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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN num: 9780425172995
ISBN number: 0425172996
Label: Berkley
Manufacturer: Berkley
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 416
Printing Date: January 01, 2000
Publishing house: Berkley
Sale Popularity Level: 169332
Studio: Berkley
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
New York cab driver Yuri Davydov is a disgruntled Russian immigrant ready to lash out at his adoptive nation, which he believes has denied him the American Dream. As a former technician in the Soviet Union's biological weapons system, Yuri knows how to wreak havoc in his new home. But before he executes his masterpiece of vengenance, he experiments very first on selected targets. Dr Jack Stapleton begins to witness some unusual cases in his capacity as forensic pathologist in the City medical examiner's office. A Greek immigrant apparently succumbs to sudden overwhelming pneumonia, while an obese Afro-American woman collapses with acute respiratory distress. When an unexpected coincidence suggest to Jack that these seemingly unrelated deaths are actually connected murders, his colleagues and superiors remain sceptical. Meanwhile he is taking himself deeper into deadly danger - but can he reach the heart of the puzzle before Davydov and his associates unleash into the streets of New York the ultimate terror: a modern bio-weapon!
Amazon.com Review:
Robin Cook's latest plot--the threat of an anthrax [bacterium] turned loose in a New York government building and in Central Park--is ripped straight from the headlines, and as such it may be charitably described as having a certain lumpish quality in the prose and an overabundance of cuteness in the lead characters.
Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery, the dueling forensic pathologists who bounced off each other in Cook's Chromosome 6, collide and combine once again as a mad Russian cabdriver, who used to work in a Moscow bioweapons factory, comes up with a plan to punish America for not welcoming him with open arms. The cabby forms an unlikely alliance with two firemen who happen to be white supremacists; they fund his anthrax research to further their own lunatic schemes.
Cook is, as ever, best at creating scenes of perfectly realized medical terror which plug into the paranoia of the moment. But if you want deep characters and sensitive description, read Fay Weldon. --Dick Adler
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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I never heard of this Cook character previously, but I heard there was a bioreactor in this novel, so I decided to check it out. I'm sorry I did. This book was totally unbelievable, not to mention poorly edited, if at all. If it weren't for what seemed to be dozens of so-called coincidences, the dots would never have been connected.
The only memorable part of the book was when Jack flipped Curt the middle finger during his 'sanctioning' in the middle of rush hour traffic.
What ever became of Paul Sutherland? Was he really the secret leader of the PAA?
Rated by buyers -
The author managed to create villians more evil than real life. Right wing skinheads commit the crime of skinning their victims alive. As a medical doctor, Robin Cook, should realize such an act would be an incredible amount of work for the criminal. I felt the writer was marketing his political agenda. Most people disagree with the extremist political views of skin heads/neo nazi types. However, it is not necessary for the author to demonize the fictional criminal to the point of losing credibility. The book has many sterotypical characters and I was not able to finish reading it. I put the book down in disgust. I also found the image of someone being skinned alive very distasteful. I will not even start another book written by this author. Robin Cook has gone too far.
Rated by buyers 
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This is supposed to be a gripping thriller about a medical examiner slowly uncovering a bioterrorism plot when a rug dealer turns up dead from inhalation anthrax. Cook's medical background means the scientific details are (mostly) accurate, so the book has that going for it. The plot has a neat twist at the end, but is still pretty cheesy. And the book was a quick read, which was good in this case, because the writing was so clunky, stilted, and inane that I could hardly believe it got published! Characters are cartoon cutouts whose traits are laid out for us so we don't have to figure it out for ourselves. Dialogue often has to serve to explain scientific and medical background, which means it doesn't sound real (a more skilled writer could have finessed it, I think). And weird levels of detail were inserted for no real reason. Finally, a bizarre little lecture as an author's note simply restates the obvious. This could have been a much better book if only Dr Cook had given his readers a little credit.
Rated by buyers -
This is the very first time I read a Robin Cook thriller and must admit I was glued to it for the most part. It's amazing that his bio-weapon attack scenario is not as bizarre, post 9-11 and this book was conceived much before that.
But the situations are sometimes too far-fetched that you cannot help thinking, "C'mon, gimme a break!". Filled with too many cliches and the plot and caharcters appear too "Nancy Drewish" to be taken seriously :)
But nevertheless it's worth a read and the ending has a "twist" that would surely add to the experience...
Rated by buyers -
I liked most of Cook's books. This one I skipped to the last pages having waded through 3/4 of it. I think there MUST be a way of getting a novel along other than the "I am a maverick doctor/lawyer/cop/engineer that will investigate this case to the end even if my bosses tell me it is closed because I am so emotionally involved with every single case that I cannot rest till I see it closed as I think it should". Then this guy JUST happens to be told about rats dying. And he JUST happens to get another case of the same type. And then (and this is simply so incredible that it is funny) he has this girl he is totally hot for in a romantic dinner together and they start talking about anthrax and botulism cases and then they go together to his house to...nononoo sorry, they both go off together (after desert of course) to talk to the husband of one of the victims to tell him to be careful with botulism!!! At night!!! In a loaned car!!! I mean, one cannot trust the agencies with that, no? And who can think about s*x when one is worried about botulism? Of course the husband is the russian bad guy. Add so many cliches about white trash and hip minorities you could sink a battleship, and you have this novel. Forget it. Read "Coma" instead, this book could induce you to a coma!
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