Robin Cook combines his traditional medical thriller with the chilling possibilities of alien intervention

With billions of dollars at stake, every scientist in America is fighting to discover the next Prozac, the latest "feel good" drug. Using bacterial mould first uncovered during the Salem witch trials, Edward Armstrong isolates a stunningly effective anti-depressant

En el hospital más grande de Nueva York tiene lugar una serie de muertes, ante los ojos de la doctora encargada de las autopsias, inexplicables. El único punto en común entre los pacientes muertos -todos gozaban de muy buena salud- es que pertenecían al mismo seguro médico. Es la primera pista de una terrible historia en la que medicina, adelantos científicos y negocios se enfrentan en una trama de gran suspense…

From Publishers Weekly Cook's lack of ability as a stylist generally has been masked by his talent for fashioning a solid medical drama-often ripped from current headlines-that keeps readers turning pages. Unfortuately, that's not the case in his 12th novel (after Vital Signs), which has a plot so ludicrous that the weak characters and silly dialogue are all too obvious. Most offensive in the latter category are the stilted, out-of-kilter exchanges between a pair of Mafia hitmen who run about New York City "whacking" (murdering) people with increasing frequency. Meanwhile, Dr. Laurie Montgomery, a forensic pathologist in the NYC Medical Examiner's office, finds a pattern of unrelated cocaine overdose deaths among career-oriented people never known to have used drugs. Despite the obvious evidence that she's onto something, her boss couldn't care less, while the homicide detective she becomes involved with is more concerned about the mob killings, and, like her boss, cannot understand why she is outraged by the behavior of two corrupt, thieving uniformed cops in her department. As luck would have it, there's also another man in Laurie's life, a self-centered ophthalmologist whose patients just happen to include the mob boss behind both the cocaine deaths and the murder spree. Readers who plow through this amateurish effort will guess the ending long before any of the characters has a clue. From Kirkus Reviews An ironically revealing title for ophthalmologist Cook's fuzziest novel in years-an awesomely inept medical/crime thriller about a forensic pathologist up against the mob. As the story opens, the mind of one Duncan Andrews is ``racing like a runaway train,'' his lethargy having ``evaporated like a drip of water falling onto a sizzling skillet.'' Hours and several more clich‚s later, the ``Wall Street whiz kid'' is dead of a cocaine overdose and lying on the autopsy table of generic Cook heroine (young, spunky, pretty doc) Laurie Montgomery, an N.Y.C. medical examiner. Days and several more dead yuppies later, Laurie is convinced that someone is flooding the upscale market with bad cocaine. Of course, no one will listen to her-not her boss, who wants to chill this political hot potato; not silver-tongued, gold- plated ophthalmologist Jordan Scheffield, who's wooing her with limos and swank dinners; not cop Lou Soldano (``a bit like Colombo''), to whom Laurie explains the exact difference between ophthalmologists, optometrists, and opticians and who wants to woo her with his sedan and spaghetti but can't match Jordan's glitz and anyway is busy worrying about the mob-related corpses stacking up next to the yuppies in Laurie's morgue. For meanwhile, in scenes stiff with clich‚, two mobsters are blowing away a seemingly random group of citizens on orders from mob kingpin Paul Cerino, who, Laurie learns, is one of Jordan 's patients-and who deals coke. Laurie sleuths; the mobsters lock her in a coffin; Laurie sobs; the mobsters let her out; Laurie remembers the flammable properties of ethylene, handily within reach, and blows up the mobsters. Finally, Laurie dumps Jordan for Lou, and she and the cop talk about the motives behind the whole ``horrid affair''-which owe more than a little to Coma. A slack and ragged retread, with Cook parodying himself in a tale that's about as stylish and suspenseful as an eye-chart

Martin Philips and Denise Sanger were doctors, LOVERS — and desperately afraid Both of them suspected that something was wrong — terribly wrong — in the great medical research center where they worked. Both of them wondered why a beautiful young woman had died on the operating table and had her brain secretly removed. Both of them found it impossible to explain the rash of female patients exhibiting bizarre mental breakdowns and shocking sexual behavior. Both of them were placing their careers and very lives in deadly jeopardy as they penetrated the eerie inner sanctums of a medical world gone mad with technological power and the lust for more

George Wilson, M.D., a radiology resident in Los Angeles, is about to enter a profession on the brink of an enormous paradigm shift, foreshadowing a vastly different role for doctors everywhere. The smartphone is poised to take on a new role in medicine, no longer as a mere medical app but rather as a fully customizable personal physician capable of diagnosing and treating even better than the real thing. It is called iDoc. George’s initial collision with this incredible innovation is devastating. He awakens one morning to find his fiancée dead in bed alongside him, not long after she participated in an iDoc beta test. Then several of his patients die after undergoing imaging procedures. All of them had been part of the same beta test. Is it possible that iDoc is being subverted by hackers — and that the U.S. government is involved in a cover-up? Despite threats to both his career and his freedom, George relentlessly seeks the truth, knowing that if he’s right, the consequences could be lethal for him and countless others

Newly minted chief resident at Boston Memorial Hospital Noah Rothauser is swamped in his new position, from managing the surgical schedules to dealing with the fallouts from patient deaths. Known for its medical advances, the famed teaching hospital has fitted several ORs as “hybrid operating rooms of the future” — an improvement that seems positive until an anesthesia error during a routine procedure results in the death of an otherwise healthy man. Noah suspects Dr. William Mason, an egotistical, world-class surgeon, of an error during the operation and of tampering with the patient’s record afterward. But Mason is quick to blame anesthesiologist, Dr. Ava London. When more anesthesia-related deaths start to occur, Noah is forced to question all of the residents on his staff, including Ava, and he quickly realizes there’s more to her than what he sees. A social-media junkie, Ava has created multiple alternate personas for herself on the Internet. With his own job and credibility now in jeopardy, Noah must decide which doctor is at fault and who he can believe — before any more lives are lost

Z kostnicy znikaja zwłoki Carla Franconiego, znanej postaci świata przestępczego. Kilka dni później trafiają one, mocno okaleczone, na stół autopsyjny Jacka Stapletona. Poszukiwania odpowiedzi na nasuwajace się pytania prowadzą aż do Gwinei Równikowej…

One missing organ. One genetic breakthrough. One medical conspiracy too terrifying to imagine. In his most prophetic thriller yet, Robin Cook challenges the medical ethics of genetic manipulations and cloning. In the jungles of equatorial Africa, a biotechnology giant has taken transplant surgery and animal research to a new level. Where one mistake could bridge the evolutionary gap between man and ape-and forever change the genetic map of our existence

They called it “minor surgery,” but Nancy Greenly, Sean Berman, and a dozen others—all admitted to Boston Memorial Hospital for routine procedures were victims of the same inexplicable, hideous tragedy on the operating table. They never woke up…

Amazon.com Review When not one but three different extremely rare diseases kill several patients at a New York hospital, forensic pathologist Jack Stapleton suspects it's more than just coincidence. He thinks there's a connection between the appearance of the mysterious microbes responsible for the deaths and the HMO that owns the hospital-the same HMO that once destroyed his flourishing medical practice. Is Americare deliberately killing off its sickest patients-those who cost the most money to treat? Or is there an even more sinister motive behind the strange goings-on at Manhattan General, not to mention the attempts on Jack's life? And what is beautiful Terese Hagen, the hard-driving creative director of a Madison Avenue ad agency, doing in the middle of this slightly muddled, but still engrossing, tale of greed, medicine, and mayhem? Like Michael Crichton, whose Andromeda Strain remains the classic in the genre, Cook is sometimes heavy-handed when it comes to character development, and his fulminations about the dangers of managed care often get in the way of the plot. Still, Contagion will make you think twice about taking your next case of flu to the ER instead of your own bed. -Jane Adams From Library Journal In Cook's numerous best-selling medical thrillers, the nasty microbes and lethal diseases are never as loathsome as the greedy villains who spread illness for profit. Here, a cynical forensics doctor suspects that a for-profit medical firm is murdering its more costly subscribers. A Literary GuildR main selection

When Dr. Craig Bowman is served with a summons for medical malpractice, he's shocked, enraged, and more than a little humiliated. A devoted physician who works continuously in the service of others, he endured grueling years of training and is now a partner in an exclusive concierge medical practice. No longer forced to see more and more patients while spending less and less time with each one just to keep his office door open, he now provides the kind of medical care he is trained to do, lavishing twenty-four-hour availability and personalized attention on his handpicked patients. And at last, he is earning a significant income, no longer burdened by falling reimbursements from insurance companies.But this idyllic practice comes to a grinding halt one sunny afternoon-and gets much, much worse. Enter Dr. Jack Stapleton, a medical examiner in New York City and Bowman's brother-in-law: Jack's sister Alexis-now Craig's estranged wife-tearfully begs for his help as her husband's trial drags on. Jack agrees to travel to Boston to offer his forensic services and expert witness experience to Craig's beleaguered defense attorney. But when Jack's irreverent suggestion to exhume the corpse to disprove the alleged malpractice is taken seriously, he opens a Pandora's box of trouble. As Craig Bowman's life and career are put on the line, Jack is on the verge of making a most unwelcome discovery of tremendous legal and medical significance-and there are people who will do anything to keep him from learning the truth

Angela Dawson, M.D., appears to have it all: at the age of thirty-seven, she owns a fabulous New York City apartment, a stunning seaside house on Nantucket, and enjoys the perks of her prosperous lifestyle. But her climb to the top was rough, marked by a troubled childhood, a failed marriage, and the devastating blow of bankruptcy as a primary-care internist. Painfully aware of the role of economics in modern life, particularly in the health-care field, Angela returned to school to earn an MBA. Armed with a shiny new degree and blessed with determination, intelligence, and impeccable timing, Angela founded a start-up company, Angels Healthcare, then took it public. With her controlling interest in three busy specialty hospitals in New York City and plans for others in Miami and Los Angeles, Angela's future looked very bright. Then a surge of drug-resistant staph infections in all three hospitals devastates Angela's carefully constructed world. Not only do the infections result in patient deaths, but the fatalities also cause stock prices to tumble, leaving market analysts wondering if Angela will be able to hold her empire together. New York City medical examiners Laurie Montgomery and Jack Stapleton are naturally intrigued by the uptick in staph-related post-procedure deaths. Aside from their own professional curiosity, there's a personal stake as well: Laurie and Jack are newly married, and Jack is facing surgery to repair a torn ligament at Angels Orthopedic Hospital. Despite Jack's protests, Laurie can't help investigating-opening a Pandora's box of corporate intrigue that threatens not just her livelihood, but her life with Jack as well

With her young son’s potentially fatal neuroblastoma in complete remission, New York City medical examiner Laurie Montgomery returns to work at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, where she’s been employed for more than two decades. Worried about whether she still has what it takes after so much time away, Laurie finds her first case back to be a dangerous puzzler of the highest order, involving organized crime and two start-up biotech companies caught in a zero-sum game. Against the advice of her colleagues and her husband, fellow medical examiner Jack Stapleton, Laurie is determined to solve the mystery the case comes to represent. Satoshi Machita, a former Kyoto University researcher, is set to own a valuable patent controlling pluripotent stem cells destined to spark a trillion-dollar industry of regenerative medicine. When he dies on a crowded New York subway platform, Laurie must decide whether his death was natural — or something fiendish. Behind the scenes, there are people who would like to see Laurie as far away from the investigation as possible. Despite threats against her, Laurie presses on, until they extend to the person she loves most in the world: her son, JJ. Suddenly Laurie must face solving the crime — and saving her son’s life

From Publishers Weekly If Cook's skills as a writer were as finely tuned as his sense of timing, his 14th medical thriller (after Terminal) would be a lot more rewarding. Current political events guarantee that a suspense novel centering on health care management will be topical and at least potentially fascinating. Unfortunately, stock characters, stilted dialogue and improbable heroes and villains make for difficult reading here. Idealistic young doctors David and Angela Wilson take positions at a state-of-the-art medical center in a small Vermont town partly because they see it as an ideal spot for their daughter, who suffers from cystic fibrosis. But the town is not as idyllic as it seems, and the hospital is in a desperate financial bind due primarily to its contract with a local HMO, David's new employer. Worse still, patients are dying unexpectedly almost daily, and no one seems to care very much. The deaths are not normal, of course, and astute readers will quickly determine who is behind them, why and-most likely-how. Cook raises troubling questions about the conflicts between medical and financial priorities in managed care (albeit in a somewhat distorted fashion), but it's difficult to get emotionally involved in a scenario as improbable as this one. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection; Mystery Guild alternate; Reader's Digest Condensed Book. From Library Journal Recent medical school graduates David and Angela Wilson find the perfect setting for both their careers and family in rural Bartlet, Vermont. Not even the recent suicide and disappearance of two other physicians dampen their enthusiasm as they begin their jobs and buy their dream house. David's confidence is soon shaken, however, as his patients begin dying-not from their terminal diseases but from a mysterious illness. The deaths, coupled with attacks in the hospital parking lot, give the Wilsons the uneasy feeling that Bartlet is not what it seems. When a gruesome discovery prompts the Wilsons to hire a private investigator, the lives of several patients-and they themselves-are in danger. Physician and writer Cook once again terrifies and intrigues with this realistic and intense-to-the-end thriller, which is enhanced by actor Barry Bostwick's remarkable range of voices. For most popular collections

Charles Martel is a brilliant cancer researcher who discovers that his own daughter is the victim of leukemia. The cause: a chemical plant conspiracy that not only promises to kill her, but will destroy him as a doctor and a man if he tries to fight it…

A series of unexplained deaths in foreign hospitals sends an idealistic UCLA medical student on a desperate search for answers in this chilling tale from the master of the medical thriller. Jennifer Hernandez is a fourth-year medical student at UCLA, just beginning an elective in general surgery, whose world is shattered during a break in an otherwise ordinary day. While relaxing in the surgical lounge of L.A.’s Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, she half listens to a TV segment on medical tourism: first-world citizens traveling to third-world countries for surgery. But when she hears her beloved grandmother’s name mentioned, Jennifer’s heart nearly stops: the CNN reporter says that Maria Hernandez has died, a day after undergoing a hip replacement in New Delhi’s Queen Victoria Hospital. Maria had raised Jennifer and her brothers from infancy, and the bond between grandmother and granddaughter was unbreakable. Still, the news that Maria traveled to India is a shock to Jennifer, until she realizes that it was the only viable option for the hardworking yet uninsured woman. Devastated, and desperate for answers, Jennifer takes emergency leave from school and heads to India, where relations with local officials go from sympathetic to sour as she pushes for more information. With revelations of other unexplained deaths compounded by pressure from Indian hospital officials for hasty cremations, Jennifer reaches out to her mentor, New York City medical examiner Dr. Laurie Montgomery, who has her own deep connection to Maria. Laurie, along with her husband, Dr. Jack Stapleton, rushes to the younger woman’s side, and discovers a sophisticated medical facility with little margin for error. As the death count grows, so do the questions, leading Laurie and Jennifer to unveil a sinister, multilayered conspiracy of global proportions

When the body of twenty-eight-year-old social worker Kera Jacobsen shows up on Chief New York City Medical Examiner Laurie Montgomery’s autopsy table, at first it appears she was the victim of a tragic yet routine drug overdose. But for Laurie and her new pathology resident, the brilliant but enigmatic Dr. Aria Nichols, little things aren’t adding up. Kera’s family and friends swear she never touched drugs. Administrators from the hospital where Kera worked are insisting the case be shrouded in silence. And although Kera was ten weeks pregnant, nobody seems to know who the father was — or whether he holds the key to Kera’s final moments alive. As a medical emergency temporarily sidelines Laurie, impulsive Aria turns to a controversial new technique: using genealogic DNA databases to track down those who don’t want to be found. Working with experts at a start-up ancestry website, she plans to trace the fetus’s DNA back to likely male relatives in the hopes of identifying the mystery father. But when Kera’s closest friend and fellow social worker is murdered, the need for answers becomes even more urgent. Because someone out there clearly doesn’t want Kera’s secrets to come to light... and if Aria gets any closer to the truth, she and Laurie might find themselves a killer’s next targets

There have always been many ways to die. But now, in an ultra-modern hospital, there was a new one… the most horrifying one of all. "A tissue-tingling thriller… keeps you poised on the sleek points of steel pins and flashing hypodermic needles".-Detroit News

When a mother and her newborn infant die from the anesthetic he has administered, Boston anesthesiologist Dr. Jeffrey Rhodes's life turns into a shambles. Within months he has been financially destroyed in a malpractice suit and convicted of second-degree murder, with a prison term likely. Panicked, he flees and, in desperation, turns to Kelly Everson, the widow of an old friend who committed suicide following a similar tragedy. They discover that both incidents--and others as well--may not have been cases of physician error but rather deliberate murders. The villain, known to the reader early on, is finally uncovered by the duo, whose efforts are complicated by the unrelenting pursuit of Rhodes by a bounty hunter who has been hired by the bail bondsman who stands to lose a small fortune if the convict is not returned to custody. Through two-thirds of its length, this is a fast-paced, albeit improbable, story of the havoc that can be wreaked by a lone madman. Then a sudden twist brings in a new set of villains and reveals an evil conspiracy that snaps belief. Cook, whose medical thrillers invariably land on the bestseller lists, may be asking more credulity than many readers are willing, or able, to provide this time out. 

Lynn Peirce, a fourth-year medical student at South Carolina’s Mason-Dixon University, thinks she has her life figured out. But when her otherwise healthy boyfriend, Carl, enters the hospital for routine surgery, her neatly ordered life is thrown into total chaos. Carl fails to return to consciousness after the procedure, and an MRI confirms brain death. Devastated by Carl’s condition, Lynn searches for answers. Convinced there’s more to the story than what the authorities are willing to reveal, Lynn uses all her resources at Mason-Dixon — including her initially reluctant lab partner, Michael Pender — to hunt down evidence of medical error or malpractice. What she uncovers, however, is far more disturbing. Hospitals associated with Middleton Healthcare, including the Mason-Dixon Medical Center, have unnervingly high rates of unexplained anesthetic complications and patients contracting serious and terminal illness in the wake of routine hospital admissions. When Lynn and Michael begin to receive death threats, they know they’re into something bigger than either of them anticipated. They soon enter a desperate race against time for answers before shadowy forces behind Middleton Healthcare and their partner, Sidereal Pharmaceuticals, can put a stop to their efforts once and for all

It’s been more than thirty years since New York City medical examiner Jack Stapleton’s college graduation, and almost as long since he’s been in touch with former classmates Shawn Daughtry and James O’Rourke. Jack was once a highly regarded ophthalmologist, but his career took a dramatic turn after a tragic accident destroyed his family. And that, too, is very much in the past: Jack has remarried — to longtime colleague and fellow medical examiner Laurie Montgomery — and his the father of a young child, who unfortunately has been diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a childhood cancer. No matter what stresses he faces, Jack’s renegade, activist personality can’t rest. After performing a postmortem on a promising young college graduate who had recently been treated by a chiropractor, Jack begins researching alternative medicine as a way to avoid obsessing about his child’s illness. Quickly he is confronted by the question of what makes some people step outside the medical establishment to seek help from therapies based on dubious science, Eastern philosophies or even faith healers. Jack’s classmate Shawn Daughtry is now a renowned archaeologist and biblical scholar. Brash, impetuous, and completely career-driven, Shawn makes a spectacular find at a souk in Cairo: an ancient codex, whose contents may vault him to international fame. His discovery takes him on a secret journey to what is held to be Saint Peter’s tomb beneath the basilica in Rome, where he hopes to unearth a two-thousand-year-old ossuary, the contents of which may have earthshaking ecclesiastical and medical implications. Shawn can’t wait to flaunt his treasure before his old college buddy James O’Rourke — now James Cardinal O’Rourke, bishop of the Archdiocese of New York: the treasure may jeopardize the very nature of papal infallibility. Desperate to protect his church and his own political ambitions, James turns to his friend Jack to help safeguard an explosive secret, one with the power to change lives forever

With his finger on the pulse of the latest medical technology, Robin Cook preys on our deepest fears with uncanny skill. Now, in this most provocative thriller, he explores a sudden outbreak of strange new symptoms that defy diagnosis. The cause is unknown — and unknowable — because it is unlike anything humankind has ever seen

The master of the medical thriller returns with his most heart-pounding tale yet. Twenty-eight-year-old Sean McGillin is the picture of health, until he fractures his leg while in-line skating in New York City 's Central Park. Within twenty-four hours of his surgery, he dies. A thirty-six-year-old mother, Darlene Morgan, has knee surgery to repair a torn ligament in her knee. And within twenty-four hours, she has died. New York City medical examiners Dr. Laurie Montgomery and Dr. Jack Stapleton are back, in Robin Cook's electrifying twenty-fifth novel. Last seen in Vector, the doctors confront a series of puzzling hospital deaths of young, healthy people after successful routine surgery. Despite institutional resistance from her superiors, as well as from those at Manhattan General, Laurie doggedly pursues the investigation. Though it seems impossible to determine why and how the patients are dying, she comes to suspect that not only are the deaths related-they're intentional, suggesting the work of a remarkably clever serial killer with a very unusual motive, involving frightening ties to both developing genomic medicine and the economics of modern-day health care. Then Laurie is dealt a double blow: While coping with Jack's inability to commit to their relationship, she discovers she carries a genetic marker for a breast-cancer gene. As her personal life continues to unravel, the need for answers becomes more urgent, especially when Laurie is pulled into the nightmare as a potential victim herself. With time winding down, she and Jack race to connect the dots-and save Laurie's life. With his signature blend of suspense and science, Robin Cook delivers an electrifying page-turner as vivid as today's headlines

Grand Rapids Press A mind-boggling page-turner…Robin Cook has another sure bestseller. A storyteller of the most daring imagination…chillingly entertaining and thought-provoking. – Associated Press *** A gigantic drug firm has offered an aspiring young doctor a lucrative job that will help support his pregnant wife. It could make their dreams come true-or their nightmares…

The man who invented medical techno-horror takes you on a startling and chilling odyssey into the origins of life — and death. When an eminent biomolecular geneticist dies violently before his eyes, a doctor must use more than his medical knowledge to explain what he comes to believe is murder, and to stop a scientific breakthrough from becoming a curse instead of a miracle. There was a lot that internist Jason Howard didn’t know about Dr. Alvin Hayes. But when the scientist met his sudden end, it all came out with a vengeance — for the academically respected geneticist had led a double life, and the private side was damning. Dismissing official police reports linking Hayes’s death to his associations with the sordid side of society, Jason believes Hayes was silenced to keep him from revealing the results of his research, and the secret lies not in the back streets of Boston’s erotic underworld, the Combat Zone, but in the high-tech genetics laboratories of the Good Health Plan clinic. Overcoming his own personal emotional problems, Jason turns his powers of diagnosis to deduction, vowing to solve the mystery no matter who tries to stop him. His search will take him from gleaming modern labs to seamy sex clubs, from Beacon Hill drawing rooms to the wilds of the Pacific Northwest and back, before the pieces of the deadly puzzle fall into place. By then, Jason has unearthed the scientific breakthrough Hayes was killed to hide — and has himself become the target of a malevolent cabal, bend on using the origins of life to create a hell on earth. With this disturbing story, DNA research is shown to have a fearful potential, not only through possible mistakes and accidents, but ironically even through success. Splendidly researched and intricately plotted, Mortal Fear is Robin Cook at his prophetic and galvanizing best

He sought to create the son of his dreams — and invented a nightmare. Robin Cook’s new techno-medical thriller probes every father’s greatest fear. Drawing on a horror theme as old as Frankenstein, as fresh as tomorrow’s headlines, Mutation is a chilling cautionary tale of the perils of genetic engineering. When ob/gyn and biomolecular researcher Dr. Victor Frank learns of his wife’s infertility, he initiates a bold — and dangerous — experiment. Unbeknownst to everyone, including her, Dr. Frank has adapted the methods of animal husbandry and molecular genetics to human reproduction. Fusing his wife’s egg and his own sperm, he sets in motion the production of a superior being, his child. The result of this experiment, a son, VJ, is born to a surrogate mother and legally adopted by the Franks. To their delight, their son is physically perfect, and, by the age of three, displays the complex problem-solving abilities of a prodigy. Victor Frank is a happy man. He has produced a flawless human being, and that success — plus the subsequently healthy births he has covertly engineered through his obstetrics practice — bodes well for a dazzling professional future. Then, without warning, VJ’s intelligence level plunges to a point appropriate to his age, but stabilizes. For the moment, Frank can breathe a sigh of relief: Even if VJ is no longer the genius he was, at least he will be normal. But that relief is tragically short-lived, for all too soon VJ begins to change again. And this time, there is no cause for comfort — only terror. Mutation is both the spellbinding chronicle of a father pitted against his son in mythic battle and a timely warning to us all. Here is blue-chip Robin Cook, destined to be as controversial as it is compulsively readable

After a tumultuous year in which her mentor is murdered and her estranged father comes back into her life, Pia Grazdani, the embattled medical student from Death Benefit, decides to take some time off from her medical studies and escape New York City. Intrigued by the promise of the burgeoning field of medical technology and the chance to clear her head in the cool air of Colorado, Pia takes a job at Nano, LLC, a lavishly funded, security-conscious nanotechnology institute in the picturesque foothills of the Rockies. Nano is ahead of the curve in the competitive world of molecular manufacturing, including the construction of microbivores, tiny nano-robots with the ability to gobble up viruses and bacteria. But the corporate campus, for all its beauty, is a place of secrets. Pia is warned by her boss not to investigate the other work being done at the gigantic facility, nor to ask questions about the source of the seemingly endless capital that funds the institute’s research. And soon after Pia encounters a fellow employee on a corporate jogging path, suffering the effects of a seizure, she realizes she may have literally stumbled upon one of Nano’s human guinea pigs. Is the tech giant on the cusp of one of the biggest medical discoveries of the twenty-first century — a treatment option for millions—or has it already sold out to the highest bidder?

In this exhilarating new medical thriller by bestselling author Robin Cook, fan favorites Jack and Laurie are lured into the dark underbelly of hospital dangers when an internist dies mysteriously. Colleagues-turned-spouses Dr. Laurie Montgomery and Dr. Jack Stapleton already have their plates full with demanding forensic pathology work and family pressures. The last thing they need is the sudden death of a colleague. Yet when Laurie’s apparently vital and healthy longtime friend Dr. Sue Passero dies mysteriously in the hopsital parking garage, an autopsy is required, and it falls uncomfortably under Laurie’s purview as the chief medical examiner. So when Laurie asks Jack to take special care with the case, he can hardly refuse. With his curiosity sparked by an inconclusive autopsy, the indefatigable Jack is compelled to resolve the case at hand, and sets out to investigate on-site at Manhattan Memorial Hospital, even though it means blatantly defying the Office of Chief Medical Examiner’s rules. What started out as an inquiry into Sue’s tragic passing soon turns into a deadly and dangerous chess game between Jack and the clever and deranged killer, who might just administer another lethal blow if Jack isn’t careful

Murder and intrigue reach epidemic proportions when a devastating plague sweeps the country. Dr. Marissa Blumenthal of the Atlanta Centers for Disease Control investigates—and soon uncovers the medical world’s deadliest secret…

When an unidentified, seemingly healthy young woman collapses suddenly on the New York City subway and dies upon reaching the hospital, her case is an eerie reminder for veteran medical examiner Jack Stapleton of the 1918 flu pandemic. Fearful of a repeat on the one hundredth anniversary of the nightmarish contagion, Jack autopsies the woman within hours of her demise and discovers some striking anomalies: first, that she has had a heart transplant, and second, that, against all odds, her DNA matches that of the transplanted heart. Although the facts don’t add up to influenza, Jack must race against the clock to identify the woman and determine what kind of virus could wreak such havoc — a task made more urgent when two other victims succumb to a similar rapid death. But nothing makes sense until his investigation leads him into the fascinating realm of CRISPR/CAS9, a gene-editing biotechnology that’s captured the imagination of the medical community... and the attention of its most unethical members. Drawn into the dark underbelly of the organ transplant market, Jack will come face-to-face with a megalomaniacal businessman willing to risk human lives in order to conquer a lucrative new frontier in medicine — and if Jack’s not careful, the next life lost might be his own

Senator Ashley Butler is a quintessential Southern demagogue whose support of traditional American values includes a knee-jerk reaction against virtually all biotechnologies. When he's called to chair a subcommittee introducing legislation to ban new cloning technology, the senator views his political future in bold relief; and Dr. Daniel Lowell, inventor of the technique that will take stem cell research to the next level, sees a roadblock positioned before his biotech startup. The two seemingly opposite personalities clash during the senate hearings, but the men have a common desire. Butler's hunger for political power far outstrips his concern for the unborn; and Lowell's pursuit of gargantuan personal wealth and celebrity overrides any considerations for patients' well-being. Further complicating the proceedings is the confidential news that Senator Butler has developed Parkinson's disease-leading the senator and the researcher into a Faustian pact. In a perilous attempt to prematurely harness Lowell's new technology, the therapy leaves the senator with the horrifying effects of temporal lobe epilepsy-seizures of the most bizarre order. Torn from the headlines, Seizure is a cautionary tale for a time where biotechnology pulls us into a promising yet frightening new world

Cutting-edge technology and personal greed converge in this spine-tingling novel of medicine run amok. Deborah Cochrane and Joanna Meissner, students and close friends, spot a campus newspaper ad that promises to solve their financial problems: an exclusive, highly profitable fertility clinic on Boston's North Shore is looking for donors. Deborah and Joanna figure they can perform a good deed in helping infertle couples, while earning some money for themselves. Although rumours Surface of a fellow donor's unexplained disappearance, they remain undeterred. The procedures seem to go smoothly, but second thoughts and curiosity prompt the two women discover more, Stymied by the clinic's veil of secrecy, Deborah and Joanna obtain employment there to continue their probe. Working under aliases, they soon discover the horrifying true aims of Dr Windgate's research, immediately putting their lives – and their sanity – irrevocably at risk

It was the magic and mystery of an empire long past that beautiful Erica Baron came toe explore. Innocently she cast her eyes in forbidden places and discovered the clue to a treasure beyond imagination. It was then that terror overtook her, as the most fearful curse of the ancient world and the most savagemenace of the modern one threatened to detroy her. One dangerously attractive man offered Erica help…he offered her protection…he offered her love. And in this strange, exotic land of seductive evils, where no one could be trusted, desire became for Erica the deadliest snare of all…

In his new shocker, the master of the medical gothic creates a monstrous cabal — with a chokehold on mankind’s dearest hope and darkest fear. From Coma to Blindsight, Robin Cook’s unique blend of cutting-edge technology and timeless horror has always enthralled. But rarely have his dramatic gifts been more effectively deployed than in Terminal. Despite a blue-collar background and Irish roots mistrustful of fancy degrees, highly motivated, enormously intelligent Sean Murphy has made it as far as his third year in Harvard’s combined Ph.D./M.D. program when he makes a fateful decision to take a two-month research elective at the renowned Forbes Cancer Center in Miami. Sean is eager to study firsthand the Forbes Center’s remarkable results treating medulloblastoma, a rare form of brain cancer. But his decision is also due, in no small part, to a budding romance with Janet Reardon, a nurse from a privileged and prominent Boston family. Unnerved by Janet’s disturbing allure — and even more, by thoughts of commitment — Sean opts for the safety and distance of the prestigious clinic. But his plans at Forbes go awry from day one. First he is denied the opportunity to work on the medulloblastoma protocol. Then, to his surprise, Janet shows up at the medical center, having accepted a job — ostensibly to further her career but actually to pursue Sean. When a disgruntled Sean appears on the verge of heading home, Janet persuades him to stay by coming up with a plan: The two of them will investigate the medulloblastoma cases surreptitiously, she taking the clinical and he the research. By the time they uncover the truth about the clinic’s seemingly ground-breaking cures, the pair run afoul of the law, their medical colleagues, and — perhaps worst of all — the powerful, enigmatic director of the Forbes Center, Dr. Randolph Mason. Drawing closer together at every hazardous turn, Sean and Janet discover a horror beyond their worst suspicions, one that would make a mockery of the Hippocratic oath. It is a truth so nefarious it could very well wind them up dead. Steeped in the latest discoveries of molecular medicine, reflective of the harsh realities of medical economies, Terminal is Robin Cook at his thrilling, thought-provoking best

“Dr. Peters, the patient has stopped breathing and doesn’t have any pulse!” The nurse’s voice on the phone is desperate, but young Dr. Peters, in his first weeks of internship, is only bone-tired and a little afraid. He has forgotten when he last slept. Yet he knows that in the coming hours he will have to make life-or-death decisions regarding patients, assist contemptuous surgeons in the operating room, deal with nurses who may know more than he does, cope with worried relatives and friends of the injured and ill, and pretend at all times to be what he has not yet become-a fully qualified doctor. This book is about what happens to a young intern as he goes through the year that promises to make him into a doctor, and threatens to destroy him as a human being — The Year of the Intern

Amazon.com Review Just when you thought it was safe to eat a hamburger again, Robin Cook – master of medical mysteries, deadly epidemics, and creepy comas-returns with an all too likely villain drawn right from current headlines: the American meat industry. If you've ever wondered where the E. coli bacteria comes from, and exactly how it can ravage the human body, destroying everything in its path, this is the book for you. As usual, Cook delivers solid information, well-researched medical arcana, and a scathing indictment of managed health care. His protagonist, Kim Regis, is an all-too-typical ego-driven surgeon, whose arrogance and invulnerability set him up to be brought low by the deadly toxin that takes the life of his young daughter. Sparing no time and barely a paragraph to reflect on his loss, Regis goes right after the culprit, a meat-packing behemoth that brings dead and diseased animals to the slaughterhouse, breaking every health regulation in the book. The scenes set on the killing floor and in the boning rooms will make a vegetarian out of the most confirmed red-meat eater. Toxin is a heart-pounding thriller that hits very close to home

The unthinkable becomes stark reality in this frightening novel by the bestselling master of medical suspense. Expects do not question whether a bioterrorism event will occur in the United States, only when... New York City cab driver Yuri Davydov is an angry, disillusioned Russian émigré bent on returning to his motherland after an unhappy seven-year sojourn in the United States. Before his departure, he wants to lash out at the adoptive nation that lured him with what he believes was the hoax of the American Dream, only to deny him contentment, opportunity, and personal prosperity. As a former technician for the vast Soviet biological weapons industry Biopreparat, Yuri possesses the technical knowledge to carry out his vengeance on a horrific scale, especially after teaming up with a pair of far-right survivalists who share his abhorrence of the United States government. The survivalists and their neofascist skinhead militia have no trouble stealing the raw materials Yuri needs. Working together they launch Operation Wolverine. Dr. Jack Stapleton and Dr. Laurie Montgomery (both last seen in Chromosome 6) are confronted with two seemingly disparate cases in their work as forensic pathologists in the city's medical examiner's office. Jack successfully diagnoses a rare case of anthrax, while Laurie examines the remains of a tortured skinhead. They hardly suspect that the cases could be related, but soon they begin to connect the dots, and the question then becomes whether or not they will solve the puzzle before Yuri and his comrades unleash the ultimate terror: a modern bioweapon. With his signature skill, Robin Cook has crafted a page-turning thriller rooted in up-to-the-minute biotechnology. Vector is all-too-plausible fiction at its eye-opening, terrifying best

Trying to find some normalcy during the Covid-19 pandemic, Brian Murphy and his family are on a summer excursion in Cape Cod when his wife, Emma, comes down with concerning flu-like symptoms. But their leisurely return home to New York City quickly becomes a race to the local hospital as she suddenly begins seizing in the car. At the ICU, she is diagnosed with eastern equine encephalitis, a rare and highly lethal mosquito-borne viral disease seemingly caught during one of their evening cookouts. Complicating the situation further, Brian and Emma’s young daughter then begins to exhibit alarming physical and behavioral symptoms, too. Emma’s harrowing hospital stay becomes even more fraught when Brian receives a staggering hospital bill full of outrageous charges and murky language. To add insult to injury, his health insurance company refuses to cover any of the cost, citing dubious clauses in Brian’s policy. Forced to choose between the ongoing care of family and bills he can never pay, and furious at a shockingly indifferent healthcare system, Brian vows to seek justice. But to get to the bottom of the predatory practices targeting his loved ones and countless others, he must uncover the dark side of an industry that has strayed drastically from its altruistic roots — and bring down the callous executives preying on the sick and defenseless before the virus can claim even more people

Where life begins, terror lurks... Only Robin Cook, acknowledged master of the techno-medical thriller, could have written this supremely chilling novel about the passion to create life — and the power to destroy it.　 Millions of readers met crusading epidemiologist Marissa Blumenthal in the pages of the bestselling Outbreak. Now Robin Cook brings back his feisty heroine in a gripping new tale, Vital Signs — a roller-coaster ride into the unexpected and the utterly unconscionable. In the eyes of her envious peers, Marissa has it all: a superb professional reputation, a flourishing pediatrics practice, even a fairytale marriage with the man of her dreams — Robert Buchanan, an entrepreneur involved in health-care administration and research. But there is one thing Marissa does not have: the child she desperately desires. And when tests confirm that her sealed fallopian tubes have rendered her infertile, her perfect world begins to crumble. Obsessed with becoming pregnant, Marissa barely even notices the disastrous effect her idée fixe is having on her marriage and career. When a little medical sleuthing points to suspicious origins of her infertility, Marissa boldly challenges the law. Along with Wendy, a new friend with a similar infertility problem, she breaks into a fertility clinic, travels to Australia, a center of in-vitro fertilization, then on to Hong Kong. The two women’s exploration of the brave new world of reproductive technologies takes a shocking turn when Wendy is violently killed — and Marissa’s own life is mysteriously threatened. But personal danger does not deter her, and she allows herself to be drawn into the dark vortex of the baby-making business, where a woman’s dearest dream turns slowly, agonizingly to dread... Timely, top-notch suspense that will grip the reader from the very first page, Vital Signs proves once again the unique and compelling genius of Robin Cook

Cassandra Kingsley ma wszystko: rozpoczęła staż na psychiatrii, mieszka we wspaniałym domu, a jej mężem jest najlepszy kardiochirurg bostońskiego Memorial Hospital. Tymczasem dziewczyna, wbrew rozsądkowi, bada wraz z patologiem Seibertem serię nagłych zgonów pooperacyjnych, do których dochodzi w szpitalu. W obliczu poważnych problemów zdrowotnych i małżeńskich rzuca śledztwo, ale wraca do niego po tajemniczej śmierci Seiberta. Teraz musi już walczyć nie tylko o swój wzrok i rodzinę, ale także o życie. A krąg podejrzanych zawęża się stopniowo do najbliższych jej ludzi…

Na stół sekcyjny Jacka Stapletona trafiają zwłoki pacjenta jednego z nowojorskich szpitali. Patolog ze zdumieniem konstatuje, że umarł on na…dżumę. Wkrótce podobne przypadki zaczynają się mnożyć, a choroby, z którymi styka się Stapleton, są coraz dziwniejsze. Wszystko wskazuje na celowe zarażenie. Zaniepokojony patolog wszczyna prywatne śledztwo. Wpada na trop iście makiawelicznej intrygi, w której istotną rolę odgrywa niezwykla, piękna kobieta…

Robins Kuks Šoks  Romāns / No angļu vai. tulk. Jānis Elsbergs. -R., “Apgāds “Kontinents””, 2002. - 413 lpp. - (Pasaules bestsellers). Sirdsdraudzenes Debora un Džoana atsaucas uz sludinājumu studentu avīzē, kurā solīts atrisināt viņu finansiālās problēmas: kāda īpaša un ļoti bagāta reproduktīvās medicīnas klīnika gatava maksāt milzu naudu pievilcīgām, slaidām, sportiskām un izglītotām olšūnu donorēm. Draudzenes priecājas, kad viņas tiek atzītas par derīgām Vingeita klīnikas donoru programmai. Klīnika un tās personāls atstāj uz viņām lielu iespaidu, un nopelnītā nauda palīdz abām pārvērst savu dzīvi. Tomēr Džoana nespēj pārvarēt vēlmi uzzināt, kāds liktenis bijis ziedotajām olšūnām. Sākotnējā abu draudzeņu ziņkāre pārvēršas par īstu apsēstību, cenšoties izlauzties cauri noslēpumainās klīnikas tēraudstiprajai drošības sistēmai. Viņas atklāj satraucošas nelikumības klīnikas darbā. Taču galīgā patiesība tālu pārsniedz visļaunāko, ko viņas vispār spējušas iedomāties

Немислимото се превръща в кошмарна действителност: въпросът е не дали, а кога катастрофата ще се стовари върху милиони нищо неподозиращи хора… Д-р Джак Степълтън и д-р Лори Монтгомъри (които познаваме от „Хромозома 6“ и „Заплаха“) се сблъскват с нови два странни случая в практиката си на съдебни патолози. Първата жертва, на която попадат, е Джейсън Папарис — заможен търговец на килими. Когато пристига и втората жертва — младият привърженик на „скинхедс“ Брад Касиди — лекарите все още не виждат никаква връзка между двата случая. Но не след дълго в хаоса започва да прозира система: това не са нещастни случаи, а преднамерени убийства с далечен прицел. А пред размаха и безчовечността на замисъла и най-хладнокръвният би потреперил от ужас. От Джак и Лори зависи дали ще успеят да сглобят пъзела навреме — преди да се е разразило непоправимото… В характерния си стил Р. Кук е създал хипнотична смес от въображение и реалност, основана върху последната дума на био-технологиите. „Вектор“ е сред най-доброто, създадено от краля на медицинския трилър

В Салеме, где когда-то безжалостно расправлялись с «ведьмами», вновь началась охота на людей… Снова и снова совершаются преступления, напоминающие жертвоприношения. Преступления, явно связанные с «дьявольским зельем» салемских ведьм, секрет которого веками считался утерянным. Неужели кто-то вновь открыл его? Кто?

Врачи, которые выбирают своей стезей патологоанатомию, обычно не слишком общительны. Вот и Арья Николс, интерн Нью-Йоркского университета, терпеть не может живых пациентов и даже коллег: импульсивную и резкую девушку раздражают их бесконечные беды и чаяния. Но во время стажировки в Бюро судебно-медицинской экспертизы ей приходится полностью пересмотреть собственные принципы: труп молодой женщины, оказавшийся перед стажеркой на столе для аутопсии, словно говорит с ней, взывая о помощи, умоляя докопаться до истины. Сумеет ли Арья расслышать подсказки жертвы и довести опасное дело до конца?

Убийства и интриги придобиват епидемични размери когато опустошителен вирус плъзва из най-добрите болници в Америка. Д-р Мариса Блументал е още нов „следовател" в Центъра за контрол върху опасните заболявания в Атланта, но тъкмо на нея се пада да дебютира по възможно най-стресиращия начин. За да спре светкавичното разпространение на смъртоносната зараза, тя ще трябва да открие причините за надвисналата катастрофа и да изясни защо най-страшното се случва тъкмо там, където изглежда най-невъзможно - в супермодерни клиники, сред елита на лекарското общество, в страната с най-напредналата медицинска наука в света... Това което научава, надхвърля дозата, здравословна за самата нея. Мариса не подозира, че ще се сблъска не само със зловещи находки, но и със зловещи замисли - с една от най-черните тайни на белите престилки... Както винаги, Кук не се бои да хвърли камък в средата на блатото и да извади на показ мрака под гладката повърхност... Стряскащ, актуален, плашещ... Кук е майстор

Денят дванадесети юни би приличал на всеки друг чудесен летен ден, ако не се броят три събития, които без видима връзка помежду си ще свържат по трагичен начин съдбите на десетки човешки същества: Двама изследователи се натъкват на зловеща находка във вечните ледове на Аляска; В Чикаго д-р Джак Степълтън изпраща семейството си на аерогарата… за да не го види никога повече; В Ню Йорк, в един от най-модерните медицински центрове, внезапно избухват серия смъртоносни епидемии с необясним произход. Спешните мерки не дават резултат. Над милиони надвисва смъртна ЗАПЛАХА…

Это похоже на эпидемию — от загадочной болезни гибнут дети и старики, молодые мужчины и цветущие женщины. Это похоже на кошмар — зараза расползается все дальше, и никакое лекарство не может ее остановить. Это похоже на заговор — эпицентр эпидемии находится там, где ей должны противостоять, — в больницах и клиниках... Кто создал смертельный вирус? Кто «выпустил его из пробирки»? И главное — чего добиваются неизвестные убийцы невинных людей и кто стоит за ними?

Суд признал анестезиолога Джеффри Роудса виновным в смерти его пациентки. Врач начинает собственное расследование — слишком много непонятного случилось во время операции. Водоворот событий не только выводит его на след убийцы, на счету у которого уже несколько жертв, но и круто меняет жизнь самого героя

Намесата на съвременната медицина в живота ни граничи с чудото. Наука и Вяра не за пръв път се срещат върху окървавеното бойно поле на хирургическата маса — ту като съюзници, ту като недоверчиви, дебнещи се противници… Д-р Джак Степълтън вижда тази битка всеки ден, но никога не е предполагал, че сам ще се изправи пред дилемата да вярва ли в своята наука, или да я предаде и да се уповава на чудо, посилно само на Господ… Защото собственото му дете — едва на няколко месеца — е белязано от страшна диагноза. Трийсет години след като е завършил колежа, Джак неочаквано среща двама бивши съученици. Единият — Шон Дотри — вече е именит археолог. Импулсивен, избухлив, амбициозен и напълно отдаден на кариерата си, той открива в един сук в Кайро древен ръкопис, чието съдържание може да го изстреля към върховете на световната слава и… да разтърси из основи и медицината, и вярата. Шон няма търпение да публикува резултатите от откритията си, преди те да попаднат в ръцете на другия стар приятел от училище — Джеймс, сега кардинал Джеймс О’Рурк, архиепископ на Ню Йорк. Разтревожен за собствените си политически амбиции и ужасен за съдбата на Католическата църква, кардинал О’Рурк се обръща към своя приятел Джак с молба заедно да опазят експлозивната тайна, която има силата да промени живота им завинаги. Никой от тримата не подозира пред какви изпитания ще се изправи…

Смразяващ динамичен трилър, който насочва въображението към тъмните страни на най-хуманната професия — лекарската. Млади хора, подложени на безобидни операции, стават жертва на необяснима трагедия. Несъвършенствата на медицината ли са причина за мозъчната смърт, която ги превръща в мекотели? Случайни ли са злощастните съвпадения в най-реномираната болница на Бостън? Единствено непокорната и дръзка чаровница Сюзан Уилър се осмелява да надникне в замисъла на един чудовищен експеримент

Студентка Сьюзен Уилер, попавшая на практику в престижный Бостонский госпиталь, обнаруживает странные случаи комы среди пациентов. Начав расследование на свой страх и риск, она раскрывает зловещий заговор и становится мишенью для таинственных недоброжелателей. Медицинский триллер ведущего автора этого жанра

Съдбата се усмихва на д-р Крейг Бауман — след години изтощителен труд всред конвейера от страдащи, той най-сетне е станал съдружник в скъпа частна практика. Сега има всичко — време за избрани пациенти, скъпа кола, красива любовница, а парите са много, наистина много! Но един слънчев следобед идилията ненадейно рухва — докторът е даден под съд за лекарска грешка, причинила смърт. На сцената се появява д-р Джак Степълтън, патолог от Ню Йорк, повикан от сестра си — съпругата на Крейг. Джак скланя да пътува до Бостън и предлага услугите си като експертен свидетел в помощ на изнемогващия адвокат на Крейг. Но когато Джак предлага да се ексхумира трупът, за да отпаднат най-сетне фалшивите обвинения, се отваря кутията на Пандора. Докато животът и кариерата на Крейг висят на косъм, Джак е на път да направи смайващо разкритие от изключително съдебно и медицинско значение. Но точно тогава се появяват хора, готови на всичко, за да го спрат

Поредица от странни, загадъчни случаи с фатален край в „Манхатън Дженерал“ — голямата общинска болница в Ню Йорк — потъват в необяснимо мълчание. Млади и здрави хора в разцвета на силите си умират внезапно и без каквато и да било видима причина, броени часове след безобидна операция. Няма лекарска грешка, няма постоперативни усложнения, нито една процедура не е нарушена. Нищо не показват и резултатите от токсикологичните анализи. Абсолютно нищо не подсказва толкова бърз и трагичен край. А зловещата серия не спира… Съдебните патолози д-р Лори Монтгомъри и д-р Джак Степълтън (които познаваме от романа „Заплаха“) са в епицентъра на напрежението и тук — в новия, двайсет и пети по ред супертрилър на Робин Кук. Въпреки явното нежелание на шефовете и скритата съпротива на персонала в центъра по Патологоанатомия да се „раздухва“ случая, Джак и Лори ще трябва да продължат разследването сами. Защото подозренията на Лори скоро се превръщат в увереност, че случаите не само са свързани, но и са дело на изключително находчив сериен убиец с необичаен мотив. И за да станат нещата още по-трудни, Лори трябва да се справи с две изпитания: точно когато личният й живот е пред катастрофа, самата тя попада в мрежата на хладнокръвния кукловод зад кулисите. Единственият човек, който й вярва и е готов да й помогне, също е зверски убит — сякаш за назидание на всеки, който дръзва да се доближи до истината. Времето изтича — Джак и Лори трябва да действат бързо и да свържат точките в скритата картинка, за да се измъкнат от смъртоносен капан

Все чаще пациенты крупной нью-йоркской больницы оказываются на столе патологоанатома Джека Стэплтона и его коллеги Лори Монтгомери. От остановки сердца внезапно умирает молодой человек, сломавший ногу. Затем — цветущая женщина, лечившая незначительную травму… И подобных случаев становится все больше. Казалось бы, у этих смертей — абсолютно естественные причины. Однако Джек и Лори считают: гибель пациентов не случайна. Неужели в больнице «работает» серийный убийца? Тогда по какому принципу он выбирает жертвы? И какой у него мотив? Чем ближе они подбираются к истине, тем большей опасности подвергают собственные жизни…