Shock (A Medical Thriller) - Softcover

Cook, Robin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 042518286X ISBN 13: 9780425182864

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2002

Synopsis

A New York Times bestselling spine-tingling novel of medicine run amok by master of medical suspense Robin Cook...

Two graduate students decide to solve their financial problems by becoming egg donors at an exclusive, highly profitable fertility clinic on Boston’s North Shore. But second thoughts and curiosity prompt the two women to find out more about their donated eggs. Obtaining employment at the clinic under aliases, they soon discover the horrifying aims of its research, immediately putting their lives—and their sanity—irrevocably at risk...

About this title

Review:

Robin Cook, master of bestselling medical thrillers, answers the "What's the worst thing that could happen?" question in this plot-twisting novel in which villains with no sense of ethics or social responsibility get their greedy hands on the newest cloning technology. It starts when a couple of Harvard graduate students answer the Wingate Clinic's ad for egg donors. The women figure on financing a year in Venice and the down payment on a Boston condo with the extraordinary sum they're promised. But a year later, the heroines feel the emotional need to seek out the children they've made possible for infertile couples. So they disguise themselves and seek jobs at the clinic in order to access the identifying information. The clinic, as it turns out, has plenty of secrets to protect, so it's hard to believe that a pair of computer neophytes could bypass its security. But they do, and the author is an adept enough writer to finesse this detail.

As in past books, Cook is much better at the technical details of medical research than he is at characterization, but he definitely knows how to plot a thriller. This one keeps you turning the pages until the final denouement, though the last chapter ends abruptly, leaving the reader to wonder whether he ran out of steam or is just setting up a sequel in which he'll recycle the villains in a new scheme with a new pair of victims. --Jane Adams

About the Author:

Robin Cook, MD, is the author of more than 30 books and is credited with popularizing the medical thriller with his groundbreaking and wildly successful 1977 novel, Coma. He divides his time among Florida, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts.

About this edition

• Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 042518286X
• ISBN 13: 9780425182864
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 352