- Hardcover: 464 pages
- Publisher: GP Putnam And Sons (Aug 5 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0399155023
- ISBN-13: 978-0399155024
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.2 x 4.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 481 g
- Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #313,464 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Bestseller Cook (Critical) stumbles in this formulaic thriller about the timely subject of medical tourism, the trend in which U.S. citizens seek to save costs on expensive surgery through treatment overseas. At the center of the drama is Jennifer Hernandez, a fourth-year medical student at UCLA, whose grandmother has died in a New Delhi hospital following hip replacement surgery. Suspicious about the circumstances, Hernandez immediately flies to India to investigate. There she not only discovers a number of similar deaths of U.S. citizens but also runs into the one-two punch of a desperate Indian medical industry struggling to block all publicity about the deaths and a huge American HMO that wants nothing more than the widest exposure of the apparent medical missteps in the Third World. Implausible plot twists, unconvincing villains, silly dialogue and a convenient, all-too-happy ending make this one of Cook's rare weak efforts. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
aA top-notch thriller with the freshness and impact of his earlier efforts. . . . "Critical" is tightly written, and each supporting character is vivid and memorable. The novel is a credit to the medical genre, which Cook is generally thought to have created and made popular.a
--"San Francisco Chronicle" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
--"San Francisco Chronicle" --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Has Robin Cook jumped the shark?,
By
This review is from: Foreign Body (Hardcover)
Jennifer Hernandez, a fourth year medical student at UCLA, suspicious about certain details of the death of her grandmother in a New Delhi hospital, flies to India to investigate and to claim the body. Ultimately, Hernandez discovers that her grandmother has in fact been murdered by a nurse employed by "Nurses International", the subsidiary of an enormous, profit-hungry HMO that is intent on making a burgeoning Indian medical industry appear to be dangerous and incompetent. It seems that the meteoric growth of medical tourism in India has begun to make a substantial and rapidly deepening dent in the profits of the American HMO as it watches many of its patients travel to India for less expensive alternative solutions to their medical woes.And here I thought Robin Cook was supposed to be writing medical "thrillers". Sadly, "Foreign Body" was anything but! The list of what was wrong with "Foreign Body" is lengthy indeed - cartoonish villain stereotypes, atrociously stilted dialogue, an unconvincing sappy ending, a complete neglect of the broader political issues that should have been explored in much greater depth and an utter lack of suspense in that the means, the methods, the opportunities and the perpetrators were completely disclosed virtually from the outset of the novel. The list of what was entertaining is all too short! At least Cook has done a reasonably interesting job of talking about the endlessly fascinating aspects of what one would be likely to encounter in a tourist trip to such an exotic destination as New Delhi. He's also taken us on a faintly amusing side trip through the hormonal nightmares that fertility treatments can wreak on a patient of the female persuasion. But this is certainly damning with faint praise as it only means the difference between an award of two stars versus the one star rating that I was toying with. Weak gruel indeed! Not recommended and I hope not representative of Cook's efforts in the future. Paul Weiss
2.0 out of 5 stars
India Medicine, USA Business,
By
This review is from: Foreign Body (Hardcover)
Not really a who dun it or why dun it as these are spelled out early, rather a will-she-figure-it-out before it's too late? Robin Cook has crafted a mild suspense novel here involving an engaging medical student and the medical tourism industry in India. Some suspense does build but very near the end and everything gets wrapped up quickly. Most of the action takes place in India and the author seems to include a fair amount of local colour into the story. But, a major drawback is the characterization of the people of India, their use of American colloquial dialogue and some stereotypical Hindu culture. I'll leave it to others to decide if he "got it right" in the India travelogue. As for any axes to grind Cook doesn't seem too against the concept of Americans travelling to India for cheaper surgeries, it would appear to be a reasonable alternative, rather there is a slight polemic on the advantages for an independent medical examiner function and a suggestion that the American way is the best way. Except those medical care corportations of course. Oh and this book includes Laurie and Jack Stapleton, the New York M.E couple who help break the case, they also star in Cook's other books.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Topical but Repititious and far-fetched story-line,
This review is from: Foreign Body (Mass Market Paperback)
Robin Cook's books generally have had a current medical thread throughout. They are well-researched and you learn in addition to enjoying the book -- that is the draw! This book, is no different, in that regard: Medical tourism in India is highly topical. The morning of the day that I bought the book, I heard a CBC radio show about the high numbers of women who are going to India for plastic surgery. So, Cook merits high points for again bringing front-line medical stories to print. However, the repitition in the chapters, the 'way out there' story-line, with professionals who can hop over to India at the drop of a hat........is why I have not finished this book--I will--but I get so tired when I look at it!!I won't give up on Cook, though. I've enjoyed all of his books, albeit to varying degrees. He got over his head in this one. I am writing a thesis at the moment, and I can see how that can happen. The next one will be better!!
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