Robin Cook
2005
Pan Macmillan
pp. 592
After a long time, I have really enjoyed reading one of Cook’s work. Reading Marker reminded me of why I had started reading Robin Cook in the first place. It has mystery, it has medicine, it has all the makes of a good thriller. It is always a pleasure when he picks up a socio-medical issue. The note at the end puts across his opinion well.
The story revolves around the lives of medical examiner Laurie Montgomery and Jack Stapleton and their forever tumultuous relationship. This is coupled with Laurie’s discovery of her medical condition and a series of murders taking place at a hospital. There were a fair share of murders happening before any one took her hunches seriously and even acknowledging that these were murders. The end, thrilling as it was, did remind me of Bollywood movies where the hero saves everyone and never gets killed. Well, it is fiction after all. So the spoiler alert here is restricted to the idea that you know that the hero and heroine will live. Rest you will have to read to find out. Portions of the book will ofcourse be better understood by those who have studied medicine. I do not know the authenticity of what he has written but given that he is a doctor, I will take it to be true. And if you do not like long books, you might not want to pick this one up. It is not going to be a one day read. But it is also not a heavy book.