friends—the archbishop of New York and an archeologist—battle over skeletal remains that may be those of the Virgin Mary. When the characters themselves comment on the events as something out of a horror movie or a book, suspension of disbelief becomes even more of a challenge (e.g., He felt like he was a participant in a kind of unfolding real-life mystery-thriller).

A series of unexplained deaths in foreign hospitals sends an idealistic UCLA medical student on a desperate search for answers, in this chilling tale from the master of the medical thriller . Jennifer Hernandez is a fourth-year medical student at UCLA, just completing an elective in general surgery, whose world is shattered during a break in an otherwise ordinary day. While relaxing in the surgical lounge of L.A.’s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, she half-listens to a piece on medical tourism, where first-world citizens travel to third-world countries for surgery. But when she hears her beloved grandmother’s name mentioned, her own heart nearly stops: the CNN reporter says Maria Suarez-Hernandez had died, a day after undergoing a hip replacement in New Delhi’s Queen Victoria Hospital. Maria had raised Jennifer and her brothers from infancy, and their bond was unshakable. Still, the news that Maria had traveled to India was a shock to Jennifer, until she realized that it was the only viable option for the hardworking yet uninsured woman. Devastated, and desperate for answers, Jennifer takes emergency leave from school and heads to India, where relations with local officials go from sympathetic to sour as she presses for more information. With the discovery of other unexplained deaths followed by hasty cremations, Jennifer reaches out to her mentor, New York City medical examiner Dr. Laurie Montgomery, who has her own deep connection to Maria. Laurie, along with her husband, Dr. Jack Stapleton, rushes to the younger woman’s side, discovering a sophisticated medical facility with little margin for error. As the death count grows, so do the questions, leading Laurie and Jennifer to unveil a sinister, multilayered conspiracy of global proportions.