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The inventor of the medical thriller shows the profession’s dark side: the terrifying story of a doctor who is sucked into the maelstrom of the current medical malpractice crisis.
When Boston-based Dr. Craig Bowman is served with a summons for medical negligence, he’s shocked, enraged, and more than a little humiliated. A devoted physician who has endured grueling years of training and worked continuously in the service of others, he 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 provides the kind of medical care he has been prepared 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 facing decreased reimbursements from insurance companies. But this idyllic situation comes to a grinding halt one sunny afternoon—and things get 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 Bowman’s estranged wife—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 and thereby disprove the alleged malpractice is taken seriously, he opens a Pandora’s box of trouble. As Craig’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.
When Boston-based Dr. Craig Bowman is served with a summons for medical negligence, he’s shocked, enraged, and more than a little humiliated. A devoted physician who has endured grueling years of training and worked continuously in the service of others, he 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 provides the kind of medical care he has been prepared 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 facing decreased reimbursements from insurance companies. But this idyllic situation comes to a grinding halt one sunny afternoon—and things get 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 Bowman’s estranged wife—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 and thereby disprove the alleged malpractice is taken seriously, he opens a Pandora’s box of trouble. As Craig’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.
576 pages, Paperback
First published August 8, 2006
409 people are currently reading
3221 people want to read
About the author
Robin Cook
181 books5,098 followersLibrarian 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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May 26, 2023
A twist in the tale ... !
Somewhat of a departure for Robin Cook, CRISIS is not so much medical thriller as it is legal thriller in a medical environment. But, whatever he chooses to write, Cook has certainly got a firm stranglehold on the ability to rivet a reader's attention from first page to last!
Craig Bowman is an affluent, successful Boston physician. That affluence is directly attributable to his controversial "concierge" practice - his patients pay a hefty up-front retainer that buys them special attention and a higher degree of direct, personal care because of their "membership" in a lower volume practice. When Patience Stanhope - a hypochondriac "problem patient" that Bowman inherited from the previous owner of the practice - dies of a heart attack, her husband sues Bowman for malpractice. As the trial progresses, Bowman's ability to function on a personal and professional level descends into a downward spiralling hole of misery. Bowman's wife begs her brother, New York medical examiner Jack Stapleton, to come to Boston to see if, as an outside observer with an eye for detail, he might spot a way out of the judgment that now seems will almost certainly go against Bowman. Stapleton's investigations point in the direction of foul play and the story accelerates as the proof must be discovered before the malpractice verdict is handed down in the courtroom of a harried judge determined to bring the trial to a rapid conclusion!
While Cook hasn't proposed any solutions, he certainly hasn't hesitated to use CRISIS as a platform to indicate his concerns with a number of problems in the US medical and legal systems - for example, the inherent controversy of the "concierge" practice and the perception of its omission of medical care for the poor; the litigious nature of the US legal system and the devastating personal effect of a malpractice suit on a practicing physician; the basic flaws of an adversarial court system that allows legal tricks wherein the skills and personalities of the lawyers involved may overshadow the "facts" of the case; the huge diagnostic problems associated with false positive and negative outcomes in laboratory tests; and the propensity of the standard medical education to commonly produce extreme narcissistic personalities in those students that successfully persevere to graduate as medical practitioners (or perhaps it is a system designed to allow only individuals with already pronounced narcissistic tendencies to succeed?). The thinking reader won't come away with any simple ideas for resolution of these problems but the eyebrows will be raised on more than one occasion as the issues and their repercussions are showcased in a provocative thriller.
I wouldn't have hesitated to give 5 stars to Crisis except that I found the sub-plot of Stapleton rushing to get to his own wedding completely unnecessary. The timing of the trial provided all of the urgency necessary and, frankly, I found the threats and posturings of Stapleton's fiancée childish and irritating. The ultimatums that she issued during every conversation about the results of Stapleton's failing to appear at the altar would have been more than enough reason for me to simply call the whole thing off anyway.
But that minor quibble will be forgotten as Cook closes CRISIS with a blockbuster unexpected twist - in the style of Jeffrey Deaver's TWISTED or Jeffrey Archer's A TWIST IN THE TALE, the quirky ending is held in reserve until the final sentence of the novel . Thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended!
Paul Weiss
Somewhat of a departure for Robin Cook, CRISIS is not so much medical thriller as it is legal thriller in a medical environment. But, whatever he chooses to write, Cook has certainly got a firm stranglehold on the ability to rivet a reader's attention from first page to last!
Craig Bowman is an affluent, successful Boston physician. That affluence is directly attributable to his controversial "concierge" practice - his patients pay a hefty up-front retainer that buys them special attention and a higher degree of direct, personal care because of their "membership" in a lower volume practice. When Patience Stanhope - a hypochondriac "problem patient" that Bowman inherited from the previous owner of the practice - dies of a heart attack, her husband sues Bowman for malpractice. As the trial progresses, Bowman's ability to function on a personal and professional level descends into a downward spiralling hole of misery. Bowman's wife begs her brother, New York medical examiner Jack Stapleton, to come to Boston to see if, as an outside observer with an eye for detail, he might spot a way out of the judgment that now seems will almost certainly go against Bowman. Stapleton's investigations point in the direction of foul play and the story accelerates as the proof must be discovered before the malpractice verdict is handed down in the courtroom of a harried judge determined to bring the trial to a rapid conclusion!
While Cook hasn't proposed any solutions, he certainly hasn't hesitated to use CRISIS as a platform to indicate his concerns with a number of problems in the US medical and legal systems - for example, the inherent controversy of the "concierge" practice and the perception of its omission of medical care for the poor; the litigious nature of the US legal system and the devastating personal effect of a malpractice suit on a practicing physician; the basic flaws of an adversarial court system that allows legal tricks wherein the skills and personalities of the lawyers involved may overshadow the "facts" of the case; the huge diagnostic problems associated with false positive and negative outcomes in laboratory tests; and the propensity of the standard medical education to commonly produce extreme narcissistic personalities in those students that successfully persevere to graduate as medical practitioners (or perhaps it is a system designed to allow only individuals with already pronounced narcissistic tendencies to succeed?). The thinking reader won't come away with any simple ideas for resolution of these problems but the eyebrows will be raised on more than one occasion as the issues and their repercussions are showcased in a provocative thriller.
I wouldn't have hesitated to give 5 stars to Crisis except that I found the sub-plot of Stapleton rushing to get to his own wedding completely unnecessary. The timing of the trial provided all of the urgency necessary and, frankly, I found the threats and posturings of Stapleton's fiancée childish and irritating. The ultimatums that she issued during every conversation about the results of Stapleton's failing to appear at the altar would have been more than enough reason for me to simply call the whole thing off anyway.
But that minor quibble will be forgotten as Cook closes CRISIS with a blockbuster unexpected twist - in the style of Jeffrey Deaver's TWISTED or Jeffrey Archer's A TWIST IN THE TALE, the quirky ending is held in reserve until the final sentence of the novel . Thoroughly enjoyable and highly recommended!
Paul Weiss
September 25, 2020
A very well-written medical/legal thriller. Although I thought it was too long at 548 pages, it was too good of a story to complain. Still gets 5 stars from me. Well done.
January 5, 2021
This is part of a series but each book can be read as a stand alone. In this one, Jack's brother-in-law is on trial for malpractice. Jack rushes to Boston to see if he can help even though his wedding day is looming. This is more of a legal thriller than a medical thriller.
Basically this book is Robin Cook channeling his inner John Grisham. Most of this book is about the trial and a good portion takes place in the courtroom. I really enjoyed the main story as once again Cook uses a problem that could exist in modern medicine and uses it for a story. Cook excels at this. I didn't see the twist at the end and I was surprised. The problem with this book is it had flaws. Cook introduced aspects to the story that seemed like it was going to contribute to the overall story. But for some reason they were never explored. It was implied that a mafia sub plot was to be connected because of the plaintiff's lawyer but we never went there. With no exploration it seems like he was mafia because he was Italian and he was from the North End. (I take offense to this as my grandfather lived his whole life down there and my mother was brought up there. Not everyone that lives down there is mafia.) Another disappointment was the epilogue. It was just plain stupid and left a sour taste in my mouth from a book I was enjoying.
This is a decent book but it had many problems. Robin Cook isn't a master storyteller but some of these issues were just bad. I really enjoyed the story itself but these issues could affect your overall enjoyment.
Basically this book is Robin Cook channeling his inner John Grisham. Most of this book is about the trial and a good portion takes place in the courtroom. I really enjoyed the main story as once again Cook uses a problem that could exist in modern medicine and uses it for a story. Cook excels at this. I didn't see the twist at the end and I was surprised. The problem with this book is it had flaws. Cook introduced aspects to the story that seemed like it was going to contribute to the overall story. But for some reason they were never explored. It was implied that a mafia sub plot was to be connected because of the plaintiff's lawyer but we never went there. With no exploration it seems like he was mafia because he was Italian and he was from the North End. (I take offense to this as my grandfather lived his whole life down there and my mother was brought up there. Not everyone that lives down there is mafia.) Another disappointment was the epilogue. It was just plain stupid and left a sour taste in my mouth from a book I was enjoying.
This is a decent book but it had many problems. Robin Cook isn't a master storyteller but some of these issues were just bad. I really enjoyed the story itself but these issues could affect your overall enjoyment.
September 15, 2023
De estas lecturas que empiezas y ya no puedes parar. Mordiéndome las uñas de principio a fin. Es algo que se le da muy bien a este hombre: es muy difícil parar una vez empiezas. Maneja la tensión como nadie.
El salpicado de datos médicos es algo que, dados mis gustos personales, aumenta el placer exponencialmente.
Suelo disfrutar mucho los thrillers médicos en general, pero este hombre tiene un don para ellos, y no por ser él mismo un médico que escribe, sino por la parte thriller que domina con gran facílidad, como si le brotara sóla.
La circunstancia de la extensa parte judicial (que disfruto mucho, al menos en películas, porque creo que hasta ahora no he leído mayormente libros sobre juicios) ya fue el no va más.
Alguien me dijo que este hombre es fantástico, pero que a la larga, se acaba repitiendo. No tengo la menor idea de si será verdad o no. De momento eso no se ha producido, así que hasta que llegue ese momento, si es que llega, pienso sacarle todo el provecho posible.
El salpicado de datos médicos es algo que, dados mis gustos personales, aumenta el placer exponencialmente.
Suelo disfrutar mucho los thrillers médicos en general, pero este hombre tiene un don para ellos, y no por ser él mismo un médico que escribe, sino por la parte thriller que domina con gran facílidad, como si le brotara sóla.
La circunstancia de la extensa parte judicial (que disfruto mucho, al menos en películas, porque creo que hasta ahora no he leído mayormente libros sobre juicios) ya fue el no va más.
Alguien me dijo que este hombre es fantástico, pero que a la larga, se acaba repitiendo. No tengo la menor idea de si será verdad o no. De momento eso no se ha producido, así que hasta que llegue ese momento, si es que llega, pienso sacarle todo el provecho posible.
November 22, 2022
a sister born from thin air (no connection with Jack for some good years), with a non-likebale husband, accused of malpraxis. characters are too linear, the book is too long and sometimes too technical for the average reader. a little clue quite form the beginning, at page.2. a non-expected final and a hard to believe coincidence in Cuba. some facts are not explained, for example who paid the burglars.
conclusion: so and so...
conclusion: so and so...
June 21, 2009
At the risk of being CRITICAL, let me just state that Robin Cook’s novel CRISIS is convoluted enough, and has more than enough medical mumbo-jumbo to place it at the top of your list of books most likely to put you into a COMA.
With CRITICAL he took us into the arena of hotel-like specialized private hospitals that are in fact stockholder owned big businesses. In CRISIS we once again visit the dark side of medicine, this time examining the system known as “concierge medicine” where doctors are paid an upfront membership fee that insures the patient of “extras” such as 24 hour access to your doctor, same day appointments for the very ill and house calls when you are too ill to come into the office. (I am old enough to remember when these “concierge” offerings, now deemed as “extras” requiring additional payment, were standards services your family doctor provided to all of his patients).
The other ogre rearing its ugly head in CRISIS is that of medical malpractice suits. Cook has created a scenario in which there are very few “good guys”. The doctor accused of malpractice comes across as a greedy, self-absorbed creep; the trial lawyers are of the slimy “win at any cost” mindset and the plaintiff employs his own hired muscle in his attempt to achieve his ends. Just about the only characters with morals or values are Jack the medical examiner, his sister Alexis and Jacks fiancée Laurie.
Jacks investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the plaintiffs’ wife is a long and boring read and his findings and the ultimate conclusion of the story come right out of left field.
In my opinion, there is little reason to recommend this book be added to your “books to read” list.
With CRITICAL he took us into the arena of hotel-like specialized private hospitals that are in fact stockholder owned big businesses. In CRISIS we once again visit the dark side of medicine, this time examining the system known as “concierge medicine” where doctors are paid an upfront membership fee that insures the patient of “extras” such as 24 hour access to your doctor, same day appointments for the very ill and house calls when you are too ill to come into the office. (I am old enough to remember when these “concierge” offerings, now deemed as “extras” requiring additional payment, were standards services your family doctor provided to all of his patients).
The other ogre rearing its ugly head in CRISIS is that of medical malpractice suits. Cook has created a scenario in which there are very few “good guys”. The doctor accused of malpractice comes across as a greedy, self-absorbed creep; the trial lawyers are of the slimy “win at any cost” mindset and the plaintiff employs his own hired muscle in his attempt to achieve his ends. Just about the only characters with morals or values are Jack the medical examiner, his sister Alexis and Jacks fiancée Laurie.
Jacks investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of the plaintiffs’ wife is a long and boring read and his findings and the ultimate conclusion of the story come right out of left field.
In my opinion, there is little reason to recommend this book be added to your “books to read” list.
September 2, 2007
I was disappointed in this book. I thought the outcome was way too predictable. I had it figured out from nearly the beginning but since it took so long to build up to the conclusion I had hoped there was going to be more to it and I would be wrong. I also felt like a big part of the story line was not explained at the end. I guess I can assume the purpose of the particular story line, but I felt like since it was given such a big part of the book that it should have been tied up at the end.
Also being a court reporter, I was excited at the references made to the court reporter in the book but was disappointed that the references did not accurately portray how a court reporter would handle situations in real life, such as sidebar arguments out of the court reporter's presence or the court reporter being told to delete something from the record.
I also felt like the writing style did not flow smoothly; the characters didn't speak as smoothly as they would in real life. And I felt like the author often used "big" words just to use "big" words. I haven't read any books by this author in quite a while, but he was one of my favorites for years. I don't know if my expectations were higher than they should have been or perhaps my reading preferences have changed or whether his earlier books were better.
Also being a court reporter, I was excited at the references made to the court reporter in the book but was disappointed that the references did not accurately portray how a court reporter would handle situations in real life, such as sidebar arguments out of the court reporter's presence or the court reporter being told to delete something from the record.
I also felt like the writing style did not flow smoothly; the characters didn't speak as smoothly as they would in real life. And I felt like the author often used "big" words just to use "big" words. I haven't read any books by this author in quite a while, but he was one of my favorites for years. I don't know if my expectations were higher than they should have been or perhaps my reading preferences have changed or whether his earlier books were better.
February 12, 2008
Mindless read. The dialogue in the book about drove me crazy. A lot of unnecessary exclamation points in character dialogue! Shouldn't bother me but it did! Dialogue was also stilted and between that and the exclamation points, only the addictive story line kept me reading!!! (Exclamation points included here for emphasis!)
April 18, 2008
I can't believe there was a 70+ page prologue and a 6 page ending. Who edits these?
Not sure I understand what the deal was in Cuba. The book just kind of ended. It tricked me into reading the author's note afterwards to see if he explains the ending. ***SPOILER ALERT*** He doesn't.
Kept me interested. Got impatient for a few hundred pages waiting for the characters to figure out what caused Patience's death; Cook made it pretty obvious what they should have investigated by continually mentioning it abstractly. Looks like some other good readers claimed to have called the entire ending early on; don't see how as the author never really says what the ending is.
I did learn interesting technical names for things, like the white part of an eye and the lottery machine for drawing jurors.
If that guy in the Revolutionary War had read Crisis he would have said "Don't fire until you see their sclera!" Way more efficient.
Not sure I understand what the deal was in Cuba. The book just kind of ended. It tricked me into reading the author's note afterwards to see if he explains the ending. ***SPOILER ALERT*** He doesn't.
Kept me interested. Got impatient for a few hundred pages waiting for the characters to figure out what caused Patience's death; Cook made it pretty obvious what they should have investigated by continually mentioning it abstractly. Looks like some other good readers claimed to have called the entire ending early on; don't see how as the author never really says what the ending is.
I did learn interesting technical names for things, like the white part of an eye and the lottery machine for drawing jurors.
If that guy in the Revolutionary War had read Crisis he would have said "Don't fire until you see their sclera!" Way more efficient.
September 11, 2019
I hadn't read a Robin Cook novel since Coma in the 80s - and so was somewhat surprised to discover that not only is he still alive, but he has an ongoing series about a couple of New York Medical Examiners and that the twelth instalment comes out in December. This is number six - but apart from the background story of the relationship between them, it would seem each book stands alone and explores a different aspect of modern American medicine. I got this from Book Club and it's been on my shelf for a year - I only started it because I thought I wouldn't get very far and could get it off the shelf, but unlike many other reviewers, I was rapidly intrigued and keen to know how things turned out. Unfortunately the rest of the book didn't live up to the first chapters and was let down by an ill-judged ending.
Craig Bowman is a Boston physician who has dedicated his life to medicine and his patients, to the detriment of his marriage and family life, health and psyche. After a very typical mid-life crisis - including marital separation, an affair with his nubile young secretary and a red Porsche - he has switched to a lucrative practice offering "concierge medicine" - where wealthy patients who can afford the hefty retainer have constant access to their personal physician for house calls or as many appointments as they wish. Craig is loving being able to practice medicine unrestricted by the limitations of insurance companies, and give each patient the time they need to look after them properly, and has never been happier. The only downside is patients like Patience (!) - hypochondriacs who summon him at all hours, to describe every inconsequential symptom in excruciating detail - but never follow his advice, never improve and never believe him that there is nothing physically wrong.
When Patience's husband calls him for the second time that day to report she is much more unwell than when he saw her at home that morning, he swallows his irritation at the interruption to his planned trip to the symphony to show off his trophy girlfriend, and assumes it will be more of the same - so is horrified on arrival to find her blue and nearing cardiac arrest. He rushes her to hospital, but all attempts at resuscitation are futile, and while he is disappointed to have failed her, he is secretly relieved to be rid of her - until he is served notice that he is being sued by Patience's husband for negligence. Seven months later, the trial begins, and is not going well. Craig's arrogance and narcissism make him a poor witness and the crafty counsel for the plaintiff is using every trick in the book to discredit him in the eyes of the jury. Desperate to help, Craig's wife - with whom he has reunited to try and repair his image - calls her brother, maverick New York ME Jack Stapleton - for help, and on reviewing the case, Jack decides that doing an autopsy may help exonerate Craig - but someone doesn't want their secret exposed and will go to shocking lengths to prevent him revealing the truth.
I don't read a lot of medical thrillers, as unless they are actually written by a qualified doctor the mistakes tend to annoy me too much, but this one is actually more of a legal thriller - and as it happens Robin Cook was an ophthalmologist before he turned to writing, and from the range of issues he has covered in his books obviously keeps up to date with medical developments. I initially felt a lot of sympathy for Craig - possibly more than most readers as I could relate to the burnout from the impossible demands of primary care - in my case there was no Porsche and no change of partner, just a switch to Travel Medicine and Clinical Research, with the pay cut more than offset by the improved quality of life. I also recognised the need for validation from one's peers or seniors and devastating psychological impact of being criticised despite feeling like you gave someone your best efforts - and the frustration that lay people don't understand that medicine is rarely black and white and hindsight is always 20/20... As the book went on, however, he did become progressively harder to sympathise with as his selfish introspection and complete disregard for his family's feelings took over. I thought this was very well done.
Unfortunately, the middle section of this book was pretty slow, and about 100 pages too long, as we follow Jack around Boston from the court to the hospital to the funeral home to the police station and back to the Bowman’s house as he attempts to organise a post mortem and avoid the cartoon gangster bad guys, all the while worrying that he won’t make his wedding back in New York at the end of the week. While I was fascinated by the medical details, I can see they would add nothing for the average reader. Then the ending seemed very abrupt with multiple plot threads left unresolved - but it didn’t seem like these would be resolved in the next book, just that the author reached his word count and left it there. Other reviewers have complained about the dialogue but I can’t say it bothered me. I was impressed by the twist which I did not see coming, but was well set up.
In the afterword the author gives his own perspective on concierge medicine, including the disconnect between disapproving of it in principle but acknowledging the fact that most people who could afford it would want it, and most doctors would like to practice in it - which I did find interesting. This was published in 2006 but I can’t imagine that things have improved any since then. While he acknowledges that the crisis in primary care is occurring around the world, the USA and it’s calamitous medicolegal system lies at the root of most of the problem and I’ve never heard of this concept taking off anywhere else.
Overall this was an average legal thriller which explored some aspects of medicine that are probably only really of interest to people working in the field and an overly drawn out mystery which is incompletely resolved. 3.5 rounded down for the ending.
Craig Bowman is a Boston physician who has dedicated his life to medicine and his patients, to the detriment of his marriage and family life, health and psyche. After a very typical mid-life crisis - including marital separation, an affair with his nubile young secretary and a red Porsche - he has switched to a lucrative practice offering "concierge medicine" - where wealthy patients who can afford the hefty retainer have constant access to their personal physician for house calls or as many appointments as they wish. Craig is loving being able to practice medicine unrestricted by the limitations of insurance companies, and give each patient the time they need to look after them properly, and has never been happier. The only downside is patients like Patience (!) - hypochondriacs who summon him at all hours, to describe every inconsequential symptom in excruciating detail - but never follow his advice, never improve and never believe him that there is nothing physically wrong.
When Patience's husband calls him for the second time that day to report she is much more unwell than when he saw her at home that morning, he swallows his irritation at the interruption to his planned trip to the symphony to show off his trophy girlfriend, and assumes it will be more of the same - so is horrified on arrival to find her blue and nearing cardiac arrest. He rushes her to hospital, but all attempts at resuscitation are futile, and while he is disappointed to have failed her, he is secretly relieved to be rid of her - until he is served notice that he is being sued by Patience's husband for negligence. Seven months later, the trial begins, and is not going well. Craig's arrogance and narcissism make him a poor witness and the crafty counsel for the plaintiff is using every trick in the book to discredit him in the eyes of the jury. Desperate to help, Craig's wife - with whom he has reunited to try and repair his image - calls her brother, maverick New York ME Jack Stapleton - for help, and on reviewing the case, Jack decides that doing an autopsy may help exonerate Craig - but someone doesn't want their secret exposed and will go to shocking lengths to prevent him revealing the truth.
I don't read a lot of medical thrillers, as unless they are actually written by a qualified doctor the mistakes tend to annoy me too much, but this one is actually more of a legal thriller - and as it happens Robin Cook was an ophthalmologist before he turned to writing, and from the range of issues he has covered in his books obviously keeps up to date with medical developments. I initially felt a lot of sympathy for Craig - possibly more than most readers as I could relate to the burnout from the impossible demands of primary care - in my case there was no Porsche and no change of partner, just a switch to Travel Medicine and Clinical Research, with the pay cut more than offset by the improved quality of life. I also recognised the need for validation from one's peers or seniors and devastating psychological impact of being criticised despite feeling like you gave someone your best efforts - and the frustration that lay people don't understand that medicine is rarely black and white and hindsight is always 20/20... As the book went on, however, he did become progressively harder to sympathise with as his selfish introspection and complete disregard for his family's feelings took over. I thought this was very well done.
Unfortunately, the middle section of this book was pretty slow, and about 100 pages too long, as we follow Jack around Boston from the court to the hospital to the funeral home to the police station and back to the Bowman’s house as he attempts to organise a post mortem and avoid the cartoon gangster bad guys, all the while worrying that he won’t make his wedding back in New York at the end of the week. While I was fascinated by the medical details, I can see they would add nothing for the average reader. Then the ending seemed very abrupt with multiple plot threads left unresolved - but it didn’t seem like these would be resolved in the next book, just that the author reached his word count and left it there. Other reviewers have complained about the dialogue but I can’t say it bothered me. I was impressed by the twist which I did not see coming, but was well set up.
In the afterword the author gives his own perspective on concierge medicine, including the disconnect between disapproving of it in principle but acknowledging the fact that most people who could afford it would want it, and most doctors would like to practice in it - which I did find interesting. This was published in 2006 but I can’t imagine that things have improved any since then. While he acknowledges that the crisis in primary care is occurring around the world, the USA and it’s calamitous medicolegal system lies at the root of most of the problem and I’ve never heard of this concept taking off anywhere else.
Overall this was an average legal thriller which explored some aspects of medicine that are probably only really of interest to people working in the field and an overly drawn out mystery which is incompletely resolved. 3.5 rounded down for the ending.
July 12, 2022
I have read quite a few books by Dr. Cook and they are very hit or miss. This one is a miss. He is not good at writing dialogue. Like, at all. It feels stilted and unnatural and he over-uses exclamation points. In his better books it doesn't bother me as much, but it was very annoying in this one.
This book was bloated with unimportant details (I get it -- Jack loves riding his bike and he's sarcastic. I didn't need to be told on every page.) and a slow-moving plot mostly filled with boring courtroom testimony. A lot of it is very repetitive. All this leads to a denouement that feels rushed and filled with holes. I admit I did not guess the ending, but that's because it made no sense and came out of left field. It was never explained, several questions remained unanswered, and it was very unsatisfying.
If you're looking for a good medical thriller, this isn't it.
This book was bloated with unimportant details (I get it -- Jack loves riding his bike and he's sarcastic. I didn't need to be told on every page.) and a slow-moving plot mostly filled with boring courtroom testimony. A lot of it is very repetitive. All this leads to a denouement that feels rushed and filled with holes. I admit I did not guess the ending, but that's because it made no sense and came out of left field. It was never explained, several questions remained unanswered, and it was very unsatisfying.
If you're looking for a good medical thriller, this isn't it.
March 25, 2025
4.5 ⭐️ rounded up.
I mean I didn't think it could get any better but it did.. a medical thriller with a HEAVY dash of legal thriller. This was so good.. but these are two of my favorite genres together so a bit biased and just like with book 5, its a bit too wordy.
I mean I didn't think it could get any better but it did.. a medical thriller with a HEAVY dash of legal thriller. This was so good.. but these are two of my favorite genres together so a bit biased and just like with book 5, its a bit too wordy.
January 12, 2010
This book took me about 2 months to finish! It was VERY slow for much of it, picking up about 5 chapters or so from the end. I thought the ending was crappy. Wouldn't recommend this to anyone.
September 25, 2024
Enjoyed the overall story but it was dragged out too long.
August 13, 2021
Als je hoopt op een spannende thriller met meerdere slachtoffers, moet je hier niet aan beginnen.
De flaptekst beloofde drie slachtoffers. Slechts één ervan werd zeer uitgebreid beschreven in het verhaal, terwijl de andere twee het met één zinnetje in een dialoog moesten doen. Mijn verwachtingen werden niet waargemaakt en dat vond ik knap waardeloos. Ik snap de toevoeging van die slachtoffers ook niet. Waarom plaatste Cook die in het verhaal terwijl ze helemaal niets met de huidige zaak te maken lijken te hebben?
Het verhaal rammelt aan alle kanten.
Er gebeurde nauwelijks iets spannends. De rechtszaak over de medische nalatigheid van de hoofdpersoon beslaat ongeveer 80% van het boek. Als ik over een rechtszaak wilde lezen, had ik wel voor een boek van John Grisham gekozen. Als we het dan toch over de rechtszaak moeten hebben: die was dodelijk saai. Niet alleen bleef de eiser op de achtergrond terwijl die een grotere rol zou moeten spelen, de advocaat van de beklaagde was ook niet echt denderend goed en maakte een incompetente indruk. Over de advocaat van de eiser gesproken: die was werkelijk onuitstaanbaar, samen met zijn bodyguard, maar wat ze nu precies met het verhaal te maken hadden, is nog steeds onduidelijk. De bedreigingen naar Jack toe hebben uiteindelijk (zo blijkt uit de ontknoping) alleen maar te maken met geld en het winnen van de zaak. Ik had gehoopt op een meer persoonlijk motief.
Wie de daders waren, is giswerk. Een ander los eindje: wat is er met de andere twee slachtoffers gebeurd die in de flaptekst worden genoemd? Of daar sectie op wordt verricht is onduidelijk en er wordt nergens meer over gesproken.
De dialogen waren erg onnatuurlijk en de personages ook. Jack ging trouwen (over vijf dagen nota bene!) en besluit vlak daarvoor nog een sectie te doen, zijn verloofde met alle voorbereiding op te zadelen en bijna het vliegtuig te missen.
Daarbij twijfelt hij of hij überhaupt wel wil trouwen, maar dit is zeer karig uitgewerkt. Ook meldt Cook telkens dat Jack zo van sarcasme houdt, maar dat komt slechts één keer werkelijk naar voren in een dialoog en dan nog heel slecht ook. De advocaat van de eiser worden als schurken neergezet, maar bleken uiteindelijk niets met de ontknoping te maken te hebben. Over Craig weten we ook niet zo veel, behalve dan dat hij een arrogante, onuitstaanbare kwal is.
Als het Cook’s bedoeling was om een traag, oninteressant en onsamenhangend verhaal neer te zetten, is hij daar goed in geslaagd. Chapeau.
De flaptekst beloofde drie slachtoffers. Slechts één ervan werd zeer uitgebreid beschreven in het verhaal, terwijl de andere twee het met één zinnetje in een dialoog moesten doen. Mijn verwachtingen werden niet waargemaakt en dat vond ik knap waardeloos. Ik snap de toevoeging van die slachtoffers ook niet. Waarom plaatste Cook die in het verhaal terwijl ze helemaal niets met de huidige zaak te maken lijken te hebben?
Het verhaal rammelt aan alle kanten.
Er gebeurde nauwelijks iets spannends. De rechtszaak over de medische nalatigheid van de hoofdpersoon beslaat ongeveer 80% van het boek. Als ik over een rechtszaak wilde lezen, had ik wel voor een boek van John Grisham gekozen. Als we het dan toch over de rechtszaak moeten hebben: die was dodelijk saai. Niet alleen bleef de eiser op de achtergrond terwijl die een grotere rol zou moeten spelen, de advocaat van de beklaagde was ook niet echt denderend goed en maakte een incompetente indruk. Over de advocaat van de eiser gesproken: die was werkelijk onuitstaanbaar, samen met zijn bodyguard, maar wat ze nu precies met het verhaal te maken hadden, is nog steeds onduidelijk. De bedreigingen naar Jack toe hebben uiteindelijk (zo blijkt uit de ontknoping) alleen maar te maken met geld en het winnen van de zaak. Ik had gehoopt op een meer persoonlijk motief.
Wie de daders waren, is giswerk. Een ander los eindje: wat is er met de andere twee slachtoffers gebeurd die in de flaptekst worden genoemd? Of daar sectie op wordt verricht is onduidelijk en er wordt nergens meer over gesproken.
De dialogen waren erg onnatuurlijk en de personages ook. Jack ging trouwen (over vijf dagen nota bene!) en besluit vlak daarvoor nog een sectie te doen, zijn verloofde met alle voorbereiding op te zadelen en bijna het vliegtuig te missen.
Daarbij twijfelt hij of hij überhaupt wel wil trouwen, maar dit is zeer karig uitgewerkt. Ook meldt Cook telkens dat Jack zo van sarcasme houdt, maar dat komt slechts één keer werkelijk naar voren in een dialoog en dan nog heel slecht ook. De advocaat van de eiser worden als schurken neergezet, maar bleken uiteindelijk niets met de ontknoping te maken te hebben. Over Craig weten we ook niet zo veel, behalve dan dat hij een arrogante, onuitstaanbare kwal is.
Als het Cook’s bedoeling was om een traag, oninteressant en onsamenhangend verhaal neer te zetten, is hij daar goed in geslaagd. Chapeau.
March 2, 2012
I dislike Robin Cook as a writer. I feel that he is preachy, redundant, and an over-user of medical terminology which laypeople cannot comprehend, perhaps without having first read many of his other novels or being a previous medical student. It was hard to keep focus, and it took me a lot longer to read than it should have for its size. I kept putting it down, out of boredom. As thrilling as his fans claim his writing is, I couldn't help but feel like I was reading one big chronology of the Boston cityscape and the difficulty with which the main character traversed the town's confusing surface streets. Also, the end was unpredictable, but not in a suspenseful twist kind of way. It ended completely out of left-field, and the author gave very little insight or reasons for the way he ended the story. I would not recommend this book to anyone. P.S. my grandmother loved it, and I foresee myself reading something similar if not identical to this work for her next book club choice. Wish me luck.
June 9, 2010
1.0 out of 5 stars Whatever happened to the real Robin Cook?, October 28, 2006
This review is from: Crisis (Hardcover)
This book was implausible and boring. Lots of errors that editors should have found -- I'm too uninterested even to bother pointing them out because fixing them won't improve the book anyway.
Dumb premise -- stupid characters -- unanswered questions -- bad ending
Where is the "medical" in this thriller? I am even tired of Jack and Laurie and basketball and unrealistic chase scenes that have absolutely no bearing on the climax of the story or the rationales the doctor provides. Nothing at the end made sense and I didn't like this book at all.
This review is from: Crisis (Hardcover)
This book was implausible and boring. Lots of errors that editors should have found -- I'm too uninterested even to bother pointing them out because fixing them won't improve the book anyway.
Dumb premise -- stupid characters -- unanswered questions -- bad ending
Where is the "medical" in this thriller? I am even tired of Jack and Laurie and basketball and unrealistic chase scenes that have absolutely no bearing on the climax of the story or the rationales the doctor provides. Nothing at the end made sense and I didn't like this book at all.
March 23, 2013
I usually enjoy Robin Cook's medical thrillers, this one however had a lot more court-room drama going on in it and read a bit like a poor mans John Grisham. The storyline was good and some characters had a lot of potential but it was never really developed. The small cliffhangers at the end of every chapter a la James Patterson didn't work at all for this style of story.
Please see my full review at http://www.bibliobeth.wordpress.com
Please see my full review at http://www.bibliobeth.wordpress.com
November 22, 2012
Quite possible the best Cookbook I've read. I think this is my fourth??
Still a great performance by narrator George Guidell. The pacing here was much faster and the subject more interesting. I was concerned for a second at we'd spend this entire novel in the courtroom but gratefully that wasn't the case.
My only complaint of any would be that I am actually still unclear as to the ending. I mean, what happened? Lol
Still a great performance by narrator George Guidell. The pacing here was much faster and the subject more interesting. I was concerned for a second at we'd spend this entire novel in the courtroom but gratefully that wasn't the case.
My only complaint of any would be that I am actually still unclear as to the ending. I mean, what happened? Lol
October 20, 2009
Wasted several hours of my perfectly good life on this huge disappointment. Dreadful, trite descriptions, incongruent ending - Cook must have been having a crisis of his own to throw this together so poorly. Have read other titles by Cook and enjoyed them - don't know what happened to him here.
May 23, 2024
One thing Robin Cook never fails to do in his books is create suspense. Unfortunately, in "Crisis," the suspense is overdone, leading to a monotonous, repetitive storyline for at least half of the book. I was hopeful once the pace picked up near the end and the suspense began rising again, all to be completely let down by the terribly anticlimactic, and dare I say, predictable, ending.
***spoilers ahead***
Was I necessarily predicting Craig to be the killer? No. But was the mystery solved in one measly paragraph, and then all life returned to normal, making me confused, awaiting the actual plot twist that was sure to come, but didn't? Yes.
There were so many unrealistic elements of this story that confused me, and rabbit holes dug that were never fully explored or filled.
1- If Craig was the killer, why were Fasano and his crew out to get Jack for doing the autopsy if all Craig had to do was say no to it and Jack wouldn't have done it?
2- Why were Fasano and his crew the bad guys throughout if they were innocent all along and trying to incriminate Craig? What connection do they have to Craig?
3- Alexis's and Craig's three children get burglarized, and the oldest gets dragged downstairs naked out of the shower and duct-taped to her younger sisters, and a few hours later, they're totally fine? Jack even asked if they would need therapy, and Alexis, their mother, a PSYCHOLOGIST, said NO? The children are continually checked up on throughout the rest of the book and seemingly doing better each day by avoiding their problems and playing vacation at their grandparents' house. Great psychology practices, Alexis.
4- The entire book Jack was doubting getting married on Friday and putting off going back to New York, leading the reader to beleive he was going to get cold feet, and even foreshadowed a blossoming relationship with Latasha in Boston near the end. And yet, after staying up all night and finding out Craig was a murderer, Jack is just able to book it back to NYC and get married immediately?
The court scenes were absolutely unbearable to read. The constant back and forth between the two sides was exhausting. Yes, this was done to replicate the annoyance of Judge Davidson, but these scenes took up the majority of the book and, in the end, added no real meaning or relevance to the storyline.
Latasha figured out the toxin that killed Patience, or at least was on the right track to figuring it out, and did Jack ever even thank her in the end?? Or just take credit?!
Well, initially, this book was rated 3 stars from me, but now, after I've really dug into everything that annoyed me about it, I'm realizing it has to be given 2 stars.
Robin Cook, you really let me down with this one.
***spoilers ahead***
Was I necessarily predicting Craig to be the killer? No. But was the mystery solved in one measly paragraph, and then all life returned to normal, making me confused, awaiting the actual plot twist that was sure to come, but didn't? Yes.
There were so many unrealistic elements of this story that confused me, and rabbit holes dug that were never fully explored or filled.
1- If Craig was the killer, why were Fasano and his crew out to get Jack for doing the autopsy if all Craig had to do was say no to it and Jack wouldn't have done it?
2- Why were Fasano and his crew the bad guys throughout if they were innocent all along and trying to incriminate Craig? What connection do they have to Craig?
3- Alexis's and Craig's three children get burglarized, and the oldest gets dragged downstairs naked out of the shower and duct-taped to her younger sisters, and a few hours later, they're totally fine? Jack even asked if they would need therapy, and Alexis, their mother, a PSYCHOLOGIST, said NO? The children are continually checked up on throughout the rest of the book and seemingly doing better each day by avoiding their problems and playing vacation at their grandparents' house. Great psychology practices, Alexis.
4- The entire book Jack was doubting getting married on Friday and putting off going back to New York, leading the reader to beleive he was going to get cold feet, and even foreshadowed a blossoming relationship with Latasha in Boston near the end. And yet, after staying up all night and finding out Craig was a murderer, Jack is just able to book it back to NYC and get married immediately?
The court scenes were absolutely unbearable to read. The constant back and forth between the two sides was exhausting. Yes, this was done to replicate the annoyance of Judge Davidson, but these scenes took up the majority of the book and, in the end, added no real meaning or relevance to the storyline.
Latasha figured out the toxin that killed Patience, or at least was on the right track to figuring it out, and did Jack ever even thank her in the end?? Or just take credit?!
Well, initially, this book was rated 3 stars from me, but now, after I've really dug into everything that annoyed me about it, I'm realizing it has to be given 2 stars.
Robin Cook, you really let me down with this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 17, 2024
I'm a long-time fan of medical thriller author and retired medical doctor Robin Cook. He actually created this way of writing in the 1970s and has at least thirty books to his name. Many of them, like Coma, are stand-alone thrillers and I enjoy them, but prefer the series he writes with New York medical examiners Laurie Montgomery and Jack Stapleton. In the sixth book of the series, Crisis, I had to listen to the audiobook, which was okay. I skipped some chapters towards the end, though.
Jack has the starring role here with very little of Laurie's involvement outside of being treated as the woman Jack becomes engaged to and plans to marry. This is disappointing. Instead Jack teams up with another woman medical examiner in Boston where his sister lives. His sister asked him to come to support her during her medical doctor husband' s malpractice court case.
It's a slow burner. I suspected it would become more exciting and that Jack would save his sister's concierge medicine-practicing husband with a shocking discovery from the autopsy results, but the discovery was even more shocking and complicated than he expected. I didn't see it coming and also became impatient.
I'd give Crisis 3.5 stars. It could've been less wordy with less heroics from Jack whose life was in danger a few times and more Laurie working with Jack.
There are about seven more in the series currently and I'll be enjoying them.
Jack has the starring role here with very little of Laurie's involvement outside of being treated as the woman Jack becomes engaged to and plans to marry. This is disappointing. Instead Jack teams up with another woman medical examiner in Boston where his sister lives. His sister asked him to come to support her during her medical doctor husband' s malpractice court case.
It's a slow burner. I suspected it would become more exciting and that Jack would save his sister's concierge medicine-practicing husband with a shocking discovery from the autopsy results, but the discovery was even more shocking and complicated than he expected. I didn't see it coming and also became impatient.
I'd give Crisis 3.5 stars. It could've been less wordy with less heroics from Jack whose life was in danger a few times and more Laurie working with Jack.
There are about seven more in the series currently and I'll be enjoying them.
September 3, 2023
Craig Bowman, jak każdy lekarz, ma w swojej praktyce pacjentów trudnych. Patience Stanhope jest jedną z nich. Kobieta jest przewrażliwiona na swoim punkcie, nieustannie skarży się na przeróżne dolegliwości, których przyczyn nie potwierdzają żadne obiektywne badania, odmawia dalszej diagnostyki w szpitalu, za to wymaga częstych wizyt domowych. Wszystko wskazywałoby na hipochondrię, ale ku zdumieniu wszystkich, Patience nagle umiera na zawał serca. Mąż zmarłej natychmiast oskarża Bowmana o błąd lekarski i zaniedbanie. Kiedy sprawy nie układają się po myśli lekarza, jego żona prosi Jacka Stapletona o pomoc.
Trochę wydumana ta historia, taka z gatunku „ile nieszczęść może się przypałętać do jednej rodziny i czy to już nie przesada”. Jak na moje oko, to właśnie była już lekka przesada. Po przeczytaniu tej części poczułam nieodpartą chęć odpoczynku od cyklu z Laurie Montgomery i Jackiem Stapletonem, i jakieś trzynaście lat mi zajęło to odpoczywanie :)
Po ponownej lekturze mam trochę mniej negatywne nastawienie do kontynuowania tej serii, zobaczymy jak będzie dalej.
6/10
Trochę wydumana ta historia, taka z gatunku „ile nieszczęść może się przypałętać do jednej rodziny i czy to już nie przesada”. Jak na moje oko, to właśnie była już lekka przesada. Po przeczytaniu tej części poczułam nieodpartą chęć odpoczynku od cyklu z Laurie Montgomery i Jackiem Stapletonem, i jakieś trzynaście lat mi zajęło to odpoczywanie :)
Po ponownej lekturze mam trochę mniej negatywne nastawienie do kontynuowania tej serii, zobaczymy jak będzie dalej.
6/10
March 15, 2022
This time Cook address the issues of medical malpractice, concierge medicine, and lawyer chasing ambulances.
Don't get me wrong, it's as entertainin as usual, but I wasn't in the mood for a legal thriller and family reunions.
Don't get me wrong, it's as entertainin as usual, but I wasn't in the mood for a legal thriller and family reunions.
Read
May 8, 2024longer than I would've liked. and maybe it's just me, but the dialogues were hard to roll with.
September 28, 2025
TOTALLY forgot how this book ended. Totally thought the patient dying was an accident until BOOM it was actually murder made to seem like an accident! and the ending XD i completely forgot he got away! 5/5 was a very enjoyable re-read.
January 1, 2024
Interesting twist on a malpractice lawsuit that I definitely didn't see coming.
September 23, 2017
The expected good medical thriller from Robin Cook with a very tense plot. However, I disliked the resolution on this one. I didn't think the ending was nearly as good as most of his, even though there was a twist. Still 4.25/5 on rating though.
October 26, 2018
Hay dos subgéneros, dentro de la narrativa policial o de suspenso que tienen vida propia y mucha popularidad. El del aspecto legal, que gira en torno a un juicio, y el del ámbito médico, donde el eje está puesto en aspectos vinculados a dicha actividad.
En Crisis, Robin Cook vincula ámbos de forma magistral.
Un médico forense de New York debe acudir a Boston, donde su cuñado, un reconocido clínico, está siendo juzgado por actuar negligentemente al tratar a una paciente, causándole la muerte.
Asistimos así, a las vicisitudes del juicio con sus típicos personajes: los abogados, el juez, los testigos y miembros del jurado, y los clásicos alegatos e interrogatorios. No hay sorpresas aquí, siempre entretiene este tipo de relato.
Por otro lado nos adentramos en las prácticas médicas, los tratamientos, la descripción de patologías, y la realización de autopsias, con abundancia de términos científicos y cuestiones específicas, que, por momentos, resultan abrumadores para quienes no conocemos mucho del tema.
No falta, además, una gran caracterización de los personajes, y algunos toques de acción, sabiamente dosificados, que dan, en su conjunto un relato atrapante, y altamente disfrutable, donde el suspenso se mantiene hasta el final, incluso en torno a aspectos no criminales, y aunque la resolución del caso puede resultar de alguna forma predecible, como ocurre en este típo de novelas, Crisis es en definitiva, una excelente opción de lectura, que recomendamos.
https://sobrevolandolecturas.blogspot...
En Crisis, Robin Cook vincula ámbos de forma magistral.
Un médico forense de New York debe acudir a Boston, donde su cuñado, un reconocido clínico, está siendo juzgado por actuar negligentemente al tratar a una paciente, causándole la muerte.
Asistimos así, a las vicisitudes del juicio con sus típicos personajes: los abogados, el juez, los testigos y miembros del jurado, y los clásicos alegatos e interrogatorios. No hay sorpresas aquí, siempre entretiene este tipo de relato.
Por otro lado nos adentramos en las prácticas médicas, los tratamientos, la descripción de patologías, y la realización de autopsias, con abundancia de términos científicos y cuestiones específicas, que, por momentos, resultan abrumadores para quienes no conocemos mucho del tema.
No falta, además, una gran caracterización de los personajes, y algunos toques de acción, sabiamente dosificados, que dan, en su conjunto un relato atrapante, y altamente disfrutable, donde el suspenso se mantiene hasta el final, incluso en torno a aspectos no criminales, y aunque la resolución del caso puede resultar de alguna forma predecible, como ocurre en este típo de novelas, Crisis es en definitiva, una excelente opción de lectura, que recomendamos.
https://sobrevolandolecturas.blogspot...
March 5, 2009
Well I have to admit that this book kept me turning pages. But ultimately it dragged on quite a bit, the dialog was a little silly, and the ending didn't really answer all my questions. In fact I'm not sure it was even logically consistent with the rest of the book.
And, oh... near the beginning, there is a bit of foreshadowing where it says something along the lines of "but he couldn't possibly know that over the next few weeks these two cases would have a surprising connection." (I can't be bothered to look up exactly what it says.) Well... No. In fact, one case is immediately forgotten and never mentioned again. There is no connection, the entire novel is about only one of the cases, and there seems to be no point to the section at the beginning detailing the second case. The impression I get is that Cook shifted gears to focus on only one case but that due to poor editing the section introducing the other case and this statement remained. Pretty sloppy.
And, oh... near the beginning, there is a bit of foreshadowing where it says something along the lines of "but he couldn't possibly know that over the next few weeks these two cases would have a surprising connection." (I can't be bothered to look up exactly what it says.) Well... No. In fact, one case is immediately forgotten and never mentioned again. There is no connection, the entire novel is about only one of the cases, and there seems to be no point to the section at the beginning detailing the second case. The impression I get is that Cook shifted gears to focus on only one case but that due to poor editing the section introducing the other case and this statement remained. Pretty sloppy.
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