This week's edition of Friday's Forgotten Books is being hosted by George Kelley.
1990 was the year I had a wallow in Robin Cook's novels according to my little green book.
COMA (published in 1977) wasn't the first one I read, but then I wasn't as hooked on reading books in order of publication back then.
COMA laid down a successful plot style for the author. Many of Robin Cook's 30 titles could be classified as medical thrillers, a reflection of his medical training and his career path. It was a style of book I eventually moved away from reading, but I obviously loved them 20 years ago.
Basically the story revolves around the higher than usual incidence of patients slipping into a coma occurring in a Boston hospital, and then the use of their bodies for blackmarketing in body parts.
The book was a New York Times best seller and was also voted as the number one thriller of the year by the New York Times.
It was made into a highly successful film, Coma by Michael Crichton in 1978.There's even a study guide if you want one.
Titles to check (from Fantastic Fiction)
The Year of the Intern (1972)
Coma (1977)
Brain (1979)
Sphinx (1979)
Fever (1982)
Godplayer (1983)
Mindbend (1985)
Outbreak (1987)
Mortal Fear (1988)
Harmful Intent (1989)
Mutation (1989)
Vital Signs (1990)
Terminal (1992)
Fatal Cure (1993)
Acceptable Risk (1994)
Invasion (1997)
Toxin (1997)
Abduction (1999)
Shock (2000)
Seizure (2002)
Jack Stapleton / Laurie Montgomery
1. Blindsight (1991)
2. Contagion (1995)
3. Chromosome 6 (1997)
4. Vector (1999)
5. Marker (2005)
6. Crisis (2006)
7. Critical (2007)
8. Foreign Body (2008)
9. Intervention (2009)
10. Cure (2010)
I did like this one - written before Cook went all crazy/preachy on us poor readers. It builds up a real sense of cloying paranoia. And it was a good film too which is not always the case with adaptations - and it has the bonus of containing an early appearance by one of my favourite actors of all time - Ed Harris (in a very small role)
ReplyDeleteKerrie - I agree with Bernadette; this was a good one. In the last years, Cook's become a shadow of his former self, but in this one, there's a real sense of urgency and suspense. A good plot, too.
ReplyDeleteI knew there were some good reasons why I had stopped reading him
ReplyDeleteCheck the link here
ReplyDeleteI loved the movie version of COMA way back when.
ReplyDelete