Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good, but the ending made me throw the book down!
Review: This was a good book, but it definitely had three problems. 1- The multi-personality doc was unbelievable, resembling a whiny superhero. 2- The writing was so contrary. Cook has a large vocabulary, even sometimes he's too perfect with the grammar in the conversation. Yet, most of the dialogue is followed by "Tracy said, Reggis said, Tracy said, Becky said, Kelly said". Does Cook know of any other word to use besides "said" after quotation? And the third problem was the ENDING! It ruined the book AND cost the book two stars on my rating. My hand was turning the pages at a mile a minute and then stopped at the ending. The story just fell into an empty space, not resolving the problem, no conclusion, nothing. UGH! I threw the book down in disgust. Now you're asking why did I rate it with 3 stars. I couldn't put the book down (until the end, explained earlier). Cook's use of setting, conflict, and description was phenomenal. I really felt like I was in the scenes. The author merged a narrative medical drama with expository information about the steer-to-hamburger process. The "bridge" that melded the two and made the story work was the conflict of: the doctor's attempt to uncover E. Coli contamination versus the USDA and beef industry alliance's attempt to keep the contamination secret, in order to maintain their profits. If an ending was included in the book, it would be worthy of five stars. This won't be the best book you'll ever read, but it's nonstop action and exploration through the beef industry will make you think next time you take a bite into that Big Mac.
Rating: 
Summary: SHOCKING!
Review: Even though it's fiction, you are not catching me eating anymore at Fast Food stops. I am very careful where and what type of Hamburger I eat. This book open my eye's up to what could happen.
Rating: 
Summary: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Review: Robin Cook must be kidding me! I have only read one other book by Cook, but you can be sure that a third book is not on my want list. This is crazy, his characters are so FAKE, the conversation so unnatural...words like "lunkhead", who in the world uses "lunkhead" in conversation. I can appreciate that Cook is attepmting to try and make a statment woth the story, it is very editorial but certainly not interesting or realistic. It is fast paced, simply because the writing is sooooo simple. So childlike. The "hero" a surgeon, is not someone we root for, he's a big pain the the neck. He is to worried about running around looking to punch someone or point a finger than be at his gravely ill daughter's bedside. and of course he finds all the impossible answers in the most unrealistic way. Please don't waste your time with this immature drivel. go read some Nelson Demille or Stephen King and see what it is like to create a real character.
Rating:
Summary: Robin Cook is always Robin Cook. But this one lacks...
Review: When they released TOXIN in Portuguese and invited Robin Cook to come to Brazil to autograph some copies on a large bookfair here, I thought to myself: this should be a great book. But I was wrong. Very wrong. Soon, the book turned to be ridiculous. The main character was a very nervous guy, losing his temper very easily. More than this, that was the most ridiculous main character Robin Cook ever criated. Boring. Nervous. Presumptuous. He has his motivations, true. But he acts as if the whole world is against him. So you're probably asking: so why do you still rate it three stars? The answer: a Robin Cook book is always a Robin Cook book. I'll never forget books like CHROMOSOME 6, MUTATION or CONTAGION. The character is boring, and plot to me is character, 'cause if you don't like the character, you'll probably don't like the book. But the story of the book itself has its twists, it's interesting and filled with other supporting interesting characters. Though all in all, it was a complete disappointment. Just a good book.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book.....but why the hurry to end the book.
Review: This is by far the best thriller written by Robin cook.The characters seem believable and the way the story line is build up is very interesting.Robin cook takes so much time to build each character that you get involved with each of them.The only complaint is the abrupt ending of the book.For almost 480 pages the protoganist takes great pains to establish evidence and suddenly within the next 6 pages the novel is wound up.This is the only drawback as to otherwise an exciting medical thriller.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book!
Review: This is an excellent book. The title page in not catching people's eyes, but the story is excellent. And it is interesting someone wrote about meat production. Every should read about this book and careful when they are eating junk foods!
Rating:
Summary: Enough with the drama!
Review: OK, I admit, this book was pretty gross, but to give up eating meat? That's a little extreme (and if you truly love a big steak like I do, NOTHING will change your mind)! Alas, like other Cook novels, the main character is pretty predictable (friend or family member hurt, character fights the system, triumphs but doesn't get all he wants) but the story was engaging and a good page turner.
Rating:
Summary: Eye-Opening Book
Review: Wow! I finished this book over Christmas--I could NOT put it down! It was great! I have been considering becoming a vegetarian but now I have a renewed drive. This is definately a Robin Cook masterpiece--Cook goes into the depths of the characters emotions as he brings you into the book. Don't read this book if you don't have time to stay up all night to finish--I couldn't put in down!
Rating:
Summary: Only interesting aspect is meat production info.
Review: I read this 1/3 of the way, and then just skimmed ahead to read about the description of the slaughterhouse and how beef is produced for consumers. Otherwise I had no interest in the storyline at all. However, this is not Cook's fault. His storyline was about a egotistical, stubborn surgeon. His character did not interest me at all. The reason for this, though, is because I have met many surgeons in my life and I have found them all to be just as unappealling and snobbish as the character in the book. So, to me it seems as if Cook did do a good job portraying the surgeon, but I am just put off by people of such a nature.
Rating:
Summary: After reading this book you can't avoid becaming vegetarian
Review: I was really fascinated by this book, and as a vegetarian myself I couldn't avoid feeling relief. Apart from the problem of meat itself I think we are too used to consider every food as normal, but we should think how it can happen that food once so difficult to buy now is so cheap. Obviously there must be some problems, either concerning safeness or concerning suffering for people or animals. I'm not really a vegetarian (at least not yet), but I just avoid eating meat because of the suffering during life and death of animals. In any case I think we are so little natural in our way of eating so much meat, we can't avoid having some problems. Perhaps this book can make people think about this topic and I'm grateful to Robin Cook for this. Anna Laura Costa - Italy
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