16 February 2012

Forgotten Book: HARMFUL INTENT, Robin Cook

For many of my contributions this year to Pattinase's Friday's Forgotten Books I am going to focus on the books I read 20 years ago in 1992. By then my reading diet was almost exclusively crime fiction.

Having said that, Robin Cook's were at that stage medical suspense thrillers, so they had a touch of crime to them.  I had already begun reading them prior to 1992, but I began the year with HARMFUL INTENT and then MUTATION.

Synopsis (from Robin Cook's site)

Harmful Intent (published 1990)

A physician turned fugitive must save himself and stop a lethal drug-tampering plot in Robin Cook's most disturbing techno-chiller yet.

Anesthesiologist Dr. Jeffrey Rhodes's nightmare begins with nerve-shattering swiftness, but it will haunt him always: he administers routine anesthesia during a normal birth. Suddenly the young, healthy mother goes into inexplicable seizures and dies; her infant survives but is severely disabled and brain damaged. But the living nightmare is only beginning: sued first for malpractice, then brought up on criminal charges, Jeffrey is convicted of malpractice—to the tune of $11 million—then of harmful intent and reckless disregard for human life...second-degree murder carrying a mandatory prison term.  more

Mutation (published 1989)

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.  more

Interested in more by Robin Cook?

He's still writing and published DEATH BENEFIT, a novel about private health insurance and unchecked greed, in 2011.

I haven't read any of his for some years now. I think I just grew away from them.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kerrie - Oh, I haven't thought of this one in a long time, myself! Like you, I read some of Cook's work but haven't in quite a while.

Maxine Clarke said...

I read all his books after Coma, but eventually they got to "same as each other point" & I stopped. I think I switched to Michael Palmer for a while, who also writes medical thrillers. I am sure I must have read these two in your post but I can't remember them in any detail.

David Harry said...

I believe "Harmful Intent" was also published in 1989, but I might be mistaken. Thanks for sharing it! Robin cook is always a good choice.

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