Rating: 
Summary: A bifurcated focus with horrendous results
Review: Unfortunately I have to agree with most of the other reviewers in that this was Dr. Cook's poorest effort to date. I have been reading, and enjoying, all of the author's books since the early 70's when I first picked up "Coma" and have enjoyed most of them, but I had to struggle to finish "Shocked". I leave it to other readers to determine, but when was the last time you ran into the word "bifurcated" in a suspense thriller?The characters were flat and almost unbelievable and, while the story line, even though trite, could have been gripping and suspenseful, the characterizations, the settings and even the ending had absolutely no imagination. Other reviewers suggested the author may have written this novel in one sitting. I'm wondering if he wrote it at all. Perhaps it was a computer program developed by some evil genius who is really holding Dr. Cook hostage and merely using the good Doctor's name in order to finance a terrorist plot!
Rating: 
Summary: Another Good Thriller From Cook
Review: I have been a Robin Cook fan for years, and don't understand to a large extent all the complaints about his books of late. Is the book perfect, no, but it did keep me entertained, and wanting to finish it quickly. The beginning of the book sets the stage for the mystery of what the WingGate Clinic is doing, and after the young women return from their international trip, they set out to solve the mystery. The book is complete with cyber detective work, chases, and in Cook's usual style, a person who the main characters think they can trust...but they find out when they are between a rock and a hard place that their friend is their foe! If you have enjoyed Cook's works in the past, you will surely like this one. I first listened to the book on audible.com, and I am now buying it for Christmas for one or more friends from Amazon. The book entertains which it was designed to do.
Rating: 
Summary: Ufff..
Review: I was actually able to finish this book. I had couple of times put it down and couple of times I had found myself thinking about throwing it away, fortunatelly I was in the bus full of people and I just didn't wanted to look like an idiot. So I kept it and finished this book.
Well what to say. It could be very good book, because idea was great. But how can someone actually screw up such a great idea with such a poor writing... I don't know.
Robin Cook? Are you reading this reviews? Please next time, TRY to do a better job, other books of yours were much better.
Rating:
Summary: I'm "SHOCKED" people would pay money for this book!!
Review: This was truly one of the worst books I've read in a long time. The characters were nothing more than names on the pages, with no substance to them. The plot was so poorly developed that it couldn't have taken Mr. Cook more than a day to write this book. Perhaps he should consider turning his "talent" toward writing childrens books, he's halfway there with this poor excuse for a novel.
Rating:
Summary: The "Shock" is how bad this is
Review: I've read most of Dr. Cook's novels and have usually enjoyed them. This was not the case in this latest instance. The plot was totally impausible and the two "heroines" are most annoying. We are supposed to check our brains at the door and believe that two college graduates who have donated their eggs to a fertility clinic would then turn around and assume false identities based on stolen social security numbers from dead people in order to infiltrate the clinic (complete with disguises) and hack into the computer to steal confidential records. In the process, they demean themselves by using their "feminine wiles" to seduce the head of the clinic and they run into an assortment of stereotypical characters straight out of central casting including the egomanical research head, the stern female doctor, acne-faced computer nerd, and Neo-Nazi Security chief. And don't even get me started on the "witty banter" between these two "clever girls". If I want "spunky", I'll stick to Nancy Drew. Dr. Cook has has interesting female leads in past books who showed intelligence and were equal to the task of taking on the bad guys without resorting to ludicrous behavior. He missed with this one and I was very disappointed. What's most disappointing though, is that the subject matter, illegal experimentation on embyros and cloning, which should "SHOCK" as the title suggests, is completely overshadowed by the inane writing and storyline.
Rating:
Summary: Worst book ever! -Comic Book Guy
Review: I had to finish it because I started it but I really, really wanted to throw this one in the trash. From awful, boring characters to poor dialogue (no one since the late 50s has conversed in the manner that Joanna & Deborah do), this book stinks from start to its "trying to shock you" finish. Is he setting up a sequel or did he just get lazy? I've read a fair shair of his books and enjoyed most of them but this one smacks of...no, I'll be as creative as Cook was...
Rating:
Summary: Ouch! Time to hang your shingle, Doc.
Review: Maybe it's time for Robin Cook to do what he went to med school for, or retire--one of the two. His characters become more and more cookie-cutter with every book. Plus he seems intent on picking up every medical front page story and running with it--in this case, stem cell research and human cloning. The technology is believable, due to the fact that Cook is a doc. After all, Joe Wambaugh wrote good cop books because he was one. Likewise Grisham, because he's a lawyer. But the characters, for crying out loud! Two grad students donate eggs to a fertility clinic to pick up extra cash. Then the next thing you know, one of them decides now that it's too late that she wants to know what happens to hers. Despite the fact that they told her up front that it was against policy. So the pair go undercover to snoop for the info. Once dresses up as a cliche bimbo, the other goes for the opposite extreme. They get jobs in the place. The computer guy is the cliche computer nerd, immaturity and social ineptness and all. The teaser chapter is even worse--an earlier donor dies on the table because of a surgical blunder. I guess somebody has to croak early on to make it a suspense story, right? Cook apparently thinks so--everything he writes starts out that way. Maybe his weakness is rapid-fire publication--22 books in 27 years. Crichton has published 13 in 33 years, and each of his books shows the greater amount of time spent on it. Or maybe it wouldn't be a good idea for Cook to go back into practice after all. I can see him having trouble with hospital privieges. With his gadfly approach to hot-button medical issues, I'd be a bit leery about letting him work in any hospital I was admistrator of.
Rating:
Summary: Just for the money?
Review: Robin Cook's literary skills have never included the ability to create believable characters but he has written some passable books (I've read them all). This was the first one that I just couldn't finish due to the absurd motivations and hackneyed personalizations of his heroines and villians. My honest impression of this book is that he just desperately needed some money so he just churned out something to get it. Generally I would rate Robin Cook's works as six or a seven on a scale of one through ten however this book would not live up to a four rating. Don't waste you money, this book stinks!
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: I've read several of Robin Cook's books, and this one is sadly disappointing. Often clinically inaccurate, it just drones on and on from page to page. The characters are flat, the premise unlikely to say the least.
It comes across as somewhat condescending, too - not something I appreciate in a novel.
Ultimately, not one on which to spend your hard-earned cash - save this book for next time you're at the free library, if you really want to give it a chance.
Rating:
Summary: scientific inaccuracy, poor writing
Review: Shock: I don't even think he wrote this. The scientific errors (I'm a geneticist/author) are rampant -- misspelled in some cases, misused in others, or just plain wrong. How dare he be pictured in a white coat as if he is some sort of expert -- did he ever actually practice medicine?
The fact that every single character uses the phrase "the women" over and over suggests that an inexperienced writer put this together, then, as others point out, fled before the plot could be wrapped up. I suspect Dr. Cook does little more these days than submit outlines and don the white coat. I'd be happy to edit his next book for scientific accuracy -- his writing needs help bigtime.
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