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Seizure
"Senator Ashley Butler is a quintessential southern demagogue, whose support of traditional American values includes a knee-jerk reaction against virtually all biotechnologies remotely associated with human reproduction. As the chairman of a subcommittee on health policy, he introduces legislation to ban a new cloning procedure that would take stem cell research to the next level. Dr. Daniel Lowell, the inventor of the technique, sees the proposed ban as a blow to his biotech startup, and to people poised to benefit from its promised therapies." The two formidable egos clash during the Senate hearing, but the men have a common desire. Butler's hunger for political power far outstrips his purported concern for the unborn, while Lowell's craving for personal wealth and celebrity overrides ethical considerations for patients' well-being. Further complicating the situation is the confidential news that Senator Butler has developed a progressive form of Parkinson's disease, which threatens his political future and leads the senator and the researcher into a Faustian pact. After a perilous attempt to prematurely harness Lowell's new technology, the senator is left with the horrifying effects of temporal lobe epilepsy - seizures of the most bizarre order.
464 pages, Hardcover
First published July 14, 2003
204 people are currently reading
2462 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 239 reviews
July 21, 2014
I give up.
A shame to be 2/3 deep and realize you cannot continue.
I feel betrayed by the inconsistency if this author! Aside from the medical jargon that is a necessary evil, the pacing and character development I swear was written as the story went along. This novel was about a lot of absolutely nothing. I can't say enough how disappointing that is for a Cookbook.
You never know which will be awesome and which will be aw-shit.
A shame to be 2/3 deep and realize you cannot continue.
I feel betrayed by the inconsistency if this author! Aside from the medical jargon that is a necessary evil, the pacing and character development I swear was written as the story went along. This novel was about a lot of absolutely nothing. I can't say enough how disappointing that is for a Cookbook.
You never know which will be awesome and which will be aw-shit.
December 18, 2011
I think this is the worst Robin Cook book I've read so far. I have always enjoyed his thrillers but Seizure is definitely one from an off-day. The story was all to predictable and character development was minimal. The ending was very anticlimactic and the story ends with one of the characters actually defining what the story is about. You'll know what I mean if you make it to the end of this book. It's definitely not one in the worst-books-ever-written category, but not a thrilling thriller either.
December 15, 2022
AUDIOLIBRO
Lo bueno de Robín Cook es que es absolutamente cumplidor, ¿ quieres estar entretenido leyendo una novela y te gusta la trama médica que va de menos a más ? ... pues ya está, ni lo pienses, Robin Cook.
Lo malo de Robin Cook es que ... es siempre "lo mismo". Ya sabes más o menos que va a pasar, donde va a estar "la cagada" y por dónde van a ir los tiros.
Aceptando ésto, perfecto.
Lo bueno de Robín Cook es que es absolutamente cumplidor, ¿ quieres estar entretenido leyendo una novela y te gusta la trama médica que va de menos a más ? ... pues ya está, ni lo pienses, Robin Cook.
Lo malo de Robin Cook es que ... es siempre "lo mismo". Ya sabes más o menos que va a pasar, donde va a estar "la cagada" y por dónde van a ir los tiros.
Aceptando ésto, perfecto.
July 22, 2010
Great Cook story: gripping suspense, humor, & ethics issues...
We've read all of Cook's medical "thrillers" (even his Egyptian mystery, the "Sphinx"), and would argue that some are a lot better than others. But along comes "Seizure", just possibly his best ever! A current affairs-type premise finds two intellectual doctors trying to save from impending financial ruin their stem-cell research company with a promising technology to grow disease-curing cells. They approach a US Senator to help stop a bill to outlaw their procedures, only to learn he has Parkinson's disease and proposes using himself as an experiment -- completely illegal of course! To add an incredible twist to the idea, he wants the DNA necessary to come from the Shroud of Turin (implications, to use Christ's DNA). What happens therafter is a roller coaster ride of trials and tribulations for our leading characters, with finally the operation on the senator at first glance a success. As yet another interesting touch, Cook reprises the evil doctors from "Shock" who fled the U.S. to re-open the Wingate Clinic (from that story) in the Bahamas to skirt federal medical laws.
There's much more than a fun story to captivate readers with this novel. The discussions of the Shroud, apparently proven years ago to be a fraud, were intriguing and will probably stimulate new interest in just where and how the famous relic came to be. The scene where the senator meets with a Cardinal to "negotiate" getting a sample of the shroud was one of the most humorous we've read in a long time. Lastly, the ongoing ethics of the human experiment, and whether the type of research described in the story should be banned or not is a central theme for which the author has serious positions to unfold, even elaborating on what he thinks is right in an author's note at the end. Cook also admitted his fascination with learning so much about the Shroud and refers us to other books on that subject should we care to pursue it.
Robin Cook often grabs us with a provocative premise but then sometimes peters out. In this book, the action, the interaction of the characters, and the entertaining and amusing side issues all wrap up into a fine summertime read -- don't miss it!
We've read all of Cook's medical "thrillers" (even his Egyptian mystery, the "Sphinx"), and would argue that some are a lot better than others. But along comes "Seizure", just possibly his best ever! A current affairs-type premise finds two intellectual doctors trying to save from impending financial ruin their stem-cell research company with a promising technology to grow disease-curing cells. They approach a US Senator to help stop a bill to outlaw their procedures, only to learn he has Parkinson's disease and proposes using himself as an experiment -- completely illegal of course! To add an incredible twist to the idea, he wants the DNA necessary to come from the Shroud of Turin (implications, to use Christ's DNA). What happens therafter is a roller coaster ride of trials and tribulations for our leading characters, with finally the operation on the senator at first glance a success. As yet another interesting touch, Cook reprises the evil doctors from "Shock" who fled the U.S. to re-open the Wingate Clinic (from that story) in the Bahamas to skirt federal medical laws.
There's much more than a fun story to captivate readers with this novel. The discussions of the Shroud, apparently proven years ago to be a fraud, were intriguing and will probably stimulate new interest in just where and how the famous relic came to be. The scene where the senator meets with a Cardinal to "negotiate" getting a sample of the shroud was one of the most humorous we've read in a long time. Lastly, the ongoing ethics of the human experiment, and whether the type of research described in the story should be banned or not is a central theme for which the author has serious positions to unfold, even elaborating on what he thinks is right in an author's note at the end. Cook also admitted his fascination with learning so much about the Shroud and refers us to other books on that subject should we care to pursue it.
Robin Cook often grabs us with a provocative premise but then sometimes peters out. In this book, the action, the interaction of the characters, and the entertaining and amusing side issues all wrap up into a fine summertime read -- don't miss it!
May 11, 2019
4 estrellitas.
Primer Libro de este autor que he leído y me ha encantado. ¡Qué trama! y cuántas cosas que nosotros desconocemos de los secretos de la manipulación que existe en la medicina (obvio, al final del libro, el autor aclara qué cosas de la trama son ficticias y cuales no).
Está muy bien narrado para los que desconocemos las Ciencias Médicas, es entretenido y muy fácil de leer. Los capítulos no son tan extensos y Robin Cook nos lleva a conocer distintos ambientes mezclando la Ciencia (la ética actual del experimento humano y, si el tipo de investigación descrita en la historia debe ser prohibida o no) con la política (un senador que hace abuso de su poder con tal de vencer el Parkinson) y la religión, en éste caso, el Sudario de Turin. Las discusiones sobre la Sábana Santa, que se demostró hace muchos años como un fraude (el autor hasta nos sugiere un libro para leer sobre éste asunto), me dejaron llena de intriga.
El final me dejo con la boca abierta porque no me lo esperaba.
Recomiendo la lectura de éste libro cargado de acción.
Primer Libro de este autor que he leído y me ha encantado. ¡Qué trama! y cuántas cosas que nosotros desconocemos de los secretos de la manipulación que existe en la medicina (obvio, al final del libro, el autor aclara qué cosas de la trama son ficticias y cuales no).
Está muy bien narrado para los que desconocemos las Ciencias Médicas, es entretenido y muy fácil de leer. Los capítulos no son tan extensos y Robin Cook nos lleva a conocer distintos ambientes mezclando la Ciencia (la ética actual del experimento humano y, si el tipo de investigación descrita en la historia debe ser prohibida o no) con la política (un senador que hace abuso de su poder con tal de vencer el Parkinson) y la religión, en éste caso, el Sudario de Turin. Las discusiones sobre la Sábana Santa, que se demostró hace muchos años como un fraude (el autor hasta nos sugiere un libro para leer sobre éste asunto), me dejaron llena de intriga.
El final me dejo con la boca abierta porque no me lo esperaba.
Recomiendo la lectura de éste libro cargado de acción.
February 1, 2018
A bit better than so-so. Interesting theme, a pact between a populist senator with Parkinson's disease, and an ambitious stem-cell researcher trying to gain government sanction for his new cloning procedure. But then there's the Shroud of Turin… What does that have to do with anything? Well, the answer is, not a lot! I couldn't help feeling the Shroud was dragged in as a sop to the Dan Brown mania prevalent at the time the book was published. The part it played in the plot could easily have been replaced by something a lot more conventional and believable.
And with this book, more than earlier ones, I found Cook's highly erudite and academic dialogue constantly getting in the way of my enjoyment. I mean, what real-life person would ever come out with something like, "Intellectually, she feels that differentiated cells would be a more efficacious way to take advantage of the promise of stem cells"???
But… not a bad story.
And with this book, more than earlier ones, I found Cook's highly erudite and academic dialogue constantly getting in the way of my enjoyment. I mean, what real-life person would ever come out with something like, "Intellectually, she feels that differentiated cells would be a more efficacious way to take advantage of the promise of stem cells"???
But… not a bad story.
December 8, 2008
Typical Robin Cook book combining medical technology, human greed, and ego. Lots of unbelievable connections between politics, organized crime, the Catholic church and cutting edge and stem cell research. A good distraction during commute into town.
April 11, 2021
Most of my comments are more like an amusing life snippet than review, so I’ll put it as a mini blog. Here I'll just say this was a suspenseful well written read, a good solid offering by a consistently gripping author.
February 20, 2021
A bit disappointing,
October 26, 2025
This is a sort of sequel of Shock by Robin Cook, because the fertility clinic doing shady things in the US is now doing shady things in the Bahamas.
But this is the only link, so you don't need to read both of the books.
I'm sorry to say that this is the novel I like the least. Too many subplots going nowhere for me:
*the Shroud of Turin. Nice touch, but why built up a conflict between science and religion only to end it in a whiff?
*the mob touch. Cook has a thing for the mafia. But again, it doesn't really add to the story apart from some violence.
The rest is nice, but short. The medical part of the plot is really thin.
Not his greatest work.
But this is the only link, so you don't need to read both of the books.
I'm sorry to say that this is the novel I like the least. Too many subplots going nowhere for me:
*the Shroud of Turin. Nice touch, but why built up a conflict between science and religion only to end it in a whiff?
*the mob touch. Cook has a thing for the mafia. But again, it doesn't really add to the story apart from some violence.
The rest is nice, but short. The medical part of the plot is really thin.
Not his greatest work.
June 20, 2022
Skończyłam....nareszcie.
November 25, 2024
2.5 *
Siento que tuvo mucho relleno y me interesaba conocer un poco más de Butler y Carol.
Siento que tuvo mucho relleno y me interesaba conocer un poco más de Butler y Carol.
August 28, 2021
Do you like thrillers? ☑️
Medical mysteries? ☑️
With a little bit of the bizarre? ☑️
•
Then look no further than Seizure by Robin Cook!
•
Senator Butler is all about attacking the progress of modern medicine such as cloning and advances in utilizing stem cells. He is personally stopping the work of Dr. Daniel Lowell & Dr. Stephanie D’Agostino.
•
When Senator Butler is diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, he sees the doctors’ work with a new light and begins to scheme.
•
A plot is hatched to treat the senator using a never before tested procedure and using DNA from a holy relic at the senator’s request. Can the doctors save their medical advances and the senator’s life?
•
I found this such a gripping and fascinating read! It also gives some insight into how politics and medicine bash heads and stops progress. My only qualm was an unsatisfactory ending that left me with several questions!
•
Content: some strong language, sexual content, violence
•
Medical mysteries? ☑️
With a little bit of the bizarre? ☑️
•
Then look no further than Seizure by Robin Cook!
•
Senator Butler is all about attacking the progress of modern medicine such as cloning and advances in utilizing stem cells. He is personally stopping the work of Dr. Daniel Lowell & Dr. Stephanie D’Agostino.
•
When Senator Butler is diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, he sees the doctors’ work with a new light and begins to scheme.
•
A plot is hatched to treat the senator using a never before tested procedure and using DNA from a holy relic at the senator’s request. Can the doctors save their medical advances and the senator’s life?
•
I found this such a gripping and fascinating read! It also gives some insight into how politics and medicine bash heads and stops progress. My only qualm was an unsatisfactory ending that left me with several questions!
•
Content: some strong language, sexual content, violence
•
November 23, 2024
Jaren geleden al eens gelezen, nu door technologische vooruitgang iets minder actueel. Wel weer meegezogen in het verhaal. Ai, ethische keuzes, dat blijft altijd een heikel thema
October 6, 2017
DNF at 73%
General Overview:
This book is about two doctors who have developed a way of curing cell and genetic diseases by cell differentiation and therapeutic cloning. But there are political hurdles in the way and this book is an attempt to overcome those hurdles and save their company.
I am not gonna lie. This book started out fine (thus the two stars) but the "and the plot thickens" never really was there for me.
I didn't feel like the story was worth a 400 pager. I mean the plot wasn't something captivating or thrilling. I have only read one other book by Robin Cook, that is Critical, this book had me on the edge of my seat and had my attention throughout. So I went into Seizure with high expectations.
The writing was a bunch of big words thrown together in a fancy way. You enjoy reading this book in the beginning, drawn in by the medical theories and big words that Cook uses. But then about a quarter of a way through you realize the words are just a beautiful disguise for a completely mehhh plot.
I had major issues with the characters and how they were written. I hated Daniel, not going to hide that fact. I hated Stephanie too, for sticking with this troll. I mean what kind of a naive person was she? Couldn't she see that Daniel was a self-centered bastard?
Something else that was totally unnecessary were their fights. I got so tired by their fights that I wanted to to shout at them to stop bickering and get on with the story. (Okay, I admit I did that a couple of times.)
I try not to rate DNF-ed books, because I want to go back into them with a fresh and open mind another time. But no, nobody is convincing me to finish this. Even though I have less than 30% to finish I AM DONE!
General Overview:
This book is about two doctors who have developed a way of curing cell and genetic diseases by cell differentiation and therapeutic cloning. But there are political hurdles in the way and this book is an attempt to overcome those hurdles and save their company.
I am not gonna lie. This book started out fine (thus the two stars) but the "and the plot thickens" never really was there for me.
I didn't feel like the story was worth a 400 pager. I mean the plot wasn't something captivating or thrilling. I have only read one other book by Robin Cook, that is Critical, this book had me on the edge of my seat and had my attention throughout. So I went into Seizure with high expectations.
The writing was a bunch of big words thrown together in a fancy way. You enjoy reading this book in the beginning, drawn in by the medical theories and big words that Cook uses. But then about a quarter of a way through you realize the words are just a beautiful disguise for a completely mehhh plot.
I had major issues with the characters and how they were written. I hated Daniel, not going to hide that fact. I hated Stephanie too, for sticking with this troll. I mean what kind of a naive person was she? Couldn't she see that Daniel was a self-centered bastard?
Something else that was totally unnecessary were their fights. I got so tired by their fights that I wanted to to shout at them to stop bickering and get on with the story. (Okay, I admit I did that a couple of times.)
I try not to rate DNF-ed books, because I want to go back into them with a fresh and open mind another time. But no, nobody is convincing me to finish this. Even though I have less than 30% to finish I AM DONE!
December 23, 2011
I think that my brain checked out somewhere in the middle of this book. The beginning concept of the book, embryonic transplant cells to cure or alleviate Parkinson’s disease, is in itself an interesting concept. That is where the good part of the story ended. Why Dr. Cook needed to throw in the Mafia and a religious angle made no sense. Neither of them was fully explained and neither of them added to the overall storyline.
In what is purported to be a collision of power, religion and bioscience Dr. Cook takes the reader down the road with Dr. Daniel Lowell who is trying to develop the HTSR technique that involves replacing damaged DNA with replacement healthy cells. Where and how they get these cells might make a reader angry, but that is what biomedical controversies are built on. When Dr. Lowell runs into a roadblock by the name of Senator Ashley Butler, he thinks that his medical advancements are doomed. That is until Senator Butler covertly asks to be his human guinea pig.
Somewhere in this long drawn out book is an interesting plot. Unfortunately, Dr. Cook throws too much in and dilutes all the interesting parts. I suggest that you pass on this particular book and check out some of his others. He seems to run hot and cold in his reviews, but there are good ones out there.
In what is purported to be a collision of power, religion and bioscience Dr. Cook takes the reader down the road with Dr. Daniel Lowell who is trying to develop the HTSR technique that involves replacing damaged DNA with replacement healthy cells. Where and how they get these cells might make a reader angry, but that is what biomedical controversies are built on. When Dr. Lowell runs into a roadblock by the name of Senator Ashley Butler, he thinks that his medical advancements are doomed. That is until Senator Butler covertly asks to be his human guinea pig.
Somewhere in this long drawn out book is an interesting plot. Unfortunately, Dr. Cook throws too much in and dilutes all the interesting parts. I suggest that you pass on this particular book and check out some of his others. He seems to run hot and cold in his reviews, but there are good ones out there.
July 6, 2021
If you take a ball of dough, and pull it in different directions, you will get an unshapely mass. Pull too much and you might get a piece of dough entirely disconnected from the main ball of dough.
This book is something like that. It has been pulled in too many directions, some plots seem absolutely unnecessary. I skipped through the whole mob part.
The characters are so stereotypical, that I can predict what the characters are going to say. Especially, Senator Butler, Tony and Daniel. On the other hand, the ending was totally unpredictable, it couldn't be more anticlimactic.
If nothing, atleast likable characters would've made me stick to the story, the way stupid TV series hook me. But no, the author managed to make characters lack emotion or character, that I couldn't care less. I flitted through the pages, trying to make sense, when my brain kept on telling me to move on. Sigh of relief on completion.
I have a toxic relationship with Robin Cook's books. I hate them, because they show both the sides and reveal the mystery(?) by half of the book. Now we have a bird's eye view of both sides playing stupid games, trying to get or escape the other, with a near death experience or something of the sort near the end. Yet I keep on finding his books somewhere. Doing the same thing, expecting different results. Hmph.
This book is something like that. It has been pulled in too many directions, some plots seem absolutely unnecessary. I skipped through the whole mob part.
The characters are so stereotypical, that I can predict what the characters are going to say. Especially, Senator Butler, Tony and Daniel. On the other hand, the ending was totally unpredictable, it couldn't be more anticlimactic.
If nothing, atleast likable characters would've made me stick to the story, the way stupid TV series hook me. But no, the author managed to make characters lack emotion or character, that I couldn't care less. I flitted through the pages, trying to make sense, when my brain kept on telling me to move on. Sigh of relief on completion.
I have a toxic relationship with Robin Cook's books. I hate them, because they show both the sides and reveal the mystery(?) by half of the book. Now we have a bird's eye view of both sides playing stupid games, trying to get or escape the other, with a near death experience or something of the sort near the end. Yet I keep on finding his books somewhere. Doing the same thing, expecting different results. Hmph.
March 6, 2010
For a book that has no good guys, this was surprisingly good. Dr. Daniel Lowell has developed a procedure for using stem cells in curing Parkinson's disease which shows great promise in lab animals. The powerful Senator Ashley Butler is one of the foremost opponents of stem cell research, but has been diagnosed with Parkinson's. In a secret meeting, he has promised that the bill to ban stem cell research will not proceed out of his committee if Dr. Lowell will use him as his test subject. Both men are thoroughly self serving and amoral. They decide to do the procedure in an unlicensed infertility clinic in the Bahamas which is run by two doctors who are even more despicable than Lowell and Butler. Add in a couple of mobsters who have invested in Daniel's company and want their money to provide dividends and you have a thoroughly disgusting cast of characters. There are two women involved and they seem to have the only modicum of conscience in the book.
Cook has again written a book that is timely and complex. You are kept guessing up to the end of the book and at times, it seems impossible for the book to come to a satisfying conclusion. As with most of his books, the book is fast paced and believable.
Cook has again written a book that is timely and complex. You are kept guessing up to the end of the book and at times, it seems impossible for the book to come to a satisfying conclusion. As with most of his books, the book is fast paced and believable.
December 20, 2008
(unabridged audiobook read by George Guidall): Dr. Daniel Lowell has discovered a new stem cell procedure to cure many currently terminal diseases. Senator Ashley Butler publicly opposes all such research but secretly offers to become Lowell's guinea pig to cure his Parkinson's Disease before his illness is discovered by the public. The rest of the book is a tangle of intrigue involving the mafia, the Catholic Church, the Shroud of Turin, organ harvesting, and US politics. It's a great set-up, read by a truly talented voice actor, but about halfway through I realized that horrible truth: there's no way it could end satisfyingly. And it doesn't. Most of the issues raised are never resolved, and the so-called climax is very, well, anti-climatic. I could deal with it if it was just the social, ethical, and political questions that were left open-ended, but even much of the plot just sort of fizzles out. I've enjoyed the other books I've read by Robin Cook, but this one felt like it bit off more than it could chew.
April 28, 2020
I’ll have to admit, the book starts off slow. I also didn’t find the main character, Dr. Daniel Lowell very sympathetic. I did like his partner, Dr. Stephanie D’Agostino. The antagonist is a Southern Senator, Ashley Butler who while holding up Dr. Lowell’s new treatment for Parkinson’s, in the Senate, is secretly working to get that new treatment. There is a lot of maneuvering in the first half of the book, hardly any of it very exciting though it does serve to line up the events in the second half. All in all it’s well written and as with all of Robin Cook’s books, well researched and written to a layman’s level of medical knowledge. I did enjoy the book, and the great twist at the end.
November 2, 2021
Seizure - Robin Cook
Biomedical Science is most evolving & ever changing discipline for last several year.The role of the branch of medicine is tremendously progressed after COVID-19🦠😷. The novel "Seizure" is a light to the research and political preferences on therapeutical Cloning and popular worries. Political representatives are lean to popular Out crys most of the time due to electoral reasons. The same political leaders will use their opposing medicines, research, industry (whatever) in another country (or state) for their personal benefits.
This novel is written in American plot in early 20s.Now the scenarios might changed.
An engaging novel.
-aboobacker machingal
Biomedical Science is most evolving & ever changing discipline for last several year.The role of the branch of medicine is tremendously progressed after COVID-19🦠😷. The novel "Seizure" is a light to the research and political preferences on therapeutical Cloning and popular worries. Political representatives are lean to popular Out crys most of the time due to electoral reasons. The same political leaders will use their opposing medicines, research, industry (whatever) in another country (or state) for their personal benefits.
This novel is written in American plot in early 20s.Now the scenarios might changed.
An engaging novel.
-aboobacker machingal
October 16, 2011
I found the none of the characters appealing so this won't make my fave Cook novels. They were all whiny, egotistical, and/or violent and deranged. I actually hoped they would just all end up in jail or dead by the end. Almost came true, but still didn't salvage this one for me. Oh and the mob plotline ... Enough already.
May 28, 2019
I think this story was fascinating...the details were thought-provoking. Those who described it as too detailed would probably have found it more interesting if they had some background in cell biology, PCR, and the method of transferring DNA from one cell to another. I enjoyed the intrigue, especially the events that occurred in the second half of the book. An interesting read!
July 25, 2019
A new stem cell biotechnology with the potential to heal the ill. A politician who opposes the new treatment solely for political reasons, until he may benefit from the treatment Two doctors with a medical research company now at risk because of politics. Throw in DNA from the Shroud of Turin and you have an enjoyable read.
September 29, 2008
This is a medical thriller and although I like it, the characters are flat in the way House is flat. They all play specific parts without going out of those roles. For an entertaining medical thriller without high expectations, it will do.
October 18, 2012
This book was okay but I was quite underwhelmed by the whole thing. Also, a few parts seemed a little unbelievable - but when you combine the Shroud of Turin, some DNA sequencing, barmy medical procedures, and a mob element, the story was bound to be a little strange?!
August 10, 2019
Certainly not great literature, but this book does make a good beach read! It is fast-paced and has an interesting premise. With this kind of book you don't care that some plot threads disappear or that some of the characters are pretty cardboard.
June 23, 2021
This book has been sitting on my to read shelf for a very long time. I think if I would have read it when I first bought it, I may have appreciated it more. Now I expect more from my medical thrillers than this one could give.
January 31, 2022
Everything you can imagine in this book from politics, the mob, the Catholic church, medical research. I enjoyed the book but didn't care for the ending. I felt like there were unresolved circumstances involving two of the characters.
October 3, 2013
In places this was gripping, but the end rather petered out. Interesting info about the Shroud of Turin, & scary stuff about genetic research and unscrupulous doctors.
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