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Brain
by
Robin Cook
Two doctors suspect something is very wrong at the enormous medical center where they work. And soon they will put their careers--and their lives--in deadly jeopardy, as they penetrate the eerie inner sanctums of a medical world gone mad.
Paperback, 228 pages
Published
1981
by Pan Books Ltd
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Robin Cook returns to the medical thriller format in his fourth outing, "Brain".
When Dr. Martin Phillips notices some strange goings-on around the New York hospital he works in, he begins to look into it. When researching a young lady who died unexpectedly during surgery, he discovers that her brain has been removed. And that's only scratching the surface...
While I enoyed this book for periods of thrilling action sequences, strange discoveries, and the conspiracy element that emerges in the plot...more
When Dr. Martin Phillips notices some strange goings-on around the New York hospital he works in, he begins to look into it. When researching a young lady who died unexpectedly during surgery, he discovers that her brain has been removed. And that's only scratching the surface...
While I enoyed this book for periods of thrilling action sequences, strange discoveries, and the conspiracy element that emerges in the plot...more
Brain was entertaining, intelligent and completely ridiculous in equal measures. I admit I enjoyed it, despite never buying the premise for a single moment. Cook has a talent and it's telling a good yard that keeps the pace going. It's not so much that he's believable or a good writer (although I've read worse working in the thriller genre). Also, I think I understand TeeVee shows like House a little better having read this.
The story starts with a girl Kathereine Collins going to a GYN clinic where she undergoes treatment for some Gynac ailments. She has starts having seizures where she smells a repulsive but familiar odor and then loses consciousness. As the book goes on it tells about other young women around the same age with the exact same symptoms. The story's main character is Dr. Martin Phillips, a doctor in neurophysiology at a New York City hospital. He is working on a self-diagnostic x-ray machine along...more
New York. Martin Philips, aiuto primario di neuroradiologia, è un brillante medico in carriera che suo malgrado si ritrova coinvolto in un torbido affare. Alcune giovani pazienti infatti muoiono misteriosamente, i loro corpi spariscono senza lasciare traccia. Martin insospettito indaga, e scopre che dietro alle sparizioni c'è un'organizzazione federale che finanzia una ricerca scientifica su cavie umane... "Cervello", scritto da Robin Cook che oltre ad essere uno scrittore è anche laureato in me...more
This is the only Robin Cook novel I can remember reading, although I'm sure I read several, probably because I read this around the same time as Shadows by John Saul which also had to do with brain experimentation. Instead of just using the brain, the entire person was submerged in some kind of liquid (like amniotic fluid or saline or something) with her entire brain exposed, which didn't make much sense to me.
It is interesting to note the way things were in the late seventies and early eighties from the descriptions given by Robin Cook. The computers were in a nasal stage of development and were supposed to be the key to developing artificial intelligence.
The final chapter is a mixture of Sc Fi and Nazi medical experiments.
A good book to read but don't expect to become enlighted on the way the brain functions.
The final chapter is a mixture of Sc Fi and Nazi medical experiments.
A good book to read but don't expect to become enlighted on the way the brain functions.
Although dated this was suspenseful and thought-provoking. I think it must have been out of print for awhile. Originally copy written in 1979, I had never seen it before last November when I spent an afternoon browsing Amazon.
I guess what makes these books by Robin Cook so good is that you know they not only could happen but may have happened. I heartily recommend any and all of his books that I have read (which is a lot.)
I guess what makes these books by Robin Cook so good is that you know they not only could happen but may have happened. I heartily recommend any and all of his books that I have read (which is a lot.)
Somewhat dated...with the sound of the automatic report typing and the use of slide projectors for presentations and the lack of cellphones. The way things used to be.
The bureaucracy and politics in the medical center however, is very well depicted here. I was trying to escape from reality, this was a jolt back. o well.....
The bureaucracy and politics in the medical center however, is very well depicted here. I was trying to escape from reality, this was a jolt back. o well.....
I adore medical books but found the tale quite unbelievable at the conclusion. Perhaps, the imagination of the author in 1981 might have found some semblance of truth with informed consent for experimentation on humans but in this regard...way over the edge considering what we know today. (I dearly hope.)
Chilling. I liked it though; the characters were good, the plot was interesting and fast-paced, and there was plenty of intellect along with the action. But it makes me frightened at the lengths to which people will go for scientific progression. I'm scared for my own brain!
Maybe because it is so old, or maybe because I'm old and jaded, I just didn't find this as compelling as I remember when reading COMA.
The story idea was a good one, but I feel like the last chapter or so was too vague on who done what and why and too intense in the gory/bad guy scenes.
It did keep me reading because I wanted to know more, but I'm still wanting to know more. :(
The story idea was a good one, but I feel like the last chapter or so was too vague on who done what and why and too intense in the gory/bad guy scenes.
It did keep me reading because I wanted to know more, but I'm still wanting to know more. :(
Un excelente libro donde se combina el suspense con la investigación policíaca en un ambiente de medicina donde se demuestra el amplio conocimiento del autor en la materia sin que por ello resulte tedioso.
Outdated terminology and a seeming lack of social understanding by Cook pepper this otherwise great story. A quick read with a bunch of science that is presented so laymen like myself can get it.
Brain is actually one of the more suspenseful Robin Cook novels that I've read and for that, I give him high ratings. If not for the hanging ending, I would have given him 5 stars on this one.
It was a little slow at the beginning and is dated as the technology and character's names are obviously from the 1970's, but it was an overall entertaining book.
This will make you think twice about going into the hospital for brain surgery. Girl goes in for surgery and comes out dead and with her brain missing.
I read this book back in 1986 and I still remember it, lol.. It was a good book and it made me read more of Robin Cook, John Soul and other similar authors.
This book may be 30 years old, but it is still creepy as all get out! Or is that because it reminded me of my neuroanatomy studies?
Wow! That was a serious and crazy twist at the end! I love that Robin Cook novels are relevant even 30+ years later. He draws on our deepest fears and keeps us turning pages with bated breath.
I only give this book 4 stars because it isn't the type of book I would read again. I reserve 5 star review for only books that can be enjoyed again and again.
I only give this book 4 stars because it isn't the type of book I would read again. I reserve 5 star review for only books that can be enjoyed again and again.
First medical thriller ever read. Even though few medical terms were so alien to me, it was a much gripping novel.
changes ur perspective on hospitals and exams. wheneva ill go 2 a dr ill think wht r they injecting me with. :)
This was a fairly quick read. Cook's books always make me wonder how possible these medical scenarios are.
This one was mildly interesting. But Robin Cook is dull. Stopped reading him after this one and Coma.
The start was perfect. But, the ending moved more lik an action movie.The twists could have been better.
Kind of an interesting concept, but haphazardly put together. I would rate this one as average.
The dangerous world of illegal medical trials brilliantly portrayed by Dr. Robin Cook
It wasn't bad, but it was almost the same plotline as "Coma", just with a different medical emphasis.
i would give a 6/5 rating !! Robin Cook - master of medical fiction - brilliant read....
I read a lot of his stuff in the 1980s and remember being quite shocked by this one.
This was the one Cook book(ha) that I did not like. It just rubbed me the wrong way.
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Librarian Note: Not to be confused with British novelist Robin Cook a pseudonym of Robert William Arthur Cook.
Dr. Robin Cook (born May 4, 1940 in New York City, New York) is an American doctor / novelist who writes about medicine and topics affecting public health.
He is best known for being the author who combined medical writing with the thriller genre of writing. Several of his books have been b...more
More about Robin Cook...
Dr. Robin Cook (born May 4, 1940 in New York City, New York) is an American doctor / novelist who writes about medicine and topics affecting public health.
He is best known for being the author who combined medical writing with the thriller genre of writing. Several of his books have been b...more
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“Medical school had been a time for imaginary diseases and Martin had contracted almost all of them.”
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