Seizure

Rating:
Summary: Skip this one - did Robin Cook even write it?
Review: Hiss-boo! This one is the worst Cook ever.

There are NO likeable characters = no one to care about, they all stink. Everyone is just plain stupid too - they make one mistake after another, few of them plausable.

The whole shroud of Turin plot angle is just plain BOGUS! I guess the author wanted to write off a trip to Europe/Turin as "research" since this adds nothing to the book.

There are lots of problems with this book, please skip it and find something better to read.

Rating:
Summary: Not one of Cook's better novels
Review: Because the release of the book "Seizure" was delayed for a long time, I had built up a lot of anticipation for it. I was disappointed. This is definitely not one of Cook's better novels.

Conservative senator Ashley Butler, stricken with Parkinson's, strikes a deal with Daniel Lowell, founder of a biotech company on the verge of a breakthrough in therapeutic cloning. Butler will aid, rather than oppose, the legalization of the groundbreaking cloning technique if he can be the first unauthorized human recipient of the treatment. The preparation for the surgery takes up almost the entire book. The procedure itself and its dire consequences come so late in the story that they are anticlimactic. The ending is predictable.

There are many preposterous subplots and secondary characters that further dilute an already weak plot. These include use of blood from the shroud of Turin for the cloning (and the Keystone Kops attempt of the Catholic Church to prevent it), a bumbling group of mobsters that try to foil the procedure for their own misguided reasons, and the interactions between Lowell and the greedy owners of the Bahamian clinic where the procedure is to take place.

Although the issues surrounding stem cell research and medical ethics are thought-provoking, this story is nothing more than a platform to present them. Cook does not miss the opportunity at every turn to remind us of the good and bad uses of cloning and the evils of political interference in medical research. If you are a medical thriller junkie, you will probably read this novel in spite of the poor reviews it has gotten on Amazon. But remember that I warned you!

Rating:
Summary: No stars
Review: This book was so boring; I could not make myself read it. It was on my desk for 6 weeks, I would read a sentence and leave it there. Finally, I just skimmed trough pages.
No plot, no characters, no action, to excitement, no suspense, medically incorrect, technically unbelievable - total waste.

Rating:
Summary: (1 1/2) A BARELY READABLE STORY From A Talented Author
Review: If you fall into one of the following four categories you might be considering reading this book, but BEWARE, with the possible exception of number four you will in all likelihood be very disappointed. First, you are a diehard Robin Cook Fan. Second, you read SHOCK and understand that Spencer Wingate and his cohorts at the Wingate Clinic play a relatively small but central role in this book. Third, you are interested in the medical aspects and the ethical debate concerning cloning and stem cell research. Last, you are a speed reader who only skims most novels for the central element of the plot and are not bothered by unlikable characters and uneven writing.

The plot is as described in other reviews and on the book jacket. Dr. Daniel Lowell, a brilliant medical researcher (previously employed by Merck) resigns the Harvard faculty to start his own biotech firm. He is joined by his younger associate, Stephanie D'Agostino, with the hope of commercializing a procedure developed by Daniel, HTSR (Homologous Transgenic Segmental Recombination). Their future is threatened when the powerful Senator Ashley Butler threatens to introduce legislation banning the procedure at a time when Daniel's firm is in need of a further cash infusion from his venture capital backers. Meanwhile, Senator Butler's staff research has led him to believe that the HTSR treatment might successfully provide a cure for his recently diagnosed but rapidly progressing Parkinson's Disease. (Since it would threaten his political career, his disease has been a closely kept secret, known only to his long time aide Carol Manning and his physician.) There are several subplots including a DNA sample extracted from a fragment of the Shroud of Turin, the use of the facilities of the Wingate clinic (which has relocated to the Bahamas), and Stephanie's family connections to the Boston Mob (in an unbelievable use of stereotyping).

As the author has explained, he views himself as writing "faction", and wants to use his books to inform and enlighten, as well as preach whatever happens to be his message of the moment. However, he has apparently forgotten that his stories should also be interesting and entertaining. He claims that he needed to research the political aspects of this book in D.C., and yet the political insights are minimal. The information on the Shroud of Turin was new to me, but the segments on therapeutic cloning were much too technical and lengthy to maintain my interest. Thus a story with several potentially interesting subplots and which had the potential to involve an interesting discussion of the potential ethical dilemmas involved in biotech experimentation tried to do too much and as a result accomplished almost nothing.

In addition, without exception the characters were totally unlikable stereotypes and caricatures. Daniel was a selfish individual lacking in judgment who was only interested in fame and fortune; the Catholic clergy were primarily interested in their political goals; Senator Butler was a totally self-centered fraud, Stephanie was portrayed as the typical female companion who was too weak to resist Daniel's and the Senator's plan even though her instincts and her intuition told her it was wrong and would probably fail; finally, the distractions caused by her family had no discernible purpose except to lengthen the book. And if you plan to read this book to find out what happened to Spencer Wingate, Paul Saunders and Kurt Hermann you will be disappointed as well. Even the dialog and the writng style seem unnatural for much of the book.

The only reasons I rounded up my rating are that there are a few moments of real tension if you plough through the whole book, there is some interesting information presented about the controversy concerning therapeutic cloning, and the plot has promise (although unfulfilled). So , if you fit into category four at the begining of my review, you might find this book marginally worthwhile. Unfortunately, I got over my disappointment with the author's last few books (since I used to be a big fan of his) and read this in my usual thorough style, only to be disappointed once again.

Rating:
Summary: Agree with the others
Review: I am a dedicated Robin Cook fan. However this novel was awful. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen. The ending is contrived and we never get to hear any more about the characters. I will continue to read his books, but this one was really bad...

Rating:
Summary: WHERE IS THE SEQUEL
Review: I used to read a Robin Cook book in one sitting, this one took forever. Too technical, too much of his own agenda, and an ending that was unbelievably quick. No loose ends tied up.

This book has got to have a sequel, but I wish if a book is going to be a two parter, that I be warned in advance.

Rating:
Summary: It almost gave me one
Review: Robin Cook's thrillers used to pace the genre, worthy of praise like "heart-pounding" and "pulse-racing"...but this book was so wooden, it was dead on arrival. I don't know why the dialogue was so poorly written (the characters never used contractions, and frequently made ridiculous exclamations, like 'my heavens!'), the plot incredibly slow to take shape and the twists telegraphed chapters in advance. Finally, the rapid climax is so unexpected, it feels like half the book is missing and Cook had to get the title to his publisher.

Frankly, this was a parody of a good Robin Cook work...the ethics he promises to examine are explored mostly in the afterword. If you want to read this book, just take two minutes and look at the flap jacket--that's the entire story, right there. Just terrible.

Rating:
Summary: Another formula plot from the previously brilliant Dr. Cook
Review: Please, Robin Cook, in your apparent effort to raise awareness about stem cell research (with which I happen to agree), you have potentially misrepresented temporal lobe epilepsy as some kind of grotesque, aggressive, Frankensteinian disease which it is NOT. TLE is almost never violent, and is highly treatable with common anticonvulsants. I think you may have done more to scare people from epilepsy than to tweak their interests about stem cells.
I used to be glued to your earlier books, but the predictablity has increased and your newer books are almost tedious. Please, also, stop being so condescending about explaining every little nuance of technology.
Susan Daly Schneider, MD, MLS

Rating:
Summary: BORING!!
Review: This book is boring!! Don't bother...Also WAY too preachy about medical ethics and Dr. Cook's personal beliefs. I kept reading and hoping but the book never delivers. Too many attempts at an interesting story; the congressman, the researchers, the Italian family -that just don't hold together. Read Cook's MUCH MUCH earlier works (e.g. COMA) if you want a good medical thriller. Or try Michael Palmer's work!

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I think all the ingredients for a great book were here, but somehow they just didn't come together. The idea of therapeutic cloning, egotistical doctors and politicians, and the Shroud of Turin never really took off. And by the way, the dust cover tells the whole story. You're almost done with the book before you ever see the word seizure. I'm still a fan, but I'm glad I got it at the library instead of paying full price.