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Cure (Jack Stapleton & Laurie Montgomery #10)
by
Robin Cook
With her son's illness in complete remission, New York City medical examiner Laurie Montgomery returns to work-and finds her first case back to be a dangerous puzzle of the highest order, involving organized crime and two start- up biotech companies caught in a zero-sum game...
ebook, 0 pages
Published
August 10th 2010
by Berkley
(first published January 1st 2010)
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"Coma" was the first Robin Cook book I read when I was in my pre-teens, and I remember being obsessed with that book and rereading it into tatters.
I have read several Robin Cook books since then, none of which were as memorable or riveting as "Coma" As I got older I noticed that Mr. Cook is not really the world's greatest writer of dialogue, and his characters are fairly one dimensional or less than one-dimensional, though he does get bonus points for usually featuring a strong and smart femal...more
I have read several Robin Cook books since then, none of which were as memorable or riveting as "Coma" As I got older I noticed that Mr. Cook is not really the world's greatest writer of dialogue, and his characters are fairly one dimensional or less than one-dimensional, though he does get bonus points for usually featuring a strong and smart femal...more
In Cure, the plot centers on the current medical topic of stem cells, the theory that they may cure every know ailment, and the highly profitable potential of such discoveries. After a mid-life crisis, in the name of greed, a doctor attempts to corner the market on promising research. Due to a lack of capital, he uses New York based mob connections to fund his new company, there by setting himself up for disaster. Through those mob connections, he has a Japanese man, Satoshi Machita, and his fam...more
SPOILER ALERT!
Always a worry when the names and associations are so convoluted that the book starts with a three-page "Key Players" list, rather than with plot.
While this was generally an enjoyable read, I found the narrative jumps irksome. First it's about the Japanese and American organized crime counterparts; then it's about a biotech exec; then it's about a medical examiner. Then it's about the police doing a smashing job of resolving a kidnapping; but that plot is sidelined by the introduct...more
Always a worry when the names and associations are so convoluted that the book starts with a three-page "Key Players" list, rather than with plot.
While this was generally an enjoyable read, I found the narrative jumps irksome. First it's about the Japanese and American organized crime counterparts; then it's about a biotech exec; then it's about a medical examiner. Then it's about the police doing a smashing job of resolving a kidnapping; but that plot is sidelined by the introduct...more
2 likes · like · see review
The first six chapters of Robin Cook’s latest offering CURE were a real chore to get through but I thought I would stick with it and finish the book because I had enjoyed some of the author’s earlier works. That decision turned out to be a glaring error on my part. Between the unpronounceable names of the Japanese characters, the interaction between the two competing Japanese mobs plus the involvement of the American mafia who, it appears, all launder their ill-gotten money by investing in up an...more
1 like · like · see review
This was definitely a "miss" for Robin Cook. I usually like all his books, but he phoned it in on this one. The title, "Cure" makes you think the story will revolve around the cure for some newly discovered or rare disease. Not true, it's sort of a sideline. Yeah, there's this Japanese guy who is working on curing things with stemcells, but the story is really around Laurie Montgomery going back to work (after like 2 years) at the morgue after having her baby and getting her first assignment. Th...more
May 16, 2011
Smitha
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
fans of medical thriller
Shelves:
ethereal,
medical-fiction
I am a great fan of Robin Cook and this may bias my review. I started reading his books in my late teens and have practically grown up with his medical thrillers> I am a close follower of the lives of Laurie Montgomery and Jack Stapleton (forensic pathologists) and Lou Saldanho (their detective friend). Its as if they exist in a parallel universe. Many people have criticized Robin Cook for taking up one hotspot issue and weaving a story around it. Many have also said that he is anti governmen...more
Jan 22, 2013
Jatasya
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Medical Thriller fance
I'm a little disappointed that this is going to be my first ever review on GodReads. When I first began Cure by Robin Cook I was incredibly eager.
As usual the blurb gave away very little of the actual plot, making the storyline seem artificial and overused. The first few chapters of this novel were quite a hassel to get through. I felt as if there were so many characters and points that were being brought forward; almost too fast for me to keep up. In particular, the Japanese names of character...more
As usual the blurb gave away very little of the actual plot, making the storyline seem artificial and overused. The first few chapters of this novel were quite a hassel to get through. I felt as if there were so many characters and points that were being brought forward; almost too fast for me to keep up. In particular, the Japanese names of character...more
I've enjoyed Cook's Jack Stapleton/Laurie Montgomery series for a while now, and while this wasn't my favorite, it was still a good read. Early on, I was concerned because it was focusing a lot on the Japanese Mafia and members in both Japan and NYC and their efforts to keep scientific secrets from being stolen by the United States, and I wasn't sure how it would tie in to the Stapleton/Montgomery series. However, as the book went on, I felt the stem cell company and the possibility of the secre...more
Já não lia Robin Cook há algum tempo e estava curiosa com este novo livro do autor. Talvez por a expectativa ser muito alta este não foi dos livros que mais gostei. Um pouco confuso inicialmente, devido aos muitos nomes dos personagens japoneses, vi-me um pouco baralhada e foi difícil para mim entrar na história. Mas depois do enredo começar a fluir nunca mais consegui parar de ler. Como é habitual, Robin Cook transporta-nos para cenários de thriller médico, onde as personagens de Laurie Montgom...more
Sep 13, 2010
Richard
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
No one.
Recommended to Richard by:
I read a review.
The return of Doctors Laurie Montgomery and jack Stapleton, the married NYC medical examiners is welcome, although this complex tale is not the best vehicle for them.
Mixing New York's Mafia gangsters with the Japanese Yakuza and stem cell research, you know the body count will be high.
While the story is interesting and the setting familiar, the characters are wooden and the dialogue not believable. The mobsters sound like English professors rather than Tony Soprano. In fact nobody sounds right.
I...more
Mixing New York's Mafia gangsters with the Japanese Yakuza and stem cell research, you know the body count will be high.
While the story is interesting and the setting familiar, the characters are wooden and the dialogue not believable. The mobsters sound like English professors rather than Tony Soprano. In fact nobody sounds right.
I...more
Since high school I'd been a casual Robin Cook fan, but after FINALLY reading "Coma" a few years ago, and being completely blown away by it, I made up my mind to read all of his books. I'm almost there, and let me tell you, it's been a difficult ride at times. No one is going to ever accuse Cook of writing brilliant literature, but at his best he knows how to concoct a good, taut thriller. Yes, he overdoes it on the medical jargon, but I'll be honest, that's part of why I like him. I just accept...more
Oct 27, 2010
Ems (Ems Reviews Books)
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
medical-thrillers,
thriller
I've been a big fan of Robin Cook since I discovered his books about 15 years ago. As I continue reading, I'm having a harder and harder time with him. It's not that his books are boring, by any means. It's that they're so bogged down in unnecessary details and medical jargon that they're almost textbook-like. They're so predictable that it takes all the fun out of the read.
The characters don't speak in any recognizable syntax and that drives me nuts. Honestly, would you expect a low-level Mafi...more
The characters don't speak in any recognizable syntax and that drives me nuts. Honestly, would you expect a low-level Mafi...more
Using a stew of the good and the bad in today's economic and intellectual ownership of cutting edge biological tools, Robin Cook creates an all too familiar story of what humans and human organizations will do to establish their supremacy (read $$$$).
When an unidentified Japanese man is brought into the morgue having no apparent cause of death, Dr. Laurie Montgomery pulls out every possible trace ingredient until it is identified and accounted for. A seemingly natural death becomes a murder wit...more
When an unidentified Japanese man is brought into the morgue having no apparent cause of death, Dr. Laurie Montgomery pulls out every possible trace ingredient until it is identified and accounted for. A seemingly natural death becomes a murder wit...more
Robin Cook certainly has an interesting writing style. Unfortunately this book feels like his publisher was rushing him to wrap it up. The culmination of the book is actually just the resolution of a problem that crops up in the last few chapters of the book and the story as a whole is left to be addressed (poorly) in the epilogue.
On the other hand, one might argue that Cook is so concerned for the characters that he has developed over the years that he is more concerned with how things affect...more
On the other hand, one might argue that Cook is so concerned for the characters that he has developed over the years that he is more concerned with how things affect...more
This is a classic relaxation book for me as I enjoy the forensic medical science. However, the maturation of his characters, Jack and Laurie Stapleton, allowed him to go even farther than he has in the past with the story setting starting well away from the main characters. Frankly, his typical plots centering so strongly on the Jack and Laurie (and the OCME) strayed into almost a cameo appearance as a much bigger picture well outside any possible control of the OCME in general drove the story....more
With her young son's potentially fatal neuroblastoma in complete remission, New York City medical examiner Laurie Montgomery returns to work at the Office of Chief Medical Examiner, where she's been employed for more than two decades. Worried about whether she still has what it takes after so much time away, Laurie finds her first case back to be a dangerous puzzler of the highest order, involving organized crime and two start-up bio-tech companies caught in a zero- sum game. Against the advice...more
With the Nobel Peace prize for medicine going to Shinya Yamanaka for making induced pluripotent stemcells (iPS) - this book seemed timely. The information was very interesting about Yakuza and the American mafia, about the cells themselves. But all that was covered in about 2 pages somewhere.
There is no mystery or motivation to plod through the book - there are a bunch of useless mafia characters who are introduced and their relationships expanded on - and then abandoned. The important murder h...more
There is no mystery or motivation to plod through the book - there are a bunch of useless mafia characters who are introduced and their relationships expanded on - and then abandoned. The important murder h...more
First time I have read Robin Cook, and of course I chose to read one of the later books in the series. I didn't find it too difficult to jump into the series -- I liked the characters and the author seemed to summarize some of the most relevant points from their history.
The novel didn't necessarily match my expectations in terms of subject -- I expected more emphasis on the stem cell developments. In reality, it was more of an organized crime story, as seen through the eyes of the medical exami...more
The novel didn't necessarily match my expectations in terms of subject -- I expected more emphasis on the stem cell developments. In reality, it was more of an organized crime story, as seen through the eyes of the medical exami...more
Well, as is usual with Robin Cook, I had to finish even if I had to stay up all night to do it.
Robin is concerned with medical issues and with realism. Although he does believe in justice, it is not his highest priority--realism is higher. He doesn't kill off his main characters (usually), which allows for semi-happy endings, but I will withhold the fifth star because of a couple threads left unresolved (or at least unresolved to my satisfaction) and some preaching at the end. But, this is a tr...more
Robin is concerned with medical issues and with realism. Although he does believe in justice, it is not his highest priority--realism is higher. He doesn't kill off his main characters (usually), which allows for semi-happy endings, but I will withhold the fifth star because of a couple threads left unresolved (or at least unresolved to my satisfaction) and some preaching at the end. But, this is a tr...more
#10 in the Jack Stapleton / Laurie Montgomery series. Life as usual in NYC's OCME (Office of the Chief Medical Examiner) as seen in his somewhat over-the-top fashion by the prolific Robin Cook.
Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery series - Laurie's first case after maternity leave, appears to be death by natural causes. Laurie suspects otherwise, and uncovers a poisoning and a plot involving the Mafia and rival Japanese gangsters laundering money for a shady start-up firm promoting stem-cell rese...more
Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery series - Laurie's first case after maternity leave, appears to be death by natural causes. Laurie suspects otherwise, and uncovers a poisoning and a plot involving the Mafia and rival Japanese gangsters laundering money for a shady start-up firm promoting stem-cell rese...more
This was my first novel by Robin Cook, and I was pretty well impressed. I don't read much of the medical thriller genre, so I didn't know what to expect. But the characters, settings, and actions were all very fully realized. This one was structured differently than most novels I've read, and the suspense is mostly weighted towards the end of the book. But there was enough interest spread throughout to make it a good read. The only thing that stuck out to me was that Cook has a weird impression...more
1 like · like · see review
What a bummer. I read reviews of this book while waiting for my copy to become available at the library. I was disappointed that so many had tanked it as "predictable," "formulaic," and "incredibly unrealistic". I was hopeful that our tastes were simply different. Nope. The Robin Cook "Jack and Laurie Curse" strikes again. It seems as though every other book in the Jack and Laurie series is exciting, fast paced and set somewhere truly intriguing and that was certainly the case with "Intervention...more
I'm sad to say that Cure was another disappointing Robin Cook novel. I think I will stop reading them because the newer ones are tainting the positive memories I have of reading many of his earlier novels. Among my complaints about this one:
1) There really isn't a plot
2) The dialogue is beyond atrocious. There's no way the dialogue in his earlier novels could have been this awful.
3) Is it necessary to remind readers a) that Laurie and Lou used to date or b) that Laurie doesn't like Jack riding h...more
1) There really isn't a plot
2) The dialogue is beyond atrocious. There's no way the dialogue in his earlier novels could have been this awful.
3) Is it necessary to remind readers a) that Laurie and Lou used to date or b) that Laurie doesn't like Jack riding h...more
So... I'm completely confused about the title of this book. "Cure" implies that there is some sort of disease or something being cured. As there is no disease in this book, the title is a bit misleading. Instead it focuses on the OCME and Laurie Montgomery and Jack Stapleton, along with the mafia and Japanese mafia.
Not a bad story, just not what I imagine when I think of the title "Cure".
Anyway, I did enjoy the story and was pulled along, wanting to know what happens next.
Not a bad story, just not what I imagine when I think of the title "Cure".
Anyway, I did enjoy the story and was pulled along, wanting to know what happens next.
Not my favorite of Robin Cook's books. It was a bit of a challange to deal with in the beginning due to the long cast of characters. Also tripping over the Japanese names and trying to keep them all straight as to who was who. Once I got that figured out the story flowed more smoothly. But the whole organized crime thing, not really my cup of tea. Although I really did enjoy the part where those kidnapping experts did their job in such an efficient manner. That was satisfying.
Normally, I like Robin Cook and certainly, this was mildly entertaining. The set up for this was extremely complicated with 4 different groups of bad guys 2 syndicates in US and 2 syndicates in Japan plus the greedy doctor. The protagonist, the coroner, is thwarted in her attempt to solve the crime. I think that it was reaching to make her the object of criminals attempt to stop the investigation. Okay for a quick read but not Cook's best mystery.
Huge disappointment. Unprounceable Japanese names and way too many characters, most if whom are undeveloped. The main character is supposed to be Dr Laurie Montgomery who is anal and boring. I couldn't begin to like her. Her husband is virtually non existent for the first 22 chapters. The writing is mediocre, with the omniscient narrator head hopping on every page. If I had submitted this manuscript it would have been tossed in two minutes.
Enjoy Robin Cook and have read others in his Laurie Montgomery-Jack Stapleton series. While a bit convoluted with the many plot elements - from Japan to the US, with mobsters from both countries thrown in, along with biotech research and industrial espionage - it was interesting and a fast read. There were several instances of threads thrown in that led no-where...ex. when Jacqueline's boss, Ben Corey goes into her office and she covers up a phone number on her desk. Why? While this is not one o...more
I listened to this book on CD narrated by George Guidall. I would give the story a 4-star rating, but George Guidall gets a 10. With all of the Japanese names in this book, I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to narrate this book successfully unless he had prior knowledge and experience with the Japanese language.
So while I certainly enjoyed the book, I must also commend the narrator for a spectacular performance.
So while I certainly enjoyed the book, I must also commend the narrator for a spectacular performance.
Not quite as captivating as some o Cook"s novels, mainly because of the long build-up of information about the Japanese and USA mafia involvement in the latest research in the medical field.
The more personal involvement of the N.Y. medical examiner, back from her 20 month maternity leave, her dogged determination to find the cause of death of an unidentified victim that gets her entangled with the crooks was what kept me reading.
The more personal involvement of the N.Y. medical examiner, back from her 20 month maternity leave, her dogged determination to find the cause of death of an unidentified victim that gets her entangled with the crooks was what kept me reading.
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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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Jan 12, 2013 06:51pm
Thanks! I actually saw another Cook book yesterday and thought of getting it, but I've got to...more
Jan 12, 2013 07:07pm