Public health care is one of the most important issues in America today. Now Robin Cook, the bestselling master of medical suspense, confronts this controversial subject with an all-too-possible scenario as powerful--and terrifying--as his groundbreaking blockbuster, Coma...With its state-of-the-art facility and peaceful Vermont setting, the Bartlet Community Hospital seemed like a dream come true. It offered doctors David and Angela Wilson new career opportunities, a chance to work within an enlightened system of "Managed care" --and a perfect place to raise their daughter, who suffered from cystic fibrosis. But then, one by one, their dreams turned to nightmares. And day by day, their patients began to die...
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From Publishers Weekly
If Cook's skills as a writer were as finely tuned as his sense of timing, his 14th medical thriller (after Terminal ) would be a lot more rewarding. Current political events guarantee that a suspense novel centering on health care management will be topical and at least potentially fascinating. Unfortunately, stock characters, stilted dialogue and improbable heroes and villains make for difficult reading here. Idealistic young doctors David and Angela Wilson take positions at a state-of-the-art medical center in a small Vermont town partly because they see it as an ideal spot for their daughter, who suffers from cystic fibrosis. But the town is not as idyllic as it seems, and the hospital is in a desperate financial bind due primarily to its contract with a local HMO, David's new employer. Worse still, patients are dying unexpectedly almost daily, and no one seems to care very much. The deaths are not normal, of course, and astute readers will quickly determine who is behind them, why and--most likely--how. Cook raises troubling questions about the conflicts between medical and financial priorities in managed care (albeit in a somewhat distorted fashion), but it's difficult to get emotionally involved in a scenario as improbable as this one. Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club main selection; Mystery Guild alternate; Reader's Digest Condensed Book.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
A naive young couple sets out to practice medicine in an idyllic small town and find their dreams shattered within months of their arrival. Four of David Wilson's patients die unexpectedly, Angela Wilson is sexually harassed, and the dead body of an irascible old doctor is found in their cellar. Yes, they do solve the mystery and end up appearing on 60 Minutes describing what health reform could do to American medicine! Several hours of narrative are devoted to describing the Wilsons' stereotypic fairy tale before the plot starts to get interesting. Michael McConnohie reads clearly but is unable to do much with the author's simple sentence structure and unimaginative word choice. The abridged version of this novel, also available from Audio Renaissance (Audio Reviews, LJ 5/15/94), might be a better choice for popular collections.
Juleigh Muirhead Clark, Coll. of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Va.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Juleigh Muirhead Clark, Coll. of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Va.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
"WE'RE COMING TO A RIVER UP AHEAD," DAVID WILSON said to his daughter, Nikki, who was sitting in the passenger seat next to him. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
"WE'RE COMING TO A RIVER UP AHEAD," DAVID WILSON said to his daughter, Nikki, who was sitting in the passenger seat next to him. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By Tim Foster
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I'm sure you've read the plot synopsis by now, so I'll skip it and get to the real review. This book is a long, contrived, boring piece of unrealistic drivel. This guy went to Harvard? It reads like an Encyclopedia Brown mystery, except you figure it all out much quicker. The characters are underdeveloped and frighteningly unrealistic (not to mention just plain stupid. It took them 400 pages to figure out what was going on? Maybe they went to Harvard, too). Evidently, in Dr. Cook's world nobody ever utters an obscenity or does anything risque or more involved than "making love." We get pages and pages about a man having an affair with his business associate, been when it comes to the pivotal moment the experience is summed up in two words. Sounds like Cook is as prudish as his main characters. Skip this book unless you enjoy mind-bogglingly bad literature (a la "Mystery Science Theater 3000", perhaps). This is my first, and last, Robin Cook novel.
By A Customer
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I enjoyed reading the book because it did have a good idea behind it. What bothered me, though, was how unrealistic the main characters' responses were to what happened to them. What got me the most was when the two characters that the family and the little girl were supposedly so close to died, they didn't even contact their families or attend their funerals! PLEASE! At least mention it in the book for 5 seconds so that we know that you have at least a slight grasp of what would really happen! No wonder everyone in Barlet hated them!!
By Jorge Frid
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This is the kind of books that I like of Dr. Cook, of course I am not a doctor so I don't understand many things about medicine, but this book is definitely a medical thrillers, and as all of his books you will think twice before you go to a doctor or a hospital.
The story of the hospital that want to save money instead of save patients is not out of reality, in other words I can believe that these things could happened in a small town or a place that are not to many hospitals.
It has one or two mistakes with their daughter, but that doesn't mean that it couldn't be real.
The story of the hospital that want to save money instead of save patients is not out of reality, in other words I can believe that these things could happened in a small town or a place that are not to many hospitals.
It has one or two mistakes with their daughter, but that doesn't mean that it couldn't be real.
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3.4 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Cotton Candy Fiction
"Fatal Cure" is a quick read. There's no depth of character to slow the reader; but the plot weaves as pages turn. Dr. Read more
Published on Oct 31 2002 by Lee Armstrong
1.0 out of 5 stars
Cook Must Be Kidding
This is an unbelievably bad book. The story, including the identity of the villain, is obvious within the first chapters. Read more
Published on Oct 17 2002
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Cure
This book deals with the exciting lives of two doctors and their ill daughter, who move to a new community only to find a dead body in their new house and a town full of secrets. Read more
Published on April 12 2002 by a reader in Camarillo
2.0 out of 5 stars
Preachy as all heck - okay storyline.
While the story line was tolerable and interesting at times, the preachiness of 'educating the reader' about the favorite 'special interest' of the author really comes across to... Read more
Published on April 11 2002 by CJH
4.0 out of 5 stars
It'll make you think about your health benefits
Wonderful book! This will make you rethink the health benefit options you select at enrollment.
Published on Feb 21 2002 by "jnj1"
4.0 out of 5 stars
Reviving the fear of hospitals...
Robin Cook is just one of those authors that you just love to read when you want to be slightly amused. This book gets you going and revives that fear of hospitals and doctors. Read more
Published on Nov 10 2001 by Clew
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great polemic, but he doesn't know Vermont
This is not my favorite Robin Cook novel. Being a native Vermonter I kept being distracted by the fact that the book talked about a Vermont town that simply doesn't exist. Read more
Published on Jun 6 2001 by Suzy Shepherd
4.0 out of 5 stars
Think twice about your HMO
Robin Cook again shows us that his novels contain an element that may affect you. In Fatal Cure, he questions HMOs and the morality about it all. Read more
Published on July 9 2000 by Michael S. Chernysh
4.0 out of 5 stars
JUST GREAT!
I thought the plot was great and he developped the characters very well.
I'm reading Vector now - it's quite good so far!
Published on Jan 11 2000
5.0 out of 5 stars
absorbing thriller
Dr David Wilson and his wife Angela Wilson(also a doctor) seek employment at Bartlet Community Hospital,Bartlet desiring to live a quiet and peaceful life in the countryside away... Read more
Published on May 7 1999
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