I enjoy things that I can read large chunks of in my 30 minute train commute and this type of book works perfectly. Not high literature but an entertaining read that allows me to think of something outside my life for a little while. ( )

Presumably stemming from Robin Cook's real life medical experiences, the medical practices presented in this book are very different from those presented in most other popular media, which I find quite charming. The doctors have strong and specific feelings about hospital policies and about their work that feel very lifelike. Jack Stapleton sets himself apart from other thriller protagonists in that, though he is medically skilled and relatively athletic, he is (very realistically) not well-equipped to deal with the kind of challenges that thriller protagonists often face. He's a cynic and a risk-taker, but mostly in ways that seem plausible for a doctor, so his character works quite well. At times, however, the book's realism does seem a little excessive. For instance, all the waiting tests to arrive in the mail, waiting for calls to arrive, and discussing uncertain diagnoses make it drag a little; and the medical jargon is pretty dense on the page, and is rarely accompanied by much explanation.
Cook could've done a better job setting up the stakes of the mystery at the heart of the novel. I didn't think that I cared about the solution until I actually read it--and while it's good that I ultimately came to appreciate the ending, you generally want the audience to be invested considerably earlier than that. The big problem with the mystery is that a lot of the investigation takes the form of asking "What illness is this" for a variety of diseases, so it doesn't feel like we get to the more interesting questions about the case, like "Who did it?" and "Why did they do this?" until very close to the end of the novel.
My biggest criticism of this book is that Cook seems uncomfortable or at least surprised by New York's multiculturalism and multiraciality. He can't just say "taxi driver," it has to be "Pakistani taxi driver" or "Russian emigre taxi driver." It seems like he points out the nationality or race of every character in his first description of them--except, presumably, the white people. The main character's boss isn't just a Black doctor, he's a Black doctor who could've become a football quarterback when he was younger. A big part of the main character being a risk-taker is that even though he's white, he takes the "risk" of riding a bicycle in New York, living in Harlem, and playing basketball with a group of Black gang members. In essence, it feels like he's supposed to be cool because he has Black friends. While Cook's description of the Black gangs is very sympathetic to them, it also draws on a number of harmful stereotypes to tell a story that is ultimately about a white man. This book is interesting in many ways, but it's treatment of race leaves something to be desired. ( )

Aterradora historia de advertencia para el milenio, ya que una epidemia mortal se propaga no solo por microbios, sino también por sabotaje.

like this series ( )

This book begins with an amateur pathologist, Dick, stumbling onto a deadly virus seemingly preserved for over a century in a sealed tomb in Alaska, then proceeds to chronicle several deadly disease outbreaks in modern-day New York. At first, the story seems completely predictable, however, the author throws several curveballs into the plot, the first of them being Dr. Jack Stapleton, a NY Medical Examiner who gets caught up in trying to figure out how and where these deadly pathogens are coming from. I found Jack to be a very frustrating character. He seems to have a death wish as he pursues investigating these mysteries while risking his job, his health, and his life. The book does get repetitious halfway through but picks up at the end with a lot of action. All in all, a pretty scary look into what can happen when a virus (like COVID-19) gets loose in the world. ( )