Author Review: Robin Cook

Robin Cook is a successful author. His numerous novels have been made into many screenplays. His novels all have a medical side to them. That is the result of his being a medical doctor. His training and early career was as a surgeon.

He began his writing career, as he put it, to publicize his views and opinions on important medical issues. Concerning his writing, Cook is best known for combining medical knowledge and expertise into the thriller genre. Using his novels as his vehicles to explore important issues, to date Robin Cook written about far ranging subjects, including -- organ donation, fertility treatment, genetic engineering, in vitro fertilization, funding for medical research, managed care, medical malpractice, and organ transplantation.

And yes to anyone who is looking for and hoping that I slip up, I am very aware and very careful to not write about his novels and calling them -- Cook books.

Below is a chronological list of Robin Cook’s novels:

• Year of the Intern

• Coma

• Sphinx

• Brain

• Fever

• Godplayer

• Mindbend

• Outbreak

• Mortal Fear

• Mutation

• Harmful Intent

• Vital Signs

• Terminal

• Fatal Cure

• Acceptable Risk

• Invasion

• Toxin

• Abduction

• Shock

• Seizure

• Death Benefit

• Nano

• Cell

• Host

Robin Cook’s novels are exciting and character driven. From a writing standpoint, he has a firm grasp of what it takes to write a good thriller. He grabs the reader and does not let go until the end. If I have any negative about his books, it is that they can become a little formulaic, a bit predictable. It got to the point where at a certain point into the book I could predict what was going to happen. And it normally did.

Having written that, I still find Robin Cook’s novels very entertaining reads.