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Contagion (Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery #2)

3.83 of 5 stars 3.83 · rating details · 4,779 ratings · 120 reviews

One of Cook's most successful--and timely—bestsellers. Contagion is a terrifying cautionary tale for the millennium as a deadly epidemic is spread not merely by microbes—but by sabotage...

Paperback, 496 pages

Published December 1st 1996 by Berkley (first published 1987)

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Feb 07, 2013 Kate rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: murder, mystery, owned, thriller

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Wow. Just...wow.

And not in a good way.

Robin Cook obviously knows his pathology and medicine, but he is an awful writer - at least in this book. I know I've read other books by him before; I remember enjoying Acceptable Risk some years ago, but now I'm wondering whether that was because I was 14 and it was literally the only book I had access to in English. I may have to re-read it to find out, because the prose in Contagion is ABYSMAL.

No, really. I mean, the plot is predictable and the character...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Jacob Dalluhn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Imagine weaving in and out of New York traffic on a 15 pound bike going about 30mph 3 inches between cars on a brisk morning in novemeber.Jack Stapleton a forensic pathologist did just that everymorning heating the ever so frequent honk of the horn or someone yelling explitives at him, but i guess u could say he was used to it. One morning he was called into work a little ealier then he would like and it wasn't a good thing. Three patients came in with unkown deaths and no one could figure out w...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Terri Lynn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mystery-suspense-thrillers

Well, I didn't see THAT coming! Robin Cook did a great job with this book. For once I didn't have a clue about a certain person being involved with the deaths until the very latter part of the book.

The prologue begins by introducing us to three people and three incidences which the author says "Three incidences occurred that were totally unrelated yet were to cause a tragic intersection of the lives of three of the people involved."

Those three people were:

(1) A virus and bacteria lover (yes, he...more

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Jan 01, 2012 Sarah rated it 2 of 5 stars

I read this book on a long road trip because 1) I forgot my books (Feast for Crows and the Marriage Plot) at home 2) I thought it was the novelicular inspiration for Soderbergh's Contagion, and 3) it looked like the most appealing option my father-in-law's Ludlum/Berry/Patterson laden library.

Bad mistake. Wrong. And then another bad mistake.

My first opportunity to exit the book happened early--when Cook gave away the denouement in the first two paragraphs. I didn't take it. No, I dutifully rea...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Fanatique Francaise rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

You know that feeling when you pick up a novel by a "Best Selling author" with a promising blurb? When you expect to be enthralled and inspired at every step- and struck totally dumb by the masterful ending?

Yeah, didn't happen.

My first Cook, and I can tell you I have lost all respect for this man. He has in his hands a brilliant story line, some engaging (though bordering on monotonous) characters, and he comes up with the lamest climax in the HISTORY of thrillers.

After finishing the book, the...more

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Jan 17, 2013 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: medical-thrillers

I bought this book because I had seen the recent movie titled 'Contagion' and thought that the two were one and the same. I was not particularly impressed with the movie but I always tend to enjoy the books more and the movie felt as if it were missing something so I decided to give this a chance. I'm glad I did because the book was nothing like the movie other than being about an epidemic. I enjoyed this story very much, although there were some minor instances where what I had just read didn't...more

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Feb 19, 2013 Henri Moreaux rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: business-finance, crime-murder, gangs-org-crime, medical, virus-disease, mystery-suspense

In this novel we get to know the cynical and sarcastic Dr Jack Stapleton whose dialogue I must admit I immensely enjoyed. In terms of storyline the basic gist is that there's a set of highly virulent diseases on the lose in a specific hospital and Stapleton thinks there's more to it than just coincidence - enter the medical mystery / forensic pathology novel.

There's enough forensic pathology in there to be interesting, but not so much that someone who is uninterested in such would be turned off...more

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Feb 01, 2012 Wysteria rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2012, no-longer-own

This is a medical mystery/thriller that doesn't actually contain too much medical jargon. The hero, if we can call him that, is a medical examiner in the great New York City. He has a past with a certain healthcare conglomerate that owns one of the hospitals in the city that comes into play in the novel. He also has a past, and not one of those ex-gambling addict, used to be a hitman for the mafia kind of pasts either. He just has a grudge and a sad story, which may or may not be relevant to the...more

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Feb 27, 2013 Scott Rhee rated it 1 of 5 stars

It boggles my mind how some writers earn their "best-selling author" status. It's not always because they are good writers. Clearly this is the case with Robin Cook, a mediocre writer at best. Cook is also an M.D., and his books generally deal with the medical field. I picked up "Contagion" because I had never actually read a Robin Cook novel before. Perhaps "Contagion" wasn't the best one to start with, or perhaps I wasn't in a "medical thriller" mood when I read this, but it wasn't that good....more

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Dec 13, 2011 Austin Mccarthy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Summary: In "Contagion", Jack Stapleton, a medical examiner working at one of New York City's morgues, begins to uncover a disturbing pattern among several of his patients that come from the Manhattan General. The Manhatten General is a local hospital that has many odd cases of individuals that are becoming ill and dying from three different strands of rare and deadly diseases (plague, tularemia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever; and the 1918-19 strain of influenza). Jack suspects that someone is in...more

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Aug 27, 2011 Almira Ryiexlyz rated it 5 of 5 stars

Book Analysis
Dr. Robin Cook, a graduate of Columbia University Medical School, finished his postgraduate medical training in Harvard. He is the author of the novel, Contagion.
The novel is really wonderful, very detailed and at the same time informative. I am really a fan of Dr. Robin Cook because of his intelligence in connecting biological concepts that are really spine tingling and would unconsciously make you think of possibilities of his medical-thrilling novel’s conflict. The work of a fore...more Book Analysis
Dr. Robin Cook, a graduate of Columbia University Medical School, finished his postgraduate medical training in Harvard. He is the author of the novel, Contagion.
The novel is really wonderful, very detailed and at the same time informative. I am really a fan of Dr. Robin Cook because of his intelligence in connecting biological concepts that are really spine tingling and would unconsciously make you think of possibilities of his medical-thrilling novel’s conflict. The work of a forensic pathologist is not common for ordinary people and we find those who are engage to it as weird since they are able to interact with corpses. But in this novel, Dr. Robin Cook changed our perception about medical examiners. He showed us how exciting their work is and how important is their work in helping especially in preventing an epidemic possibility. They might just be dealing with the dead bodies but they are also concern in preventing bodies to die. I was personally affected with this novel to get a decree in pathology and do what Jack Stapelton and Laurie Montgomery are concerned of especially in doing autopsies.
One of the responsibilities that a medical examiner could do for the sake of the family members left by the dead is for them to come up with the most appropriate reason and explanation of how the dead body died. We are also shocked about how Dr. Cook identified the suspects of spreading the disease in the character of Jack Stapelton and how they spread these using just a simple humidifier. I never thought of Terese Hagens and Richard Overstreet as the antagonists. The story is very unpredictable. Dr. Cook turned the peaceful practice of medicine to something exciting. I would really like to recommend this fast read novel that would holds you page after page because it calls for our leaders and even our attention to reject market values as a framework for the health care and the market-driven mess into which our health system is evolving.
The story of contagion revolves around the first exciting experience of Jack Stapelton after getting his degree in forensic pathology.
Jack Stapelton is a medical examiner of the office of Medical Examiners of New York City for five months. Laurie Montgomery is the one in charge in assigning the cases to the medical examiners. That day, an infectious disease case was assigned to Jack Stapelton. As Stapelton did the autopsy of Nodelman, he thought of the cause of death as plague. It was too unbelievable to have a case of plague especially in March at New York City in a hospitalized patient. After the Micro Lab examined the gram stain that Jack sent them, it was confirmed that Nodelman is positive of plague.
Jack Stapelton had done a lucky diagnosis. And because of the absence of his bosses Dr. Harold Bingham and Dr. Calvin, jack decided to call the Commissioner of Health and informed them about the possible epidemic that the plague could cause. Jack wasn’t contented with the call that he made. He even made a visit to the Manhattan General Hospital where Nodelman was confined. Jack got to know Dr. Carl Wainright, Martin Cheveau and Richard Overstreet who have all been so overwhelming and appreciative of his diagnosis that day. Mr. Kelley, the President and Dr. Abelard the City Epidemiologist felt opposite about jack’s sudden appearance.
Jack was almost fired when his chief got to know about his violation of the “no site visit policy”. After being almost fired up, Chet Mcgovern invited jack for a dinner that night. There they met Terese Hagens and Colleen Anderson who are both engaged to the advertising industry. The group made conversations about their works and interests Terese thought of listening to jack’s opinions about the ad so that she can use that for her campaign for the National Health Company.
For the next couple of days, Jack made another diagnosis of three rare arthropod-borne diseases; tularemia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Primary Influenza Pneumonia. All of these diseases came from Manhattan General. As jack got to confirm his diagnosis with the help of the lab, he also made site visits to Manhattan General that caused irritation to Mr. Kelley and Martin Cheveau. As a result, Dr. Bingham made another warning for him. Jack was so desperate that he even risks his work because he thinks that something is wrong, something is missing and someone could possibly just deliberating these diseases.
After almost telling his thought of somebody is just causing these diseases put Jack in danger. An unknown person paid a gang named “Black Kings” to knock him off and warned him to do his job and let others do theirs. One weird fact about the cases that they handle is that, in every infectious disease, there is always a case of death from the Central Supply of the Manhattan General which is so impossible since there is no chance for the staffs to have contact and acquire the disease form the person who died from it.
Jack’s further personal investigation wasn’t delayed because of the threat that he received. He then learned that anyone even without a permit who has a capability to pay can order any microbe from the National Biologicals in Virginia. Jack tried it himself and asked the agent for some confidential questions like who ordered plague and tularemia recently. Jack was told that plague was recently ordered last March 15 by Martin Cheveau and tularemia was ordered by a company named Frazer Labs. The two attempts of his life were followed when Jack and Terese were on a restaurant for a dinner. Thanks to a sergeant who were asked by Lou Soldano, a friend of Laurie Montgomery to watch after jack and eventually saved Jack’s life from being shot.
The other day, jack decided to take a visit to the Frazer Lab. He made a fake package and even wore a delivery man’s suit. After a long wait, a man in Ski Sparta came into the jewelry shop where Jack dropped down the package. Through Jack’s instincts, he decided to follow the man to his building. He used the fire exit stairs and trespass the man’s apartment. There he found laboratory apparatuses and was sure that he was already in the Frazer Labs. The man in Ski Sparta caught him in the comfort room where he is hiding.
The man who orders tularemia, the operator of the Frazer Labs and the Head Tech of the Manhattan General Hospital is right in front of him! The man is Richard Overstreet who was deliberately spreading the diseases. What shocked that most was when he caught sight of the other person engaged with the immoral killing, the person is Terese Hagens. Jack learned that Terese Hagens badly wants to have the president’s position of the advertising firm where she works. That is the reason that she needs to come up with a great Television ad. Richard Overstreet is her brother that helped Terese through putting his microbes to people’s humidifiers so that the Manhattan General would have a headache about the nosocomial infection and media will be informed thus people would hesitate to go there but rather to National Health Company.
The next thing Jack was aware of is that the siblings want him be gone because he surely will spill the real thing and the siblings will surely end up in jail. They brought Jack to Catskills and since Jack’s symptoms of the Primary Pneumonia Influenza were observed when the three are on the car in their way to Catskills. The two eventually died after acquiring the disease from Jack. Primary Pneumonia Influenza is the disease that killed twenty-five million people around the globe last 1918 and 1919. Jack acquired the disease from Hernandez who died because of it. The sudden appearance of the disease is just because of the gram stain that Richard got after a friend of him saw a natural tomb in Atlantic. Richard of course didn’t waste the chance and get a sample of it. The disease can kill a person as fast as below twenty-four hours. Jack wasn’t that affected by the disease even if he had the symptoms because of the Rimantadine that he is inducing to his body.
The cause of the appearance of these infectious diseases was solved and the damage was controlled by the vaccine that the Commission of Health is giving to the public.
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Nov 11, 2007 George rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Texasmom

Shelves: biccey

When not one but three different extremely rare diseases kill several patients at a New York hospital, forensic pathologist Jack Stapleton suspects it's more than just coincidence. He thinks there's a connection between the appearance of the mysterious microbes responsible for the deaths and the HMO that owns the hospital--the same HMO that once destroyed his flourishing medical practice. Is Americare deliberately killing off its sickest patients--those who cost the most money to treat? Or is th...more

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Nov 18, 2009 Marty rated it 3 of 5 stars

Robin Cook is a great story-teller. I have always enjoyed his books as "page-turners" and this one was a pretty good example. although not his very best, in my estimation, it held my attention and, as is often the case, i always enjoy a bit of medical stuff in my stories. His main character in this story, the intrepid Medical Examiner, is a bit too over the top in the risks he takes - the story suffers a bit from this unrealistic side of the character, but other than that - a good read.

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Jan 21, 2013 Les rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a great mystery book and a great medical story. The ending was great. This book gave you great incite into how virus can kill you very quickly if not treated right away. Robin Cook has always been one of my favorite authors and I have always learned something new about our medical system. It is a great book as well as a great understanding how our medical system handles strange diseases. I stronly recommend everyone to read this book I had read most of his books and enjoy him very much....more

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Sep 12, 2011 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

I picked this up thinking it was the book in which the new movie "Contagion" is based on...my mistake. It appears it is not. Similar story line, though this books seems a bit contrived. Now I have to find the "real" book before I see the movie. The book was a quick, entertaining read...the subject is fascinating....runaway microbes that could potentially devastate a population...scary stuff in a world filled with new plots of terrorism every day.

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Nov 06, 2011 Jason rated it 3 of 5 stars

A good travel book and a fast read. Typical Robin Cook fare but not exactly what I expected. The sub-plot that becomes more central as the book goes on seems a little tacked on and unfortunately the big reveal seems a bit silly. All that said, there was enough here to keep me interested and I didn't feel cheated. I just feel this could have been better. If you've not read them, choose Coma or Brain over this if you want to try some Cook.

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Sep 09, 2011 Ryan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Fast paced medical mystery thriller about a medical examiner investigating the connection between outbreaks of multiple diseases at a NY hospital. First half was great and kept me interested, but then it got a little long and then a disappointing contrived ending to the whole mystery. Other than main character Dr Stapleton, other characters are one dimensional. This was first Robin Cook novel I have read so do not know how it compares to his others.

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Nov 18, 2009 Mike rated it 3 of 5 stars

I had read and enjoyed a few of the others in the Dr. Laurie Montgomery/Jack Stapleton series years ago. It was interesting for me to read Contaigon because I'd read the others out of order, so I already knew the charaters as Cook introduced Stapleton in this one. Contaigion was a fun read, like watching an unrealistic action film. Middle of the pack compared to other Robin Cook books. I enjoyed Chromosome 6 more...

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Jul 17, 2009 Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was an exciting read about the adventures of a flippant ME in the NYC morgue. I enjoyed the story; it was clean (except for language), and one that I didn't want to quit reading until I saw how things were going to turn out. It even managed a complete surprise towards the end. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a fun read in the genre of medical fiction. Robin Cook is a great medical fiction writer.

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Mar 14, 2012 Kelli rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: substance-books

Contagion was good. I didn't see the twists coming and maybe some of them I should have. As always Robin Cook was smart, witty, and although the context of this book should have been way over my head, Cook delivers it in such a way that is is maliable,manageable and understandable.
I love rooting for characters, I love worrying for their well being and I love that gnaw your nails to the quick full of anxiety feeling that accompanies a Robin Cook book. This book was no different. Quite a good rea...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Dave rated it 3 of 5 stars

A quick yet predictable read. While this is the first Robin Cook novel I've read I found the pacing good but the over use of the exclamation mark distracting for some reason and the dialogue weak - as though a 13 year old professional texter was hired on as editor.

While there is high praise for this book it may be some time before I pick up another Cook book.

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Nov 15, 2011 Rita rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own

A little slow in the beginning, but then it really picks up the pace about halfway through. I cast Matt Damon in the role of Jack Stapelton. It was then very easy to visualize the character with his sacrastic humor. Good read. It's been a long time since I've read a Cook book medical thriller. You always lean a lot about disease and that's informative too.

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Sep 22, 2011 Heather Miller rated it 4 of 5 stars

So if you are planning on seeing the Contagion movie, it is not based off this book. I mistakingly thought it was. The movie was excellent! That being said, I'm not sad that I read this. It was a super interesting read that delves into the morality issues of medical advertising and the ease at which a disease could be spread either accidentally or as a terrorist act. It also opens your eyes to the threat of noscomial infections. If you like medical thrillers, Robin Cooke is your author. His nove...more

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Jun 18, 2009 Tara rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Apr 01, 2013 Jakedg rated it 5 of 5 stars

nada menos que ingenioso, se desarrolla en las ciudades mas pobladas de la primera potencia económica, un peligro latente bajo llave en las oficinas del centro de control de enfermedades en EUA.

lo interesante de los libros de este hombre es que a pesar de ser ciencia ficción no dejas de pensar lo real que podría llegar a ser casi profetico.

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Aug 11, 2011 Rebecca rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, fiction, mystery, thriller

This is all I needed, another author that writes good, forensic mysteries :)

In all fairness it started slow, but once you got into it, it was impossible to put down. I don't know wether to curse or thank my collegue who lent me the book. Off to find and read some more Robin Cook

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Jun 29, 2011 Suby rated it 4 of 5 stars

How ambition can propel a woman into allowing herself into introducing new strains of virulent bacteria with the help of her bacteriologist brother who is crazy about microbiology - this is the gist of the story. Robin Cook excels in his narration of this medical thriller.

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May 11, 2013 Angel Serrano rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 821-111-2-3-literatura-estadouniden

Las grandes empresas médicas imponen su ley dejando sin trabajo a los médicos independientes. Jack emigra a Nueva York después de perder su familia y como patólogo forense descubre una epidemia muy sospechosa de gripe. No todo parece impulsado por la naturaleza.

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Apr 15, 2012 James Batchelor rated it 1 of 5 stars

Wow! This might be the single worst ending to a book that I have ever come across. I won't spoil it for those that may choose to read it, but suffice it to say, Cook set up a very interesting story, and torpedoed it with an absolutely implausible, ridiculous ending.

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Dec 22, 2008 Bailey Jane rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Robin Cook fans, mystery/science/medical fans

Best Robin Cook novel by far! The plot is suspenseful and easy to understand. It's not really challenging but it keeps you alert the whole way through. I totally recommend this one to anyone who is a fan of Robin Cook or just into medical/science mysteries.

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About Robin Cook

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

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Books by Robin Cook

Chromosome 6 (Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery, #3)

Vector (Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery #4)

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Contagion (Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery #2)

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