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Acceptable Risk
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.
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.
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
230 people are currently reading
3860 people want to read
About the author
Robin Cook
190 books5,057 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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 377 reviews
October 16, 2019
So I read this story for the first time as a teenager and actually read it during the winter months in Pennsylvania. I loved the atmosphere of this book and it started my interest in the Salem Witch Trials as well. It was great to re-read my copy again and besides a few pacing issues here and there, I thought this was a solid thriller to read for Halloween Bingo 2019. I won't lie though that the medical mystery that Cook gets into is a reach although his proposed solutions to what afflicted the girls during the Salem Witch Trials was also brought up via Shirley Jackson when she wrote "The Witchcraft of Salem Village." I don't think that the "theory" is true at all and I kind of just hard shrugged my shoulders at it. I consider this more science fiction than anything and thought this book reminded me a lot of some of Dean Koontz's earlier works.
"Acceptable Risk" starts off with a flashback to the Salem Witch Trials and the soon to be hanging of a woman, Elizabeth Stewart, is accused of being a witch.We don't know what evidence the man holding the proceedings is talking about, but Elizabeth is accused of also afflicting children as well. Then the book proceeds to the "present" day with one of Elizabeth's descendants, Kimberly Stewart. Kimberly is a nurse and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Kimberly is coming out of a relationship with a dickish resident (sorry he is) Kinnard when she gets set up with by her cousin with a medical researcher, Edward Armstrong. Kimberly and Edward hit it off and start dating. While dealing with that, she is trying to figure out what to do with her family's old home in Salem (where Elizabeth Stewart also lived) and while there, Edward finds a new strain of something that I can't even remember how to spell. Through his research, Edward finds that he can use this strain to turn it into a drug that has no negative side effects, but also causes the user to be more calm and confident.
Kimberly is shy and I felt for her. She is overwhelmed in a good way by Edward and quickly gets talked into things she is not sure about. I think that the biggest issue with Kimberly though is halfway through the book she just lets Edward and her cousin walk all over her. I also hard paused at her jumping into something so new with Edward right away and living with the guy. She also agrees to let the medical research company work out of her home and she is starting to have misgivings about the drug. She flounders around a lot and then starts talking to her ex who was the worst from the glimpse of him we get in the beginning of the book.
Edward is shy and him getting hooked on the wonder drug was a good look at how prescription drugs can cause people to become too dependent on them and the danger in taking them. His whole personality undergoes a change through the book.
We get some secondary characters, but mostly just have Kimberly and Edward's third person POVs. There's also a mystery going around about vandalism in the town of other things that Kimberly finds that get explained by the end of the book.
The writing I thought was good. Cook has Kimberly researching Elizabeth's history and the Salem Witch Trials with her trying to find out what evidence the town had to show that Elizabeth was a witch.
The flow though as I said at times gets a big bogged down whenever we get into the medical aspect of things with the new designer drug. I don't really get anything that Cook is getting into and thought that it seemed beyond strange that Edward and those he hired would just blithely take drugs that had not been through testing.
The setting of the old home that quickly gets overrun by Edward and his colleagues takes a dark turn after a while. Kimberly is having to deal with the fact that the home doesn't feel like hers and that many of the researchers are just haphazardly treating the home.
The ending felt gruesome to me and I have to say I wonder at how Cook left things since it seems as if this story would be perfect for a sequel. I also didn't like how things ended for Kimberly since I thought that Cook changed the whole tone of the book up and had to make it into a happily ever after for her. The "It was a dark and stormy night" piece from this book comes to the next to last scene with Kimberly running (from something) in the rain.
"Acceptable Risk" starts off with a flashback to the Salem Witch Trials and the soon to be hanging of a woman, Elizabeth Stewart, is accused of being a witch.We don't know what evidence the man holding the proceedings is talking about, but Elizabeth is accused of also afflicting children as well. Then the book proceeds to the "present" day with one of Elizabeth's descendants, Kimberly Stewart. Kimberly is a nurse and lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Kimberly is coming out of a relationship with a dickish resident (sorry he is) Kinnard when she gets set up with by her cousin with a medical researcher, Edward Armstrong. Kimberly and Edward hit it off and start dating. While dealing with that, she is trying to figure out what to do with her family's old home in Salem (where Elizabeth Stewart also lived) and while there, Edward finds a new strain of something that I can't even remember how to spell. Through his research, Edward finds that he can use this strain to turn it into a drug that has no negative side effects, but also causes the user to be more calm and confident.
Kimberly is shy and I felt for her. She is overwhelmed in a good way by Edward and quickly gets talked into things she is not sure about. I think that the biggest issue with Kimberly though is halfway through the book she just lets Edward and her cousin walk all over her. I also hard paused at her jumping into something so new with Edward right away and living with the guy. She also agrees to let the medical research company work out of her home and she is starting to have misgivings about the drug. She flounders around a lot and then starts talking to her ex who was the worst from the glimpse of him we get in the beginning of the book.
Edward is shy and him getting hooked on the wonder drug was a good look at how prescription drugs can cause people to become too dependent on them and the danger in taking them. His whole personality undergoes a change through the book.
We get some secondary characters, but mostly just have Kimberly and Edward's third person POVs. There's also a mystery going around about vandalism in the town of other things that Kimberly finds that get explained by the end of the book.
The writing I thought was good. Cook has Kimberly researching Elizabeth's history and the Salem Witch Trials with her trying to find out what evidence the town had to show that Elizabeth was a witch.
The flow though as I said at times gets a big bogged down whenever we get into the medical aspect of things with the new designer drug. I don't really get anything that Cook is getting into and thought that it seemed beyond strange that Edward and those he hired would just blithely take drugs that had not been through testing.
The setting of the old home that quickly gets overrun by Edward and his colleagues takes a dark turn after a while. Kimberly is having to deal with the fact that the home doesn't feel like hers and that many of the researchers are just haphazardly treating the home.
The ending felt gruesome to me and I have to say I wonder at how Cook left things since it seems as if this story would be perfect for a sequel. I also didn't like how things ended for Kimberly since I thought that Cook changed the whole tone of the book up and had to make it into a happily ever after for her. The "It was a dark and stormy night" piece from this book comes to the next to last scene with Kimberly running (from something) in the rain.
August 5, 2008
***SPOILERS*** I like Robin Cook. No really, I do. I just seem to review those of his books that make me angry, rather than those I enjoy. This one has a double-whammy of irritants: not only is it politically motivated and scientifically inaccurate, but it focuses around my field, an area where Dr. Cook seems to have done very little research. The story is a morality tale about the "evils" of psychopharmacology. My degree is in psychology, and as someone who has both studied and benefited from SSRI antidepressants, I find this kind of prejudice difficult to understand. I'll spare review-readers the lecture. The initial premise of the book is the question of what set off the Salem witch hunts. Dr. Cook offers the interesting hypothesis that it was ergotism, a kind of hallucinatory or seizure disorder caused by the sclerotia (spores) of certain molds; one common one develops on rye, a grain heavily in use by the poorer families of the American British colonies.
I will leave the rest of the plot to the reader, except for my objections to the ending. It has been established that hallucinogenic compounds can build up in the brain, resulting in increased sensitivity, so that even a tiny exposure can trigger a hallucination. However, Dr. Cook's idea of the "reptile brain" taking over when the mind enters this altered state is, to my knowledge, neurologically unfounded. Even if this were the case, and here I speak from my own specialty, there is no reason to believe that a person being controlled by the "reptile brain" would become indiscriminately violent and predatory. Not even alligators bite everything that wanders past, and snakes are quite selective as to their targets. If personality is as deeply rooted in the genes as some psychologists believe, the individuals' behaviors would be dependent on their overall psychological nature.
My apologies, I lectured in spite of my intentions. This book is a fairly interesting read, provided you can suspend disbelieve and ignore the deus ex machina ending. It would probably be a lot more fun for someone without strong personal feelings on the subject matter.
I will leave the rest of the plot to the reader, except for my objections to the ending. It has been established that hallucinogenic compounds can build up in the brain, resulting in increased sensitivity, so that even a tiny exposure can trigger a hallucination. However, Dr. Cook's idea of the "reptile brain" taking over when the mind enters this altered state is, to my knowledge, neurologically unfounded. Even if this were the case, and here I speak from my own specialty, there is no reason to believe that a person being controlled by the "reptile brain" would become indiscriminately violent and predatory. Not even alligators bite everything that wanders past, and snakes are quite selective as to their targets. If personality is as deeply rooted in the genes as some psychologists believe, the individuals' behaviors would be dependent on their overall psychological nature.
My apologies, I lectured in spite of my intentions. This book is a fairly interesting read, provided you can suspend disbelieve and ignore the deus ex machina ending. It would probably be a lot more fun for someone without strong personal feelings on the subject matter.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2008
This book sucked. Thank god I read it out loud with others so we could all laugh at it together. The romance is especially clunky, unrealistic, and awkwardly written, leaving one to wonder if author Robin Cook has ever had a romantic relationship of his own.
May 27, 2024
I've met better books by Mr. Cook. Much better ones...
The original idea of developing a drug from an ancient fungus isn't a bad one, the liaison with the past looks interesting, but the book, at least the first half, is boring.
Kim is simply and rather silly, as she does not know what to do and is scared of her shadow. Edward and Stanton are unilateral, Kinnard seems to be a bad boy, which he isn't. The second part is more lively, but the final is grotesque and leaves you the sensation of unfinished business.
So, three stars (too many, in fact) only for the narrative part...
The original idea of developing a drug from an ancient fungus isn't a bad one, the liaison with the past looks interesting, but the book, at least the first half, is boring.
Kim is simply and rather silly, as she does not know what to do and is scared of her shadow. Edward and Stanton are unilateral, Kinnard seems to be a bad boy, which he isn't. The second part is more lively, but the final is grotesque and leaves you the sensation of unfinished business.
So, three stars (too many, in fact) only for the narrative part...
March 8, 2023
I am a big Robin Cook fan although I read this quite awhile ago maybe even twice and I absolutely loved it! Some may think it was too farfetched but that just made it more enjoyable for myself. It was a horror/thriller and definitely exciting and a lot of fun yet written with dark seriousness. The Salem witch trials thrown end were just the bomb to bring horror into the present day and made the book a stunner! If a reader only wants a classic medical drama or mystery then I would advise you not to read this book but if you want a crazy, creepy medical horror story then this is a Must Read.
A rating of 5 INTRIGUING, SCARY AND SUSPENSEFUL 🌟🌟🌟🌟 STARS!!
A rating of 5 INTRIGUING, SCARY AND SUSPENSEFUL 🌟🌟🌟🌟 STARS!!
August 2, 2013
This book was really very good. The subject matter was very interesting and, yes, I am going to read about the witch trials because of it and issues raised within it. There was a stern moral to the story, and it serves us well as a reminder of such. And of course, I found it most entertaining throughout!
July 12, 2011
Very exciting story. A woman who works as a nurse meets a biochemical engineer and they begin dating. She takes him to her family home, dating from the 1600s and tells him that one of her ancestors was hanged as a witch back then. He investigates the grain bins in the cellar and hypothesizes that, due to a shortage of wheat, the community had been making bread from rye flour, which will mutate if kept in a damp place such as a cellar. He takes a small sample and develops a chemical, and by playing with the DNA, makes a very useful anti-depressant. In order to get it on the market quickly, he forgoes a proper clinical test and begins to test it on himself, as do his co-workers, with disastrous results.
August 10, 2009
Wow, what a mess.
Going in, I know that Robin Cook's characters are all socially inept and carry on unreasonable conversations with their loved ones. Fine. I also knew at the beginning that Cook uses a lot of medical gobbledygook terminology that I'm not going to understand. Okay.
What I didn't realize is that he would take this conceptually-thrilling work and turn it into a parade of problems, the aforementioned ones not alone on the float. Witchcraft (not a problem on its own) combined with supernatural artwork (losing me) and unethical researchers who just happen to be loved by our main character and turn into werewolves at night... you lost me, Robin Cook.
The book reads fast enough that it wasn't a complete waste of time but just barely. Tread carefully on this one.
Going in, I know that Robin Cook's characters are all socially inept and carry on unreasonable conversations with their loved ones. Fine. I also knew at the beginning that Cook uses a lot of medical gobbledygook terminology that I'm not going to understand. Okay.
What I didn't realize is that he would take this conceptually-thrilling work and turn it into a parade of problems, the aforementioned ones not alone on the float. Witchcraft (not a problem on its own) combined with supernatural artwork (losing me) and unethical researchers who just happen to be loved by our main character and turn into werewolves at night... you lost me, Robin Cook.
The book reads fast enough that it wasn't a complete waste of time but just barely. Tread carefully on this one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 28, 2016
I haven't read many books by Robin Cook, but this book was different from the other book I read by this author. I found it interesting to read about the Salem Witch Trials. **stop here for spoilers*** I liked the premise of the book-- that the people of Salem who were accused of being witches were just innocent people who had eaten a mold that made them hallucinate, have fits, seizures and deformed fetuses. Her path to discovering all the clues that led to this finding was fun-- through letters and journals found in the attic of her old house. I thought it was sad that the house had to burn down. I felt that the climax of the story was going to come when the doctors who were testing the drug on themselves (because they believed it to be an 'acceptable risk') went crazy and all started to attack her. It was an exciting ending. The author really left it-- though we don't know what happened. they all ran out into the rain and thunderstorm because the building was on fire. Why didn't they keep attacking her? How fast did the firemen or police get there? Why didn't they just finish her off? It was a little weak. I also didn't really like that Elizabeth had "spoken" to her. It would have been OK if she felt it once or twice- but the author really played it up a bit too much. I also didn't like the part where she felt like she was weak because of things in her home-- she was subservient. I guess I'm glad that she decided to be a new person and be the person she wanted to become. She got back with her old boyfriend-- that was a little weird too. Why would she get along with him now? -- Oh well, it's just a story- a fun read. Don't ask too many questions, right? -- I liked the premise-- that was good.
February 15, 2022
I have re-read this book so many times, my copy is dog-eared. What a chilling cautionary tale for our medical community, though they seem unwilling to heed the message. When a scientist finds a new mold that might explain the symptoms that afflicted those accused in the Salem Witch trials, he thinks he has found the answers to the next generation of miracle drugs. His girlfriend, a nurse, remains dubious about using such strong psychotropic substances, but he surges forward with his research in secret. When his elite team starts taking the drug themselves, eliminating years of testing in favor of fast results, the real nightmares begin.
Dr. Cook takes us on a mind-bending trip through drug development and the problems that arise when scientists take risks in the name of science. What constitutes an ACCEPTABLE risk? And when should a scientist say no to progress? Obviously, the answer is far more often than they do!
I can highly recommend this one. It's a definite must read.
Dr. Cook takes us on a mind-bending trip through drug development and the problems that arise when scientists take risks in the name of science. What constitutes an ACCEPTABLE risk? And when should a scientist say no to progress? Obviously, the answer is far more often than they do!
I can highly recommend this one. It's a definite must read.
January 27, 2008
I started out really enjoying this book but I became disappointed by the end. I'd have given it 3 stars othewise.
The pros; it was a unique story, and the Salem Witch Trial history connection was very interesting. The cons; predicatable, character development was lacking, ending was rushed and lacked some closure for me (I notice this in many of his books), and finally; I find the characters to be unrealistic in their behavior and attitude toward events unfolding in the story.
The pros; it was a unique story, and the Salem Witch Trial history connection was very interesting. The cons; predicatable, character development was lacking, ending was rushed and lacked some closure for me (I notice this in many of his books), and finally; I find the characters to be unrealistic in their behavior and attitude toward events unfolding in the story.
August 15, 2021
Sinopsis.
En 1692 Elisabeth fue acusada de brujería y condenada a muerte por estas acusaciones basándose en pruebas irrefutables.
En 1994 Kim, su descendiente, decide mudarse a la casa. Siempre ha sentido curiosidad por su historia pero todo el tema de Elisabeth ha sido tabú y enterrado en el pasado de su familia, no se permite hablar de ese tema a pesar de todo el tiempo transcurrido.
Cuando Kim comienza las reformas de la casa los contratistas encuentran un viejo féretro enterrado.
Después de esto, Kim con ayuda de Edward, están dispuestos a llegar hasta el final de la historia de Elisabeth y encontrar la explicación científica que está detrás de todas las acusaciones de brujería de Salem.
Opinión.
Este libro simplemente me encanta. El rigor científico que posee el autor es genial. La obra está muy bien escrita, te deja con intriga durante prácticamente todo el libro y los giros argumentales me gustaron muchísimo.
Sin duda hace años que este es es uno de mis libros favoritos.
En 1692 Elisabeth fue acusada de brujería y condenada a muerte por estas acusaciones basándose en pruebas irrefutables.
En 1994 Kim, su descendiente, decide mudarse a la casa. Siempre ha sentido curiosidad por su historia pero todo el tema de Elisabeth ha sido tabú y enterrado en el pasado de su familia, no se permite hablar de ese tema a pesar de todo el tiempo transcurrido.
Cuando Kim comienza las reformas de la casa los contratistas encuentran un viejo féretro enterrado.
Después de esto, Kim con ayuda de Edward, están dispuestos a llegar hasta el final de la historia de Elisabeth y encontrar la explicación científica que está detrás de todas las acusaciones de brujería de Salem.
Opinión.
Este libro simplemente me encanta. El rigor científico que posee el autor es genial. La obra está muy bien escrita, te deja con intriga durante prácticamente todo el libro y los giros argumentales me gustaron muchísimo.
Sin duda hace años que este es es uno de mis libros favoritos.
June 17, 2019
That was a doozy of a story. I was initially ready to vomit at the overly-shy-polite manners the two main characters acted toward each other and ready to delete, then things changed, drastically! The buzzwords that vaguely describe this story: Salem, witches, new drug of the century, venture capitalist, state-of-the-art labs, personality transformations, primal behavior, and cannibalism.
January 10, 2014
I really enjoyed this book because it took modern medicine and science and wove it in to the story of the Salem Witch Trials. It was a fun and exciting read!
January 7, 2023
El segundo mejor libro de Robin Cook que he leído. Me gustó muchísimo
July 20, 2008
I liked the story about the Salem Witch Trials but the whole "monster" thing is a little much for me.
August 12, 2014
This book was just the worst. The worst!
October 9, 2023
I could not get into this book enough to finish it. Not my cup of tea!
June 17, 2020
I was hesitant to write a review for Acceptable Risk, by Robin Cook but was egged on a bit by my favorite book friend Bean (Hey, Bean!) after texting her a picture of the singularly worst sentence I've ever read. Yes, worse than Bella naming her baby Renesmee in Twilight! Not only was it the worst sentence I've ever read, but it was in an unnecessary chapter. Who adds a chapter in the last 100 pages to introduce two new characters only to do nothing with that storyline?
Beyond that the dialog was clunky and awkward. Specifically on the romantic front but really just all around. It was like Cook is a hermit and has never had human interaction . To make it worse our main character goes from dating one a-hole to another as if the world has no good men and even though she knows it's she is too submissive and ashamed. What women does this author know? Not one relationshipr or aquantance-ship in this book was believable.
The characters all held jobs that required them to be of high intelligence, but throwing a large word in clumsy dialog doesn't make it any better nor the characters more believable .
Also, I find it extremely hard to believe a SICU nurse would be allowed to take 4 consecutive weeks of vacation .
The above is all unfortunate because the plot was quite good. Somewhat of a dual line story "present day" (1994) and the Salem Witch trials. I wish there was more POV of the Salem Witch time line but the letters that were found were well done and the plot was interesting enough to keep me reading.
Overall I wouldn't recommend and will never read this author again. If the plot sounds interesting read "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane," by Katherine Howe instead.
Beyond that the dialog was clunky and awkward. Specifically on the romantic front but really just all around. It was like Cook is a hermit and has never had human interaction . To make it worse our main character goes from dating one a-hole to another as if the world has no good men and even though she knows it's she is too submissive and ashamed. What women does this author know? Not one relationshipr or aquantance-ship in this book was believable.
The characters all held jobs that required them to be of high intelligence, but throwing a large word in clumsy dialog doesn't make it any better nor the characters more believable .
Also, I find it extremely hard to believe a SICU nurse would be allowed to take 4 consecutive weeks of vacation .
The above is all unfortunate because the plot was quite good. Somewhat of a dual line story "present day" (1994) and the Salem Witch trials. I wish there was more POV of the Salem Witch time line but the letters that were found were well done and the plot was interesting enough to keep me reading.
Overall I wouldn't recommend and will never read this author again. If the plot sounds interesting read "The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane," by Katherine Howe instead.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 15, 2025
Kim Stewart is the descendant of a Salem witch, Elizabeth Stewart, though her family is distraught that she even tries to talk to them about it, and her name doesn't appear on any lists of the witches tried or hanged in Salem. She also has a new boyfriend, Edward, who is a biochemical professor at Harvard. Edward is more interested in the biochemical reason for why Elizabeth may have been called a witch and sets out to find out more about this, which sets in motion a series of events leading to the discovery of a new medicine with all sorts of potential. But why was Elizabeth considered a witch in the first place? And why was her witchcraft so secret?
This is an interesting diversion from the usual Robin Cook books. He gets pretty deeply involved in the Salem witchcraft in this book. I didn't mind as I thought it was interesting. It's not the usual place I would look for a book on Salem witches, either! He does provide some interesting resources at the back of this book. This book is set in Salem and Boston, Massachusetts in the 1990's or early 2000's I would say; no one has cell phones yet though the internet does exist. The book is told from the 3rd person limited point of view of Kim, but sometimes Edward, and a couple of other bit characters here and there. The plot moves along at a good pace, though somewhat slow; I did feel like it was sorta predictable at various places. I felt like the climactic scene was rushed and would have appreciated more of a drawn out or extended scenes. It felt like a lot was left up to the reader's imagination. So for that reason I am giving this book four stars. I did like it.
This is an interesting diversion from the usual Robin Cook books. He gets pretty deeply involved in the Salem witchcraft in this book. I didn't mind as I thought it was interesting. It's not the usual place I would look for a book on Salem witches, either! He does provide some interesting resources at the back of this book. This book is set in Salem and Boston, Massachusetts in the 1990's or early 2000's I would say; no one has cell phones yet though the internet does exist. The book is told from the 3rd person limited point of view of Kim, but sometimes Edward, and a couple of other bit characters here and there. The plot moves along at a good pace, though somewhat slow; I did feel like it was sorta predictable at various places. I felt like the climactic scene was rushed and would have appreciated more of a drawn out or extended scenes. It felt like a lot was left up to the reader's imagination. So for that reason I am giving this book four stars. I did like it.
April 3, 2023
A medical thriller that attempts to solve a mystery from the early history of the nation.
Kim Stewart is descended from a villager who lived in Salem Massachusetts during the infamous witch trials of the 17th century. Kim is vainly trying to dig up information on her ancestor, who was one of the accused, because all relevant records appear to have been deliberately altered to erase all information about said ancestor from the annals of history. Meanwhile, Kim’s friend and love interest, Dr. Edward Armstrong, a medical research scientist, has a theory as to the possible cause of the witch craft frenzy that occurred back then. His belief is that the odd behavior and hallucinations supposedly experienced by some of the townsfolk actually occurred and were triggered by unknowingly ingesting grain containing the spores of a mold that acts as an hallucinogen. The story jumps around from Kim’s research during the current day and her subsequent discoveries about her ancestor, to events that had occurred during those fateful days in the history of Salem, to Edward’s research of the mold spores.
I thought the story moved rather slowly. I enjoyed the storyline that has Kim researching her ancestor’s role in the witchcraft frenzy and the flashbacks to old Salem. I thought the story arc about Edward’s research and lab work on the mold spores much less interesting. It took until nearly the end of the book for things to start getting interesting regarding the storyline on Edward’s research. While reading, the story was a solid three star review for me until the end of the book. The ending definitely redeemed the rather slow moving storyline bumping up my review to four stars.
Kim Stewart is descended from a villager who lived in Salem Massachusetts during the infamous witch trials of the 17th century. Kim is vainly trying to dig up information on her ancestor, who was one of the accused, because all relevant records appear to have been deliberately altered to erase all information about said ancestor from the annals of history. Meanwhile, Kim’s friend and love interest, Dr. Edward Armstrong, a medical research scientist, has a theory as to the possible cause of the witch craft frenzy that occurred back then. His belief is that the odd behavior and hallucinations supposedly experienced by some of the townsfolk actually occurred and were triggered by unknowingly ingesting grain containing the spores of a mold that acts as an hallucinogen. The story jumps around from Kim’s research during the current day and her subsequent discoveries about her ancestor, to events that had occurred during those fateful days in the history of Salem, to Edward’s research of the mold spores.
I thought the story moved rather slowly. I enjoyed the storyline that has Kim researching her ancestor’s role in the witchcraft frenzy and the flashbacks to old Salem. I thought the story arc about Edward’s research and lab work on the mold spores much less interesting. It took until nearly the end of the book for things to start getting interesting regarding the storyline on Edward’s research. While reading, the story was a solid three star review for me until the end of the book. The ending definitely redeemed the rather slow moving storyline bumping up my review to four stars.
October 23, 2024
I read this book because my mom suggested it. Given the Salem setting, I thought it made for an appropriate October read. While I did enjoy the story, I gave it only three stars because the most interesting parts were the first 30 pages and the last 30 pages. I kind of wish the story had actually focused on the Salem Witch trial aspect more, and less on this developmental drug. Even the characters fell flat for me - Kim was too timid and was written in a way that my modern sensibilities didn't care for (at one point, the book says she "doesn't consider herself a feminist" and it didn't seem to be a necessary comment; it felt more like an intrusive thought from a male writer). Edward has a lot of glaring red flags that are totally ignored. The whole middle part of the book could've been done better, but the concept was solid. I wouldn't necessarily reach for any Robin Cook books again.
December 12, 2017
I liked this one, I really enjoyed the the commingling of historical notions and fiction. Kim and her new beau come across a new psychotropic fungus in her ancestors' house, which dates back to the Salem witch trials (both the house and the fungus, apparently). While she gets more and more engrossed in the family history and its connection to the witch madness, he dreams of a new antidepressant drug and the million of dollars that will come with it.
There are some interesting questions lingering through the story, mainly the pros, cons and ethical implication of changing someone's personality through drugs.
Edward, the boyfriend turned mad scientist, screwed it up big. I admire his commitment, though. But I was only afraid for the cat.
There are some interesting questions lingering through the story, mainly the pros, cons and ethical implication of changing someone's personality through drugs.
Edward, the boyfriend turned mad scientist, screwed it up big. I admire his commitment, though. But I was only afraid for the cat.
December 9, 2025
4⭐
Me ha sorprendido para bien, ya que empecé con la idea de que iba a suceder en una época pero al final se desarrolla en la "actualidad". Me ha enganchado mucho el misterio de Elizabeth, aunque me hubiese gustado que estuviera ambientado en su momento.
Llevaba la idea de que al ser un libro de hace décadas escrito por un señor lo más probable es que me sentase fatal la imagen de la protagonista y todavía peor la relación romántica, pero me ha gustado muchísimo y eso sí que no me lo esperaba. Edward es un imbécil, pero al menos la chica se da cuenta y al final actúa en consecuencia (aunque por inseguridad le cuesta reaccionar). Me hace gracia la moraleja de que las drogas son malas.
Me ha sorprendido para bien, ya que empecé con la idea de que iba a suceder en una época pero al final se desarrolla en la "actualidad". Me ha enganchado mucho el misterio de Elizabeth, aunque me hubiese gustado que estuviera ambientado en su momento.
Llevaba la idea de que al ser un libro de hace décadas escrito por un señor lo más probable es que me sentase fatal la imagen de la protagonista y todavía peor la relación romántica, pero me ha gustado muchísimo y eso sí que no me lo esperaba. Edward es un imbécil, pero al menos la chica se da cuenta y al final actúa en consecuencia (aunque por inseguridad le cuesta reaccionar). Me hace gracia la moraleja de que las drogas son malas.
March 24, 2019
No había leido a Robin Cook hasta ahora. Creo que esta novela en particular maneja muy bien el tema médico y de investigación, pero los personajes, en especial el de Kim, me parecieron un poco como de cartón. Quizá en el manejo de los dialogos y en la elaboración de moralejas éticas al final. El desenlace me pareció un tanto predecible, aunque disfruté bastante con el escenario del castillo, y con la descripción de las partes relacionadas con la brujería. En general no es lo mejor que he leído, pero estuvo OK.
May 18, 2022
This one was a bit far fetched in places, but had a lot of real and interesting history and drama. An important social issue touched on is the over-prescription of psychiatric medications. To consider that issue further, I'd recommend reading Anatomy of an Epidemic.
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September 15, 2022Acceptable risk is still a risk, doesn't mean you don't take it.
January 6, 2023
One of my favorite books of his! I loved this different process to the story.
August 18, 2024
Not really my cup of tea
If you are a Salem witch trials history buff this book is for you
As far as it’s preface of ethics and Prozac etc
Didn’t really come to fruition
If you are a Salem witch trials history buff this book is for you
As far as it’s preface of ethics and Prozac etc
Didn’t really come to fruition
September 1, 2024
La primera mitad del libro es excelente.
Luego a medida que nos vamos acercando a la conclusion, el ritmo se acelera y pierde calidad.
Luego a medida que nos vamos acercando a la conclusion, el ritmo se acelera y pierde calidad.
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