Cook, Robin 1940-

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Cook, Robin 1940-

PERSONAL:

Born May 4, 1940, in New York, NY; son of Edgar Lee (an artist) and Audrey Cook; married first wife, 1968 (marriage ended); married second wife, Barbara Ellen Mougin (an actress), July 18, 1979 (divorced, 1987). Education: Wesleyan University, B.A., 1962; Columbia University, M.D., 1966; postgraduate study at Harvard University. Hobbies and other interests: Skiing, surfing, painting, cooking.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Naples, FL. Agent—William Morris Agency, 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019.

CAREER:

Writer, doctor. Queen's Hospital, Honolulu, HI, resident in general surgery, 1966-68; Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Boston, MA, resident in ophthalmology, 1971-75, staff member, 1975—. Clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School, beginning 1972. Worked as a lab assistant for Jacques Cousteau in Monaco during the 1960s. Military service: U.S. Navy, 1969-71; became lieutenant commander.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

The Year of the Intern, Harcourt (New York, NY), 1972.

Coma, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1977.

Sphinx, Putnam (New York, NY), 1979, revised as Sphinx: Movie Edition, New American Library (New York, NY), 1981.

Brain, Putnam (New York, NY), 1981.

Fever, Putnam (New York, NY), 1982.

Godplayer, Putnam (New York, NY), 1983.

Mindbend, Putnam (New York, NY), 1985.

Outbreak (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1987.

Mortal Fear (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1988.

Mutation (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1989.

Harmful Intent (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1990.

Vital Signs (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1990.

Blindsight (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1991.

Terminal (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1992.

Fatal Cure (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1994.

Acceptable Risk (also see below), Putnam (New York, NY), 1995.

Contagion, Putnam (New York, NY), 1995.

Invasion, Berkley (New York, NY), 1997.

Chromosome 6, Putnam (New York, NY), 1997.

Toxin, Putnam (New York, NY), 1998.

Vector, Putnam (New York, NY), 1999.

Abduction, Berkley (New York, NY), 2000.

Shock, Putnam (New York, NY), 2001.

Seizure, Putnam (New York, NY), 2002.

Marker, Putnam (New York, NY), 2005.

Crisis, Putnam (New York, NY), 2006.

Critical, Putnam (New York, NY), 2007.

OMNIBUS VOLUMES

Three Complete Novels (contains Outbreak, Mortal Fear, and Mutation), Putnam (New York, NY), 1993.

Three Complete Novels (contains Harmful Intent, Vital Signs, and Blindsight), Putnam (New York, NY), 1994.

Robin Cook: Three Complete Novels (contains Terminal, Fatal Cure, and Acceptable Risk), Putnam (New York, NY), 1997.

Robin Cook: Three Complete Novels (contains Contagion, Invasion, and Chromosome 6), Putnam (New York, NY), 1999.

OTHER

Medicine and Ethics (sound recording), Encyclopedia Americana/CBS News Audio Resource Library (New York, NY), 1981.

Cook's works have been translated into Spanish.

ADAPTATIONS:

Coma was adapted for film and released by United Artists, 1978; Sphinx was adapted for film by John Byrum and released by Orion, 1981; Mutation was adapted for film and released by Warner Brothers, 1990; Outbreak was produced as the television movie Robin Cook's Virus, National Broadcasting System (NBC-TV), 1995 (the 1995 film Outbreak licensed Cook's title and was based on different material); Invasion was produced as the television movie Robin Cook's Invasion, NBC-TV, 1997; Acceptable Risk was produced as Robin Cook's Acceptable Risk, Turner Broadcasting System (TBS), 2001; motion picture rights have been purchased to Brain and Fever.

SIDELIGHTS:

Novelist and physician Robin Cook writes fiction that combines elements of the horror genre with explorations of contemporary medical issues and bioethics. His images of terror come less from bug-eyed monsters—although he has been known to create a few, notably in 1997's Invasion—than from the horrors that can arise from real-life medical issues, ranging from contagious viruses to malpractice. Beginning with the novel Coma, which hypothesizes a black market for human organs that leads to murder, Cook's characters are typically "vulnerable people … placed under the control of powerful, mysterious and potentially malevolent forces," according to Gary Westfahl in the St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost, and Gothic Writers. Cook once explained in the Washington Post that his approach to writing fiction was a calculated one: "I decided early on that I would couch my stories as thrillers. It was an opportunity to get the public interested in things about medicine they didn't seem to know about."

After his first published novel proved unprofitable, Cook, who had trained as a surgeon, researched the genre of the best seller. His subsequent work, Coma, proved a huge success. In it, he weaves a suspense tale revealing a black market in human organs. During her first day on the job at Boston Memorial Hospital, intern Susan Wheeler encounters mysterious deaths; she spends the rest of the novel trying to convince unbelieving police and hospital officials of the conspiracy, while being chased by the criminals. Charles J. Keffer, in Best Sellers, pronounced Coma "an absolutely fascinating story" whose descriptions of technical terms and medical procedures lead to deep reader involvement.

New York Times contributor Mel Watkins also admired Cook's skillful plot development, which thrusts the protagonist "into an escalating cycle of terrifying events that keep the action moving." Coma is, he continued, "a gripping, scarifying novel." Watkins also noted that Cook makes "unusual and entertaining use" of our enthrallment with the world of human medicine, portent of our own mortality. David Brudnoy expressed a similar observation in the National Review: "[Coma] strikes to the core of many people's queasiness about the current debate as to when death occurs," he commented. "By and large this is a horror story of the first order" and "a splendid read." "Along with its relentless pace and an almost-surprising final revelation," Westfahl remarked, "Coma succeeds largely because its author is manifestly used to working in hospitals and is conversant with their daily routines, varied personalities and petty politics, making the story seem completely plausible."

In another novel, Brain, Cook again uses his suspense formula. This time his hero is a neuroradiologist who discovers abnormalities in the brain scans of several young women who mysteriously disappear. The evidence eventually points to medical researchers run amok. "Shall I say, ‘I couldn't put the book down’?," ventured William A. Nolen in the Washington Post Book World. "Why not? It's true. Even though Brain is low-grade formula fiction … [it's] a damn fast read" and has "a plot with enough twists and turns to satisfy any reader." New York Times critic Christopher Lehmann-Haupt declared the novel "very cleverly plotted." And Rosalind Smith, writing in the Los Angeles Times Book Review, noted that Brain "is unnervingly plausible, deeply frightening—and possibly prophetic." She added: "The milieu of a large university medical center is rendered with exquisite accuracy, from the bureaucratic regulations victimizing both patients and personnel to the atmosphere of the operating rooms and the laboratories."

Fever, Cook's third medical thriller, "once again pits an individual against a corrupt and incredulous establishment," related Watkins. Medical researcher Dr. Charles Martel is being forced to work on a questionable cancer drug, his young daughter is dying of the disease, the factory upstream from his house is dumping benzene into a nearby river, and he is fighting to complete his own cancer research in time to save his child. Add bureaucratic stalling, company thugs, a kidnapping, and a siege. "Can an intelligent reader possibly believe all this stress and turmoil?" Lehmann-Haupt queried in the New York Times. He answered: "Dr. Cook … has the storytelling skill to seduce us away from intelligence. … By the time Fever began to deteriorate into absolute absurdity, I was having too good a time to be willing to notice." Watkins, also writing in the New York Times, likewise felt that the story suffers from "immoderately coincidental circumstances," but countered that "Dr. Cook's medical knowledge stands him in good stead and somewhat alleviates this novel's credibility problem. His descriptions of the interaction between doctors and patients are vivid and believable, as is his depiction of doctors' attitudes about cancer and its treatment. Not as tightly written as Coma, Fever is nonetheless gripping."

In the Washington Post Book World, Joseph McLellan contemplated the vast appeal of Cook's medical thrillers, proposing that "the horrible revelations about the medical establishment … are the real payoff for reading his books." He continued: "What makes you start reading Cook is the expectation of horror and a glimpse behind the scenes at the medical establishment. Cook discovered some time ago that for the average person an active, well-lit modern hospital is infinitely spookier than a dark old abandoned house." McLellan concluded: "It will be hard for all but the most dedicated literary purists to put [Fever] down once they have begun."

Boston Memorial Hospital is the familiar setting for Cook's fourth medical mystery, Godplayer. Amidst a hospital power struggle that pits resident doctors against private practitioners, eighteen cardiac surgery patients mysteriously die. Doctors Cassandra Kingsley and Robert Seibert investigate the deaths, uncovering such disturbing things as a drug-taking, knife-happy surgeon and lethal IVs. "There is enough going on here to engage one until the end," Jonathan Coleman wrote in the New York Times Book Review. "Dr. Cook is marvelous when he reveals the mysterious workings of the medical world." New York Times reviewer Lehmann-Haupt observed that "Robin Cook will grab any medical device he can to get a reader's attention…. What [he] knows—and all he needs to know—is the latest thing in medicine, be it technology or syndrome. But he also knows the shortcomings of doctors." Lehmann-Haupt also commented that while the author's prose may be "cliché," his clues obvious, and his characters wooden, "you get the feeling that … you are never going to be bored. You are willing to keep watching the cards even if you know they are going to drop from the performer's hand." Detroit News writer Leola Floren found Godplayer a suspenseful story "guaranteed to keep medical-mystery lovers poised on the sleek points of steel pins and flashing hypodermic needles."

A subversive plot to take over "the entire medical profession" by the pharmaceutical industry is the subject of Mindbend. Adam Schonberg, a third-year medical student already twenty thousand dollars in debt, feels forced to take a job with Arolin Pharmaceuticals when his wife becomes pregnant and quits her job. Adam unwittingly discovers that the medical seminars sponsored by his firm are a cover-up to brainwash physicians into prescribing Arolin's drugs. Furthermore, he learns that these physicians have begun working for a health maintenance clinic backed by the firm—the same clinic his pregnant wife is using. Washington Post Book World reviewer Michael A. Morrison, acknowledging the importance of examining the affects of business on medicine, credited Cook for writing on such "an important and timely subject," but believed in the end that the book fails to convey the message effectively because Cook "retreats from this issue." Chicago Tribune contributor Clarence Petersen, however, claimed the thrilling story line in Mindbend "is apt to keep you up reading all … night."

According to Washington Post Book World contributor Marjorie Williams, Cook's next mystery, Outbreak, includes a message about the potential power and danger in "the organized political clout of traditional medicine." Dr. Marissa Blumenthal has been assigned to uncover the cause of a deadly virus that is spreading across the United States. What she discovers is the mad plan of a group of doctors to undermine health maintenance organization (HMO) facilities by infecting unsuspecting HMO practitioners with the virus. The practitioners in turn pass the fatal and incurable disease on to their patients. Marissa is chased by several hit men while trying to find enough evidence to convince the authorities of the deadly scheme and stop the looming epidemic. While noting stylistic errors in Outbreak, New York Times Book Review contributor Donovan Fitzpatrick nevertheless asserted that "Mr. Cook is nimble at stitching together the ingredients of terror, suspense, intrigue and medical expertise." In a similar vein, Los Angeles Times Book Review critic and fellow novelist Jonathan Kellerman pointed out Cook's weakness in style and his stiff dialogue, but also predicted that "Outbreak will undoubtedly be a best seller."

Cook tackles the abuses of medical research in his ninth novel, Mortal Fear. Freelance medical researcher Dr. Alvin Hayes, on assignment with a Boston health clinic, accidentally discovers a death hormone. After the discovery he becomes convinced someone is trying to kill him. Seeking help, Hayes confides in Dr. Jason Howard, the acting chief of medicine at the clinic, but abruptly dies before he finishes divulging the informa- tion. At the same time, many previously healthy patients at the Boston health clinic have been aging rapidly and dying. Howard begins investigating Hayes's research, connects the discovery to the recent death of healthy patients, and is subsequently chased by a psychopathic hit man. "This is Cook's best book since his first novel, Coma," declared Susan Toepfer in People. Tribune Books writer Randall K. Packer praised Cook's "flare for description," adding that his writing is "rich in powerful imagery, and medical definitions are detailed yet easily understandable." "While the author's passion for detail provides some of the most engrossing passages in Mortal Fear," continued Packer, "it's also responsible for some dull repetition." Larry Thompson, writing in the Washington Post, criticized Cook's flaws in logic and stiff characters but hailed his "clean, economical writing style that holds the reader's attention and clearly explains complex science without taxing the mind."

Harmful Intent exposes Cook's feelings concerning malpractice issues in the field of medicine. Jeffrey Rhodes, an anesthesiologist, is sued and then convicted of murder when one of his patients dies after a routine anesthetic injection. Determined to clear his record, Rhodes jumps bail, disguises himself, and takes a position as a janitor in the hospital to investigate the death. With the aid of a nurse, he discovers that he and other doctors are being framed for the deaths. The killer who is benefiting from the court cases pursues Rhodes, attempting to eliminate him too. In an interview for Bestsellers 90, Cook explained the purpose of this book: "I wanted the public to view this medical malpractice situation from a different perspective, because the public has a gross misconception about what this medical malpractice problem is." While the critics were less impressed with this book, it fared well with the public; Harmful Intent stayed on the New York Times best-seller list for more than a month.

Vital Signs, Cook's eleventh thriller, features Marissa Blumenthal, the pediatrician and somewhat unwilling detective from the 1987 Outbreak. Here she suspects medical shenanigans with fertility treatments for infertile parents. Teaming up with friend Wendy Wilson, she breaks into the computer files of the suspicious fertility clinic. This only begins a search that goes international, to an affiliate of the same clinic in Australia, and then on to Hong Kong and China. People critic Susan Toepfer was not impressed with the foreign locales, noting that "the action becomes so improbable that one suspects the author was simply trying to justify his overseas expenses." Publishers Weekly reviewer Sybil Steinberg found more to like in the book, though, concluding: "As always, Cook enlivens predictable action and shallow characterization with medical expertise and timely subject matter."

With his 1991 novel Blindsight, Cook introduces Dr. Laurie Montgomery, a forensic pathologist who works in the New York City Medical Examiner's office. Montgomery, whom Cook has reprised numerous times since, has uncovered what she believes to be a pattern of serial killings. Otherwise highly motivated people with no history of drug abuse are suddenly turning up dead of cocaine overdoses. Montgomery, however, has difficulty convincing her supervisor that these are killings. He, along with a homicide detective Montgomery is involved with, are more interested in a series of mob killings. Montgomery also has an ophthalmologist in her life, and it just so happens that one of his patients is the mob boss behind both the cocaine deaths and the series of mob killings. This twelfth effort from Cook was not as well received as some of his other books. A Publishers Weekly contributor termed it an "amateurish effort," complaining of "a plot so ludicrous that the weak characters and silly dialogue are all too obvious."

Terminal, Cook's 1992 offering, focuses on a cancer research center in Florida that is really not what it seems. Harvard Medical School graduate Sean Murphy elects to spend his internship at this Miami clinic renowned for its high remission rate in brain cancer patients. He thinks he is the most fortunate new MD in the world until he begins to sense sinister agendas in back of the clinic, and he becomes even more upset when the Japanese backers of the venture send a hit man to take care of him for having become a nuisance with his questions. Aided by a nurse, Janet Reardon, who has followed Murphy down from Boston, the two try to get the bottom of the real business of the clinic before they find themselves at the bottom of the ocean. Though complaining of one-dimensional characterizations, a Publishers Weekly writer also noted that Cook "lures us into his newest medical thriller easily and sustains our interest until the very end, despite lots of medispeak." Lorenzo Carcaterra, writing in People, also noted the book's deficiencies but had praise for the "tight" plot, which "provides a fast, painless and enjoyable lesson in the excesses of scientific research."

Cook's 1994 Fatal Cure takes on the HMO industry. A rash of deaths at a Vermont hospital make David and Angela Wilson, married doctors, wonder what is going on. It turns out that many of those who died in fact left sizeable sums to the hospital in their wills, and from there the doctors-turned-sleuths track down the perpetrator. Though as successful in terms of sales as many of his other titles, Fatal Cure was little appreciated by the critics. Booklist contributor Ray Olson found it a "rather soporific performance," while a Publishers Weekly reviewer concluded, "It's difficult to get emotionally involved in a scenario as improbable as this one."

In 1997 came a double dose of Cook: the simultaneous launch of the novel Invasion and the premier of its television adaptation. Invasion plays to the science fiction as well as the horror audience by detailing the slow, terrifying metamorphosis of humans unlucky enough to have made contact with contagion-tinged mysterious black rocks that fell from the sky. As a group of college students attempts to find out the origin of the space virus, one of the victims is transformed into a commander of extraterrestrials intent on dominating humans. Unfortunately, wrote Entertainment Weekly contributors Bruce Fretts and Kristin Baldwin, Cook's plot "has holes so big you could fly a spaceship through them." Similarly unimpressed with Invasion was a Publishers Weekly critic who compared the novel to the script for the made-for-television movie derived from the book, noting that "you can almost hear the director yelling ‘Cut and print’ at the end of each chapter." Still, fans of Cook "will revel in this story," wrote William Beatty in Booklist.

In Chromosome 6 Cook relates the mysterious circumstances surrounding the murder of mafia boss Carlo Franconi. Franconi's corpse disappears from the morgue, only to be found later in a mutilated condition. Dr. Jack Stapleton, working for the morgue, attempts to track down the killer and mutilator of the body. Stapleton returns in Vector, in which he attempts to track down a killer who is testing a new biomedical weapon on various victims. Knowing the killer could unleash the weapon on New York City, Stapleton and cohort Dr. Laurie Montgomery become involved in a race against time. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly, while noting that the "biotechnology research is rewarding, the pace is … pleasingly hectic, and some of the characters are well drawn," also felt that the "spine-tingling premise is undermined by a disappointing plot." A reviewer for Booklist, however, felt that "Vector is Cook at his best, providing both thrills and an urgent message."

Dr. Stapleton appears in two more thrillers by Cook: Marker and Crisis. Cook "is in top form" in Marker, according to a Publishers Weekly critic. The author parallels a story between Montgomery and Stapleton, who are arguing about having children, with a story about homicides posing as accidental deaths at the local hospital. Meanwhile, not only is Montgomery worried she is getting too old to bear children, but her doctor informs her she has the gene that makes her more likely to have breast cancer. "Fans of Cook's previous thrillers will be happy to see the return of two popular characters," Kristine Huntley predicted in her Booklist review, while the Publishers Weekly contributor appreciated the "electric edge-of-the-seat finale."

In Crisis Stapleton appears once again as a medical examiner, but the plot is more centered on Dr. Craig Bowman, who has to go to court after being accused of negligence when one of his patients dies. Thus, Crisis is somewhat different from Cook's usual medical thrillers in that it spends much of its time in the courtroom. Stapleton is the brother of Bowman's wife, which is why he gets called in to help. He soon discovers some evidence that may point to Bowman's innocence. While a Publishers Weekly critic felt that a plot flaw in the story "lessens the suspense," the reviewer predicted that "most readers should enjoy the ride."

In Toxin, Dr. Kim Reggis's young daughter unexpectedly dies from E. coli contamination after eating a fast food meal. Outraged and stunned, Dr. Reggis attempts to avenge his daughter's death and uncovers an unholy alliance between the beef industry and the United States Department of Agriculture. When those in the industry who seek to maintain the status quo learn of the doctor's investigations, the stakes are raised and the young girl's accidental death leads to more sinister threats of murder, forcing the doctor to leave the country. A reviewer for the Economist compared the book to Upton Sinclair's influential The Jungle in terms of subject matter, but not in execution. Calling the plot "unlikely," the reviewer likened the characters to "cartoons." Though Library Journal critic Joanna M. Burkhardt likewise thought the characters were undeveloped, she wrote that the "technical, medical, and clinical details … are precise and convincing."

The undersea civilization of Saranta—a land reputed to be more beautiful than Atlantis—is the focus of Abduction, Cook's novel about a marine science experiment gone awry. Less medically based than his other novels, Abduction concerns the residents of Saranta, who welcome Perry Bergman, the founder of a company heading an extensive and risky underwater expedition when his submersible craft sinks to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The marine setting may seem perplexing to some Cook readers, but Cook worked as a lab assistant for explorer Jacques Cousteau while in medical school and also served on a submarine while in the navy. The novel received mixed reviews, though a reviewer for Publishers Weekly praised the novel's "fast-paced action and intriguing details about Saranta."

Cook explores the downside of human cloning and egg donation in Shock. Best friends Deborah and Joanna sell their eggs to a prestigious fertility clinic for enough money to travel to Italy and buy a condo in Boston. A year later, however, they become obsessed by the need to know what happened to their eggs, and they land jobs at the Wingate Clinic under assumed names in order to find out the truth. Nothing is as benign as it first seems, and soon the women uncover a highly unethical operation involving animal and human experimentation. Critical reaction to the book was often unfavorable; a reviewer for Publishers Weekly, for example, called the book a "medical and literary mess," with parallels to The Island of Dr. Moreau.

With the novel Seizure, the author tackles a similar controversial topic: the use of stem cells to cure disease. In this complex story, Daniel Lowell has cofounded a biotechnology company researching stem cells in medicine. A U.S. senator named Ashley Butler is against such research in public, but in private he approaches Lowell to see if the doctor can use the technology to cure him of Parkinson's disease. In a strange twist, he also requests that some of the blood from the Shroud of Turin—the religious artifact that supposedly covered the body of Christ—be used to extract stem cells. In order to fulfill the senator's odd request, Lowell and his partner and girlfriend, Stephanie D'Agostino, must not only treat him outside the United States but also get the Catholic Church's cooperation to help. A Publishers Weekly reviewer felt that "Cook constructs a promising yet ultimately wearying plot." While some critics remarked that the premise of Seizure is rather unlikely, Huntley, writing again in Booklist, enjoyed the "fascinating, cutting-edge biotechnology procedures" the author describes.

With his 2007 title, Critical, Cook again features New York City medical examiner Laurie Montgomery, who is trying to track the source of a spike in infection deaths in the city. She ultimately narrows her search to three hospitals owned by Angels Healthcare, an HMO that specializes in lucrative surgeries on patients who have top-notch insurance plans. In fact, Montgomery's husband, Jack Stapleton, who injured his knee in a basketball game, is scheduled for an ACL surgery at one of these same hospitals. Angel Healthcare cannot afford any adverse publicity at this juncture, for it is on the verge of becoming a public corporation. Its chief, Angela Dawson, a doctor who once before failed in the clinic business, and her main financial backer, a Mafia boss, are not about to let Montgomery or anybody else ruin their cash cow with an investigation of staph infection deaths following surgery. A Publishers Weekly reviewer called Critical a "lively … thriller," further noting that it was "an entertaining mix of suspense, action and education about medical issues." Similarly, Booklist contributor Huntley felt the "medical mysteries and dangers the characters face should keep readers invested." For a Kirkus Reviews critic the same work contains "mild tension, easily relieved," but Library Journal contributor A.J. Wright had a higher assessment of the novel, commenting: "Once again, Cook combines many standard elements of the genre: individual crusading physicians, a disease threat, large and intimidating public and private health institutions, plenty of jargon, and criminal conspiracies."

"The man who put the scare in managed care," as he was called in a People profile, Cook told interviewer Nancy Jo Sales that a medical thriller "capture[s] … the mystery [and] the gothic elements" of all thrillers. "If you read scary medical stories in the newspapers, you know you are at risk," said Cook. While Cook "is always careful to include more thrills than lectures," concluded Westfahl, "he still runs the risk, like any polemicist, of becoming shrill and repetitive in warning about the dangers of unrestrained doctors and profit-hungry hospitals. Then again, given our society's ongoing fascination with medical matters … there may always arise new concerns and peril to provide Cook with fresh material for terrifying fiction leavened with argument."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Bestsellers 90, Issue 2, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1990.

Contemporary Literary Criticism, Volume 14, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1980.

Contemporary Popular Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1997.

Newsmakers, Issue 3, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1996.

St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost, and Gothic Writers, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1998.

PERIODICALS

American Health, September, 1989, review of Fever, p. 82.

Best Sellers, June, 1977, Charles J. Keffer, review of Coma, p. 67.

Book, September, 2003, review of Seizure, p. 27.

Booklist, January 1, 1994, Ray Olson, review of Fatal Cure, p. 787; March 1, 1997, William Beatty, review of Invasion, p. 1067; February 19, 1999, review of Vector, p. 1002; June 1, 2003, Kristine Huntley, review of Seizure, p. 1709; April 15, 2005, Kristine Huntley, review of Marker, p. 1413; June 1, 2006, Kristine Huntley, review of Crisis, p. 4; May 15, 2007, Kristine Huntley, review of Critical, p. 5.

Boston Globe, June 9, 2005, Julie Hatfield, review of Marker.

Boston Magazine, January, 1993, review of Terminal, pp. 71, 75.

Chicago Tribune, January 12, 1986, Clarence Petersen, review of Mindbend, p. 39.

Detroit News, July 10, 1983, Leola Floren, review of Godplayer.

Economist, April 25, 1998, review of Toxin, p. 82.

Entertainment Weekly, May 2, 1997, Bruce Fretts and Kristin Baldwin, review of Invasion, pp. 48-50.

Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2003, review of Seizure, p. 820; June 1, 2007, review of Critical.

Library Journal, February 15, 1999, Joanna M. Burkhardt, review of Toxin, p. 202; July 1, 2007, A.J. Wright, review of Critical, p. 73.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, February 1, 1981. Rosalind Smith, review of Brain; August 28, 1983, review of Godplayer, p. 9; February 15, 1987, Jonathan Kellerman, review of Outbreak, p. 4.

National Review, August 5, 1977, David Brudnoy, review of Coma, p. 899.

New York Times, May 14, 1977, Mel Watkins, review of Coma, p. 17; February 17, 1981, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, review of Brain; February 12, 1982, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, review of Fever, p. C31; March 7, 1982, Mel Watkins, review of Fever, p. A23; July 11, 1983, Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, review of Godplayer, p. C16; February 5, 1987, review of Outbreak.

New York Times Book Review, May 8, 1977, review of Coma, p. 14; May 13, 1979, review of Sphinx, p. 23; March 1, 1981, review of Brain, p. 12; March 7, 1982, review of Fever, p. 23; July 24, 1983, Jonathan Coleman, review of Godplayer, p. 11; February 22, 1987, Donovan Fitzpatrick, review of Outbreak, p. 28; April 10, 1988, review of Mortal Fear, p. 32; February 19, 1989, review of Mutation, p. 20; February 11, 1990, review of Harmful Intent, p. 15; December 16, 1990, review of Vital Signs, p. 12; December 13, 1992, review of Terminal, p. 17.

People, January 11, 1988, Susan Toepfer, review of Mortal Fear; February 13, 1989, Ralph Novak, review of Mutation, p. 35; February 11, 1991, Susan Toepfer, review of Vital Signs, p. 22; February 15, 1993, Lorenzo Carcaterra, review of Terminal, p. 33; November 21, 1994, review of Fatal Cure, p. 18; February 12, 1996, Nancy Jo Sales, "The Doctor Is On," p. 19; May 5, 1997, review of Chromosome 6, p. 17.

Publishers Weekly, November 10, 1989, review of Mutation; November 23, 1990, Sybil Steinberg, review of Vital Signs, p. 55; November 15, 1991, review of Blindsight, pp. 62-63; November 9, 1992, review of Terminal, p. 72; December 13, 1993, review of Fatal Cure, p. 64; March 3, 1997, review of Invasion, p. 71; February 22, 1999, review of Vector, p. 68; October 23, 2000, review of Abduction, p. 62; August 27, 2001, review of Shock, p. 55; June 23, 2003, review of Seizure, p. 48; April 25, 2005, review of Marker, p. 40; May 29, 2006, review of Crisis, p. 36; June 11, 2007, review of Critical, p. 39.

Time, March 30, 1987, review of Outbreak, p. 73; January 22, 1996, review of Contagion, p. 16; March 3, 1997, review of Chromosome 6, p. 71.

Times Literary Supplement, May 1, 1981, review of Brain, p. 484.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), January 10, 1988, Randall K. Packer, review of Mortal Fear, p. 4.

Washington Post, April 29, 1985, Robin Cook interview, pp. C1-2; January 8, 1988, Larry Thompson, review of Mortal Fear, p. C3.

Washington Post Book World, May 18, 1979, review of Sphinx; March 8, 1981, William A. Nolen, review of Brain, p. 3; February 20, 1982, Joseph McLellan, review of Fever; July 3, 1983, review of Godplayer, p. 6; March 26, 1985, Michael A. Morrison, review of Mindbend; December 15, 1987, Marjorie Williams, review of Outbreak, p. 5; February 15, 1989, review of Mutation, p. 5.