Robin Cook - Terminal

The Forbes Cancer Center in Miami is experiencing unprecedented cure rates for patients stricken with medulloblastoma. 
Sean Murphy, a bright, brash, Harvard medical student, takes an elective at the center to learn as much as he can about the procedures and treatments. The icy atmosphere that greets him, coupled with a warning to stay away from the unit in question, fuels Sean's determination to discover why everything is veiled in such secrecy. To carry out his investigation, he enlists the help of his girlfriend, Janet Reardon, a nurse. 
These self-appointed detectives find themselves chased by a variety of factions and in trouble with the law before unearthing the horrible truth.

Comment: This is one of the standalone medical stories created by author Robin Cook. Although the

isn't an author I cannot wait to read again, I do like the ideas behind his stories and since this was available at the library, I brought it with me last time I was there.

In this novel we meet protagonist Sean Murphy, a young medicine student who is very interested in certain researches related to cancer and how to get close to cure it. That is why he decides to accept an internship in Miami, where a medical center has shown incredible results in treating several cases of meduloblastoma, one type of brain cancer.

However, Sean isn't included in the studies he thought he would be doing and he starts to regret his decision to go to Florida. However, after his girlfriend joins him there to be a nurse, he starts to notice some apparently unrelated situations do have something in common after all and it al points to a very shocking possibility...

I think the books by Robin Cook can be classified into different sub types within the medical field: we have the disturbing shocking ones (like Brain), the closely seen as flawed comedies (like this one) and the ones pertaining situations not directly related to medicine (like Abduction).

I suppose it depends on people's acceptance of impossibilities and even a very good suspension of belief to also enjoy the serious flaws in the writing itself.

This book, for me, felt like a bad comedy at times. The protagonists can so easily and so often surpass obstacles to their actions as if it's easy as breathing when reality is certainly a lot more complex. Add to this we also have a secondary plot partly related to medicine that is there to offer something to confuse the reader but which I only saw as unnecessary. 

This means there's the main plot related to Sean, his girlfriend Janet and the secrets hidden by the facility investigating and "curing" meduloblastomas and the secondary one about Tom, the obviously mentally ill janitor who is on a personal crusade to help some patients stopping suffering.

The fun and interesting parts of the author's books, even the silly doubtful ones, is how the medical situations can feel realistic because of how things are presented. In this one I feel this situation wasn't well accomplished and it does go into the majority of cases already seen in other books: the author isn't a very good writer and cannot mix the plot and the information given in a balanced manner. I feel curious about certain details but not being in the medical field, some things aren't that easy to understand. It's a pity that the information can't be given in a way that would feel much more fluid and believable were the author aware of how to do it.

The explanation for the secrets of the medical center and how the cancer they take credit for treating and curing happens is very interesting and does meet a realistic possibility in this unbalanced world between rich and poor. I wish the focus had been more on this somehow and not in how Sean dodged the "bad guys" or found creative and sometimes funny ways to get himself where he shouldn't. I liked the reasoning behind many ideas and actions but it was difficult to be focused on just that. I can say, though, medicine does get more quickly to some than others and it's scary to think some groups can have it so easy and others nothing at all.

As for the characters, they are all superficially presented, with just bare bones to give us a simple idea of who they are and what drives them. Even the protagonists don't always seem they know what they are doing nor are they always easy to sympathize with and I suppose the characterization and personality of the characters was a detail the author perhaps thought unimportant but then it's hard to root for someone you cannot bond with somehow.

All in all, this was a so-so read. There were details I liked, others I didn't but in the end of things, despite the obvious flaws, it was entertaining to read this story and I'll certainly read more by the author one day.

Grade: 7/10

Robin Cook - Toxin / Chromosome 6

Toxin: When a doctor's daughter becomes infected with E. coli, the widespread dangers of bacterial contamination are no longer a subject for debate, but a grim reality. In desperation, he is forced to follow a trail of ignorance and corruption from the tangled red-tape of the medical community to the highest levels of the powerful meat industry. It is an eye-opening thriller that every American should read ... 
Chromosome 6 is a prophetic thriller that challenges the medical ethics of genetic manipulation and cloning in the jungles of equatorial Africa, where one mistake could bridge the gap between man and ape--and forever change the genetic map of our existence...

Comment: Several years ago I was able to find this omnibus edition of two novels by Robin Cook in a bookstore but of course it has been waiting years until now, when I finally decided to read it. As always, better late than never.

The stories included in this edition don't have any connection with one another but, as expected from this author, both address some sort of situation related to thew world of medicine or science.

Toxin presents a doctor who wants to discover how his young daughter was able to consume food with the e.coli bacteria and die from it without the responsible people caring.

Chromosome 6 focuses on the surprises and dangers of creating organs with scientific methods in animals and how that can result on uncontrollable situations for all involved.

Although each story has its own plot and setting and, dare I say, «tone», both have the same sort of writing issues. Some readers just say the author doesn't have talent to write but I wouldn't agree with this. I think the author has the knowledge to present his ideas and themes in shocking ways but he does fail in solving his own plots. Perhaps one could say this is style but no, he has other books where he finished things (like Abduction, which I really liked).

Generally speaking, the author uses his books to address a situation that is out there but there are always those who care, those who don't, those who make it happen for several reasons, those who are unaware... in terms of letting people have a glimpse of "worst case" scenarios, I think the author does his job well. Most people also prefer to consider this fiction, that in no way, real people would actually behave like that or do those things or that legal institutions would act so horribly.

Therefore, I think his books could be considered having two main points: the theme and all the realistic and scientific proof of its existence and the fictional part of the story where the characters behave and talk and showcase what could happen. 

I think the science part is always provocative (even if I don't have the knowledge to judge it) but the fictional part could certainly be improved. 

On account of this, let's see:

In Toxin, the theme is the possibility of meat being badly processed and by eating, people absorb bacteria while unaware of this. 

The plot follows dr Kim Reggis while he tries his best to save his daughter and this not being possible, he wants to find out how this happened, which are the steps between an animal being slaughtered until it gets to out table and how could the meat be subjected to infections. In fact, it could so easy and the story stresses this a lot. 

I just think dr Kim wasn't likeable most of the time and when he changes his behavior I felt was a little too late. Besides, what he decides to do to prove his suspicions is often unrealistic and this part of the writing, the fictional characters, didn't make justice to the importance of the theme with their lack of focus. The there's no end. There ar some scenes that let us think some steps took place but we never get to see anything. frustrating!

In Chromosome 6, the theme is the playing with this specific chromosome to improve the chances of a successful organ transplant by using animals that resemble humans in therms of DNA without caring about the ethical consequences and the fact only certain people would benefit from it.

The plot is engaging and with adrenaline-inducing scenes, especially because the action takes place in different places (New York and in the Equatorial Guinea) but in simultaneous times/days.

I think this one was a little more successful in terms of plot because all "good" characters were well portrayed and their steps captivating to follow. However, again regarding the end, there were things left unsaid, we never discover what happened after the biggest plot issue was dealt with.

All things considered, both stories provided food for thought. It's a little pitiable that the fictional parts weren't stronger, to better deliver the message. The content might be important but from the POV of the reader interested in the fictional story, there are too many unsolved issues, which can be distracting and unfair after pages and pages of investment. I also don't think to have better ends (or with details) would have ruined the message the author was trying to make.

Grade: 6/10

Robin Cook - Abduction

A mysterious transmission from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean leads a crew of oceanographers and divers to a phenomenon beyond scientific understanding - and a discovery that will change everything we know about life on Earth...

Comment: This book had been in my TBR list for a long time...since 2009 if I recall correctly. This wasn't the first book by him I've read but it's now one of my favorites.

This book starts with the description of geological works near a underwater volcano in order to discover new geological properties that might be helpful to the study of the lava and particles in that area. There's a group of people working there and when the president of the company that conducts the works arrives there he is asked to go in an underwater trip for a few hours to see exactly where the works are being done and what is happening. He isn't impressed at first but then he finally sees the beauty of that area and when things are going well, something happens and the small submarine they are using looses some power and they are sucked into the volcano together with two divers that were helping them. In the surface ship, everyone thinks they're dead, but the truth is they went completely to the bottom of the ocean somehow and in fact things aren't as dire as they seemed... or are they?

I loved this book. I think it had an interesting and imaginative story and although difficult to believe, it surely seemed pertinent to what we might believe is true heaven or how our whole personality can be challenged all the time.

There are five people who go underwater, presumably dead. They're actually rescued and they face a reality nobody in the world could ever dream on, much less think true. But while they live what is almost the heaven we all dream about, the ideal state of being we aspire to, that image of a heaven where we can have everything, where there's no fear or death or violence or problems, despite all this, could we really live by those standards? Wouldn't we, used to the stress of daily life and difficulties, be too constricted to perfection and want challenges, changes, things that would make us think and react?

I think the story was pretty great. A big imagination from the author to picture a world under the sea with all the technology and the advances we would like to see in our world. In that world there are rules, there are things that might look artificial for people who strive on feelings and emotions. But I think some of those things are wonderful and I would love to see them one day. The truth is, reading this allowed for some dreamlike moments and I'm glad.

The end of the book isn't the most happy but I didn't think it was bad either. From the five that went down, only one remained there and although part of me feels sad for a fictional person to be locked out of surface, of the real sun and family, I still think it wasn't that bad. The other four used violence, they broke the society rules for their own purposes and they've hurt innocent people because those under the sea didn't want to hurt anyone or take over the world, just the opposite in fact. So, I think the way the book ended for them was exactly what they needed.

I recommend this book just for the experience itself. It's really great to read about such a possibility, no matter how remote or unlikely to be real.