Cure (Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery series Book 10)

Robin Cook, M.D., is the author of more than thirty books and is credited with popularizing the medical thriller with his wildly successful first novel, Coma . He divides his time among Florida, New Hampshire, and Boston. His most recent novels include Host , Cell , and Nano . --This text refers to the paperback edition. From Booklist Cook's latest thriller opens not with a microscopic medical event, as so many of his previous novels have, but with theft at a research lab in Kyoto, Japan. The perpetrator is Ben Corey, a doctor and the founder of a company designed to profit from stem cell research, and his crime is stealing away Satoshi Machita, one of Kyoto University's top researchers. But soon after he sneaks Satoshi and his family into the U.S., Satoshi disappears—the target of an attack orchestrated by the Japanese yakuza and the American Mafia. Satoshi's body turns up at the Office of the County Medical Examiner in New York City, where Laurie Montgomery, just returned from maternity leave, is assigned the case. Though there's no identification on the body and he appears to have died of natural causes, Laurie digs deeper, much to the consternation of the killers. When Laurie refuses to back off the case, the Mafia threatens the young son she shares with fellow ME Jack Stapleton. The dialogue is clunky and the mobsters dull, but readers invested in Cook's married ME duo will rapidly turn the pages as danger finds Laurie and Jack once again. --Kristine Huntley --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. From AudioFile Robin Cook's thriller focuses on global corporate espionage in the field of medical research. Its most valuable asset is a cultured reading by George Guidall. Treating each character as an individual, he puts careful stress on single syllables, allowing his accents to vary and remain dignified while never descending into stereotype. Much of the book deals with the Yakuza (organized crime--Japanese style), and Guidall frequently delivers the narration in a rhythm that suggests Japanese intonation. His delivery of dialogue, regardless of nationality, is highly animated, and, fortunately, there's quite a lot of it. An overabundance of medical details often interferes with the story, so Guidall's voice brings welcome humanity to the numerous characters and credibility to the many action scenes. A.Z.W. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition. Read more