Rating: 
Summary: I'm not usually a fan of Robin Cook
Review: but I chanced to read and enjoy Chromosome 6 a couple of years ago, and I picked up Vector when I learned that Cook brings back his attractive hero, Dr. Jack Stapleton and his partner, Dr. Laurie Montgomery. Vector not only deals with Cook's trademark medical disaster, but continues to outline their relationship in a satisfying way. Cook has written a precursor to this fall's anthrax scares, set in the heart of New York City. He adroitly gives the reader a picture of the "new Brooklyn", and its population of immigrant Russians, although Yuri, the scientist who creates the anthrax, is not atypical of the generation of Russians who have resettled parts of Brooklyn, and made it their own. He also introduces some surprises in terms of locating a sect of white Aryan supremacists in New York City, something I didn't expect, but, after all, this is the Big Apple, and it has something for everyone. Casting these folks as firefighters is kind of the final irony of the story, given the events after September 11 of this year. It is a good, fast-paced tale, somewhat moralistic, and well-defines the hazards of dealing with bioterrorism, both for the terrorists, and for the victims. The twist at the end, of Yuri's eventual doublecross of his partners, is unexpected and satisfying. A good read for Robin Cook, and almost scary in the way some of the plot angles played out, in light of events since the book was published!
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Summary: Trying to contact Robin Cook
Review: Dear Robin, If you remember plesant dinners at Chez Nous, and that famous piano, please contact me, I need some of your expert advice. Best, Gary
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Summary: Do the writers know the future?
Review: I know that is not so good to compare books among writers, but I will make an exception this time, first let me tell you of Icon, written by Frederick Forsyth in 1996, this book is a spy book of a conspiracy to make again the Soviet Union in 1999, we know now that it was not true.
The second book was written in 1998, The Magic Circle by Katherine Neville, in this book (the spanish version El Circulo Magico) in the page 413 (where is a map of Afghanistan) says:
"You can suppose that at the beginning of the new millennium will be something that will make the earth scramble, an this thing could have his origins in Afghanistan".
In the next page says:
"The new millennium should start on the year 2001."
Everybody knows what happened on september 11, 2001.
The third book is this one, it was written in 1999 and is about a bacteriological war with anthrax in New York, what happened in America after september 11? Now, about this book:
This book is really a three or four stars book, it depends on your humor while you are reading, some pages are a turnover book and some don't, many times it goes out of the story and definitely the boyfriend of Laurie Montgomery doesn't have to do in this book, but I gave five stars to this book because everything was real before it happen.
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Summary: All TOO Real
Review: In light of 9-11, this books depicts how easy terrorism has become. I fell in love with the unlikely hero (Jack) and have since read all the books with that particular character in it. It contains a lot of trade specific lingo and descriptions about the pathology. It's one of Cook's best books.
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Summary: relevant to today
Review: This book was amidst several books another booklover passed on to me. I hadn't read his books before and for some reason I have been blessed with several of them from different people lately and as I am a booklover, I appreciated them all. The book was written in 1999 and was eerily prophetic to what happened on 9-11 in 2001, so it held my interest. Of course, it is a different tale altogether, but still there is a similarity. Yuri Davydov, a Russian taxi driver, who emmigrated to the U.S. to find the good life is very disillusioned at the failed promises of what he thinks the "Jewish media" (his paranoid delusion) had promised for those coming to America. He can't find a better job than that of driving a taxi. He had worked in a Bioweapons factory in Russia and figured he deserved better. He hooks up with a couple of white Aryans of the radical right militia belief who want to destroy the "the Zionist government" and are extremely prejudiced against anyone not white, etc. They concoct a plan that the Aryans will supply Yuri with the materials and he would develop anthrax and a botulinum toxin. Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery, who are both in the pathologist forensics department, are presented with two separate cases that are seemingly unrelated until further investigation. His case is the death of a man from anthrax and her case is about a young man that has been killed in a horrible manner as a result of what looks like his connection to a neo/Nazi gang. I thought it was a rather interesting story and made me wonder at what causes so many evil thoughts and feelings in people that they would want to do such cruel and inhumane actions. It also makes you wonder about the scientists that develop these weapons and if they ever feel guilty about their satanic projects. The book makes you think and kept my interest to the end.
Rating:
Summary: relevant to today
Review: This book was amidst several books another booklover passed on to me. I hadn't read his books before and for some reason I have been blessed with several of them from different people lately and as I am a booklover, I appreciated them all. The book was written in 1999 and was eerily prophetic to what happened on 9-11 in 2001, so it held my interest. Of course, it is a different tale altogether, but still there is a similarity. Yuri Davydov, a Russian taxi driver, who emmigrated to the U.S. to find the good life is very disillusioned at the failed promises of what he thinks the "Jewish media" (his paranoid delusion) had promised for those coming to America. He can't find a better job than that of driving a taxi. He had worked in a Bioweapons factory in Russia and figured he deserved better. He hooks up with a couple of white Aryans of the radical right militia belief who want to destroy the "the Zionist government" and are extremely prejudiced against anyone not white, etc. They concoct a plan that the Aryans will supply Yuri with the materials and he would develop anthrax and a botulinum toxin. Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery, who are both in the pathologist forensics department, are presented with two separate cases that are seemingly unrelated until further investigation. His case is the death of a man from anthrax and her case is about a young man that has been killed in a horrible manner as a result of what looks like his connection to a neo/Nazi gang. I thought it was a rather interesting story and made me wonder at what causes so many evil thoughts and feelings in people that they would want to do such cruel and inhumane actions. It also makes you wonder about the scientists that develop these weapons and if they ever feel guilty about their satanic projects. The book makes you think and kept my interest to the end.
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Summary: Ruined by the author's heavy-handed personal agendas
Review: This is an amazing book! From start to finish it's an interesting read. The ending will surprise any reader. I recommend this book to any Robin Cook fan, or anybody interested in reading one of his book and doesn't know where to start. This is definatley one of his best (if not his best.)
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Summary: A busy doctor writes another great novel......NOT!
Review: This is simply terrible. If this book had been submitted to a publishing house or a college freshman English instructor, for that matter, under another name it would have been laughingly returned. The dialogue is just so amateurish.
Of course with Robin Cook's name on it, it will probably be turned into a "made for TV" movie.
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Summary: A poorly written novel.
Review: This was my first Robin Cook novel, and will probably be my last. I simply cannot understand how this guy sells so many books. Not once during the entire reading of this book did i feel the least bit concerned over how it would turn out. This is a bad sign, if you're reading a "suspense" novel. Also, the dialogue is abysmal. He has no sense for how people really talk to each other. The characters sound like they're reading from a Hardy Boys novel (this is no dig at the Hardy Boys, i love those guys). Other random complaints:
A character named 'Chet' (always a bad idea)
At least 5 instances of the term "B-ball", as in "I like to play B-ball." Come on.
Far too many adverbs, nobody simply says anything, they say things wryly, or angrily. The author's note is a far better read than the actual book (this is not to say that the author's note is particularly good, but i'm a sucker for author's notes). Overall, for someone who's trying to read more "bestsellers" this book has been a huge disappointment. Avoid this book like the plague.
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Summary: Cook's eerily prescient book from 1999, given events of 9/11
Review: Vector is Robin Cook's 20th book overall & the 3rd in the series with New York City medical examiners Drs. Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery (after Contagion & Chromosome 6). Written in 1999, the book deals with the planning of a bioterrorism attack on NYC by a disaffected Russian bioweapons technician emigre & a white supremacist hate group. The lethal agent is anthrax (botulinum toxin makes a brief appearance), & the coincidence with the post-9/11 anthrax postal attacks is just too eery. The book contains sufficient medical detail to satisfy a medical professional such as myself. In Cook's usual engrossing style, it pulls you in such that it is hard to put the book down after the first few chapters (which really irks my wife at bedtime!). Aside from the suspense of the looming potential tragedy, the relationship between the continuing characters (Jack & Laurie & their friends & colleagues) further unfolds. I hope to see more of their adventures in future offerings from Cook. Robin Cook fans, if you have not yet read this book, do so soon. If you have never read one of Cook's medical suspense novels, this wouldn't be a bad introduction.
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