Acceptable Risk

Rating:
Summary: Intriguing plot--didn't live up to promise
Review: The more Robin Cook books I read, the more disappointed I get. This one is at the bottom of my list. The historical story providing the plot (the Salem witchcraft events were caused by poioning) is intriguing and, as his bibliography idicates, has some merit. However, he doesn't do it justice. Instead, he veers off into the predictable--the bad guys are all punished, and Our Little Heroine (Kim) comes away with Deep Insight into herself. Not to mention being reunited with her ex-boyfriend. It makes me a little nervous to think that Robin Cook is a doctor, considering his lack on insight into how people, particularly women, truly interact. At the beginning, Kim breaks things off with Kinnard (the ex she's reunited with at the end) because he skis and fishes. Yep, those are good reasons to me. On top of the unrealistic characters, there is the problem with the truly awful, wooden dialogue. No one talks like the characters do, not even the most pompous egotist. And things pretty much go down hill from there. It's a shame, because the premise of the book (both the historical aspects that the events in Salem in 1692 were due to ergot poisoning and the questions he raises about all problems being solved by popping a pill) are intriguing. The book just doesn't live up to its promise.

Rating:
Summary: AGood Read
Review: Acceptable Risk by Robin Cook

Kim and Edward lack self-confidence. That all changes as they discover more about Kim's family history involving witchcraft in the town of Salem three-hundred-years ago...

This was my first venture into the world of Robin Cook and I was pleasantly surprised. His research and story planning kept me wondering what way his plot was going to take me. The medical references did get a little laborious mid way into the book but it didn't distract from my enjoyment.

Without giving away the eventual outcome I did feel that some parts towards the end were predictable. He refers to certain things that let you know they will be crucial to the story line towards the end.
I found that his characters were strong enough for me to identify with and to be interested in them enough to wonder how they would develop as the story progressed. Do not expect an action-packed thriller. This story relies on investigation and suspense, definitely worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Just his style
Review: As all the medical thrillers written by R. Cook, this is amazing, and is amazing because after you read this book you will think twice if you want to take a medicine that affects your brain.
The story of Elizabeth was much better than the story of Ultra, but the story of Elizabeth was quite longer so you will be reading this book page after page, but think twice before taking any pill, and think it three times if you are pregnant.

Rating:
Summary: Wake me when its over
Review: This book put me to sleep. On the subway, in my living room, in my bed, wherever and whenever I glanced upon it. The story was slow in development and weak in substance. The characters were unengaging. Kim and Edward were stuffy and uninteresting, and if the main characters are not worth a damn, then what can possible be said of their story?

There were good parts. Particularly the discovery of the hallucinogen effects of the Rye, and the tying back to the witch trials. Also, when Kim finally did find something in the attic or cellar that gave her insight into her ancestor Elizabeth, the story did become exciting. But those parts were few and far between. I stopped 50 pages before the end to read the latest Michael Crichton and Dean Koontz works. Only then could I get the energy to pick up this literary sleeping pill and finish it up.

It was apparent that Robin just wanted to "Cook" up a story about how crazy it is to take experimental drugs. Well, he did, I guess. It just didn't pack a punch. As popular a writer he is, I assume this was just a fluke, but as of now I agree with another reviewer. This was also my first Robin Cook novel, and most likely my last.

Rating:
Summary: Didn't make it out of second gear.
Review: The most painfully slow book I've read in years. I don't think he made it out of first gear until about 3/4 the way through the book. With difficulty he finally shifted into second gear and by the end of the book was cruising at a not-so-exhilarating 30 miles an hour. The medical and scientific details are accurate and fairly well-written. The major subplots are "what's for dinner tonight," and "what will the plumber work on next." The dialogue is artificial and irritating. It reminds me of a dialogue from one of my third-grader's stories. Using words like "modicum" and "greasy spoon" I wonder if Mr. Cook could possibly have been born in the same century as the rest of us. I want my $7.00 back!

Rating:
Summary: wouldn't let me do 0 stars...
Review: I only read this book because a "friend" recommended it. I'll never speak to him again.
Horrible narrative, [horrible] plot, ridiculous characterization. There are way too many books out there to waste your time on this one. Quite possibly the worst book I've ever read.
I'm saddened at the state of American readership when I see all the positive responses here...

Rating:
Summary: Greed, Greed, Greed
Review: Robin Cook did a good job with her book about the Salem, Mass. witch claims and trials. She succeeds in tying the events of the 1600 witch claims with the greed of modern techology genius doctors together.
Kim Stewart learns that her aunt, Elizabeth Stewart was hanged as a witch 300+ years earlier. Kim's lover, Dr. Edward Armstrong thinks that he had the answer to why the young girls acted out in strange ways in 1679 which resulted in them being hanged as witches. He stated that the rye that was eaten at that time had molded and produce those strange hallcinagentic behavior in the Salem young girls. From that hypothesis he decided that he could use the mold and its sporos to develop a new drug for the 20th century to cure personality flaws.

The story was driven by greed from the money to be had from the new drug/s and Dr. Armstrong's desire to be the doctor of the 20th century. The Dr. Jeykell and Mr. Hyde senerio plays out. As you can imagine, things get pretty scary. By the close, no new drug is developed because the scientists blow that chance.

Rating:
Summary: Which witch is which?
Review: Unfortunately, I had seen the made-for-TV movie loosely based on this novel before reading it (though I did not realize that until I actually got into the book) so I sort of knew how it was going to end, but I was not completely disappointed.
While somewhat predictable (what, did you think the bad guys were going to get away with it?), Cook still manages to find a new villain and ties the present with the past in a believable fashion. A doctor, he knows what he's talking about but explains it understandably so those with no medical knowledge can follow along.
Realistic but exciting, definitely a good read.

Rating:
Summary: Okay story line - could lose 100 pages and the preachiness.
Review: The tying in of 17th century historical fiction in with the storyline of a 20th century business venture was cleverly done and perhaps what made this book more tolerable than it otherwise would have been.

The plot development was drawn out and dull (in my opinion, this was in order to better develop the characters.) This approach would have been viable if at the conclusion of the book the author spent any significant time bringing meaningful closure to the characters relative to the plot.

Unfortunately, as with the other Cook novels I have been exposed to, there is such an obvious 'moral to the story' that the author opts to spell out in such detail that it reads like one of those 'The More You Know' NBC PSA spots. If I wanted to have social critique or moral guidance prepared for me, I would turn on the evening news or PBS.

If I were the editor, I would have forced an opting of either finishing the character development after the denoument or drop 100 pages from the book.

Rating:
Summary: Riveting!
Review: The last third of the book will have you forsaking food, drink and carnal pleasures because you won't be able to put the book down!