Rating: 
Summary: Mixed Feelings
Review: I have been an avid follower of Robin Cook since middle school. I have thoroughly enjoyed all of his books, but this one left me a tad cold. On the one hand, he does a thorough job of indicting the meat packing industry and managed health care. It is very interesting to see how neatly he intwines these two industries and shows the relationship between them. On the other hand, I did not like the protagonist, Dr. Reggis or his brat of a daughter. I felt Becky was rude to adults and had a very fresh mouth. The only thing I did like about her was her realistic view of figure skating -- if she went pro or went national, it would spoil the fun. I also liked Kim's estranged wife. I felt she was level and together and had a lot on her plate having to put up with him and cope with the subsequent death of their daughter to E. Coli from bad meat.One character I really liked was David, the doctor who called Kim on his bad behavior in the waiting room when Becky was first admitted. He was stern, he was adult, he was reasonable. I really liked him and felt he was thoroughly professional. I agree with other readers that the ending is a bust. Does Caroline, Becky's skating peer develop the E. Coli? If so, does she survive?
Rating: 
Summary: Thank god I'm a vegetarian!
Review: In this, Robin Cook's scariest novel, the orderly world of egocentric surgeon Dr. Kim Regis crashes down around him when his eight-year-old daughter Becky contracts a fatal E-Coli bacterial infection from a hamburger she ate at a fast-food restaurant. When this book came out a couple years ago, it received fiercely mixed reviews. While detractors accused Dr. Cook of using his status as a best-selling writer to distribute draconian anti-meat industry propaganda, admirers like myself praised him for being courageous enough to tell the truth. It is the shocking nature of the truths revealed in Toxin that makes it Cook's scariest novel. After the E-Coli infection results in a slow and agonizing death for his little daughter, Dr. Regis is determined to bring to justice all the parties responsible for Becky's death. Regis's quest leads him from shoddy, unsanitary meat processing plants (the slaughterhouse scene is something straight out of Dante - it will make you vomit) where food safety takes a back seat to profit, to the USDA - an office of the federal government that is supposed to protect consumers from tainted meat. Alas, the USDA ispectors are told by their bosses to look the other way and investigations of companies who fail to comply with safety regulations are buried in red tape. This novel is a work of fiction, but it's based on fact. Recently, on a primetime newsmagazine - 48 Hours, I believe - there was a similar story about a 3-year-old girl who died from an E-Coli infection she caught at a Sizzler - she ate watermelon that was sliced with the same knife used to cut tainted meat - meat that infected several other customers. After a lot of finger-pointing between Sizzler and the meat processing company, an ex-USDA inspector appeared, blowing the whistle on the corrupt USDA and its collaboration with the meat industry. Even Oprah Winfrey once did an expose on tainted meat, declaring to her viewers that she would never eat beef again, a statement that resulted in an unsuccessful lawsuit from Texas cattlemen. Toxin is the ultimate horror novel because it's based on fact - on something that could happen (and has happened) to any man, woman, or child who eats meat. It's an exciting, heart-wrenching, gruesome thrill-ride; a truly disturbing novel that you will never ever forget. Thank god I'm a vegetarian! - Eric Petersen
Rating: 
Summary: Sick But Fun
Review: After reading this you won't eat hamburger for a long time. When a doctor's daughter gets sick from eating hamburger that was undercooked, he goes nuts. On a rampage, he fights with the medical association as well as the meat industry that poisons his little girl. As he goes undercover in the warehouse, what he sees, the handling of the food and what actually goes into your Big Macs, my gosh I'm getting sick thinking about it. My only gripes - it dragged a little in some parts (I do admit to a short attention span though), and I wanted more out of the ending. I was kinda like "okay...and?" Overall I recommend this book. It's very interesting, as some of it is supposidly based on various facts about how meat is handled.
Rating:
Summary: Blood & gore-- & it ain't all human
Review: In this thriller, Robin Cook pits a cardiac surgeon, Kim Reggis, against shoddy practices in a slaughter house, conspiracy between meat packer and the USDA, and a medical system that even the good doctor cannot cope with. The problem? E. Coli 0157:H7. It's found in hamburger under certain conditions, and in undercooked meat, it's a real killer. In this tale, its presence changes the lives of many people. The action is fast and often deadly. It's clear that Cook knows his stuff when it comes to medical matters, and he did a good deal of research into the meat industry. The narrator, Jason Culp, is very good. The story could have been improved if the characters had been a little less stupid about doing things they knew nothing about. Dr. Reggis did not start out as a sympathetic character, in spite of his personal tragedy, and his conversion was a little too complete. And the gore, both in the ER and in the slaughter house, could have been less graphic. Readers of medical thrillers and fans of Mr. Cook probably like this book a lot. Even the recorded version, although abridged, read well.
Rating: 
Summary: I give up!!
Review: My first RC book was Shock and it indeed shocked me-it was so two-dimensional and flat and cliche, i couldn't believed it was published! Then i saw some reviews that mentioned it was probably the worst book by RC so i decided to give him another go. Unfortunately i'm once again disappointed. Totally. I mean i didn't even managed to get past the first 100pages!! It makes me wonder how did his novels become best-sellers. The characters are totally 2-D and almost stereotypical. Dialogue and writing style just seems really flat to me and it just feels unreal. The characters were unlikeable and it just felt like a re-run of an overused theme, overplayed B-grade movie. Don't think i'll waste any more time on his novels again. Lesson learned.
Rating: 
Summary: Toxin On Tape is Terrific
Review: The first time I read a Robin Cook novel I was mesmerized. I had picked it up at a garage sale a few years back for a liesurely weekend read. When I visited the Festus Public Library in Festus, Missouri and found two copies of Toxin on audio tape I had to pick one up.
Reader, Jason Culp brings a lot of genuine style and sincere emotion to the reading of Toxin. Jason uses subtle inflections in voice to create a plethora of realistic characters. He also reads at a satisfying pace, allowing me to enjoy his tape as I work.
The tape also includes a few extra features not available in the book. Helpful background effects like the skating rink music, or a country and western tavern setting also bring the reading to life. The tenuous strain of "danger music" also helped regulate my heartbeat at peaks of action in the book. I really liked these extras.
Finally, even though the recording was abridged, it holds true to the story and Robin Cook's style. His characters are realistically human, possessing qualities that might make them a bit unlikeable in real life, but endearing us to them in his stories. The topics of his story are haunting and surreal, sometimes reflecting real life horrors, such as E-Coli and the Mad Cow disease rampant in the news still today.
I recommend this version of the book for all the same reasons Cook fans love his books. Being able to enjoy a book in the middle of rush hour traffic or other preoccupying situations is a welcome benefit.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing too significant for my 1st RC novel
Review: Although the action was fast paced & continuous, I found the plot in general quite predictable & with a bit of loopholes. It was interesting to note though the effects of mergers/buyouts on the healthcare sector & the resuting power struggle within by remaining staff against 'new management'. How it affected their service & how the patients suffered from such 'politics'. That is very real. What I found quite unrealistic was Kim's decision to work underground in the slaughter house with the intention of obtaining some important papers as evidence of QC failure. This may be an act of desparation but which I found quite out of line for the character. In general, the book was a good weekend read. (This review pertains to Reader's Digest abridged version of the novel.)
Rating:
Summary: special
Review: This was the third Robin Cook book I have read, after Harmful Intent and Coma. This book will always feel different to me, because when I was reading it I was on the subway, on september 11th, 2001, when I heard what happened to the World Trade Center...That and the fact how good it was, makes it more than a book for me, it's a real memory.
The story is sad and scary, about the simple act of a bit of uncooked hamburger that can deteriorate a percious life away. Robin Cook has a way of making us like the main character, and really feel for them, bond with them. He also makes them go and do their own CIA work, spying and dressing up, getting fake jobs and identities to seek out justice. Very good story, a must for any Robin Cook fan.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Awful!
Review: i've read at least 15 Robin Cook books by now, and i really dont know what happened with this one. this has got to be one of the worst pieces of fiction i've ever read. the characters were one-dimensional and fake, the dialogue utterly fake and forced, and the plot, while okay in broad strokes, was in its details totally contrived and unbelievable. i kept going only to see if there was going to be some sort of interesting plot twist.... Robin Cook, what is going on??
Rating:
Summary: Brace Yourself
Review: From the get-go this book is an attention grabber, and Cook uses sickening imagery to hook his reader throughout. While the characters and dialogue are a bit flat, the story itself moves at a breakneck pace, following an all-too believable series of events meant to describe a worst-case scenario involving bacteria-laden meat and how the mistake of a couple of idiots can completely turn a handful of lives upside-down. I'm warning you this book is not for the weak-stomached or feint of heart. Cook's descriptions of a child succumbing to a particular strain of all-too-common bacteria and his portrait of a particularly nasty beef industry can make you physically ill. This was a book I couldn't put down and had a terrible time slowing myself down at the end so I could get all the details instead of just racing ahead to the intriguing conclusion. Thick, but a fast read. Prepare to eat vegetarian for awhile afterward.
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