Customer Reviews

Death Benefit

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I have read all of Robin Cooks books to date and havent been disappointed in any of them.
This latest book follows suite.
BUT .. The fact that the kindle edition of this release is $3 more than the paperback version has me confused.
Why pay more for for an e book that obviously costs less to manufacture than its printed version.

I dont know if this is the fault of the author, the publisher or amazon but it has me wondering if my next purchase will be kindle based..

Pia Grazdani, a talented medical student, is working with a prestigious scientist, Dr. Rothman, on stem cell research to create human replacement organs. The research, which will revolutionize treatment of many diseases, is only months away from being completed when a disaster strikes the lab. Dr. Rothman and one of his associates become deathly ill while working in the lab and die within hours. Pia does not believe this is an accident and, with the help of her friend George, begins her own investigation much to the distress of school administrators. A potential murder investigation would not be good for the school.

I liked Pia. She is smart, strong-willed and independent. Orphaned at an early age she was raised in the foster system and learned to depend on herself and no one else. She still suffers from nightmares and cannot allow anyone to get close to her even though her friend George would do anything to help her.

Meanwhile, several ex-Wall street hot-shots think they have hit on the investment idea of the century. They formed a company to buy insurance policies from terminally ill people for pennies on the dollar. The future seems bright until someone begins shorting their stock. As soon as other investors find out about this, their company will be worthless.

Scattered throughout the story are a few chapters with some very unlikeable characters from the Albanian mob. It got a little unbelievable and this element of the plot could have been handled differently and still been effective. To avoid spoilers I'll not say much more other than all three seemingly unconnected storylines come together in the end.

The narration by George Guidall was a pleasure to listen to with a smooth, flowing style. I usually prefer a female main character to be narrated by a woman's voice but Guidall did a capable job with Pia and I was not distracted by the lack of a female reader. The book was written in the third person so there was more narration than dialog.

I enjoyed this medical thriller that combines the right amount of current research, factual information and an engaging story. Stem cell research and organ replacement are timely and interesting topics that held my attention over the eleven hours of the audiobook.

Nobel Prize winner, molecular geneticist Tobias Rothman, who worked with virulent strains of typhoid-causing salmonella, concentrates on organogenesis, growing fully functional entire organs from stem cells. He notices the energy and intelligence of Columbia Medical School student Pia Grazdani so Tobias brings the troubled twenty-six years old onto his team.

Avaricious board chair of LifeDeals Inc. Edmund Mathews uses his firm's assets to buy life insurance policies from the sick and elderly on the cheap. However, if Rothman's work succeeds making organs cheap, Mathews and his partners would go bankrupt and potentially face criminal charges of fraud and embezzlement. An accident at the safe lab shakes up Pia who soon realizes someone caused the lethal incident and wants her dead too. She turns to Columbia medical student George Wilson, who loves her, for safety.

Although an exciting medical thriller, Death Benefits is over the top of Morningside Heights; thus requiring readers to ignore their plausibility measures. The story line is fast-paced from the moment the lab incident occurs and never slows down. Robin Cook shines a fascinating spotlight on the multitrillion dollar insurance commodity market inside an engaging Manhattan tale.

Harriet Klausner

See book summaries above.
While it didn't always move at a fast pace it still kept me satisfied overall.
The topical issues like regenerative medicine and big business was put together nicely. Both a financial thriller and medical thriller rolled into one. I liked it and I think most Cook fans will too.

This book has to be one of the most disjointed books Cook has written. I could not determine whether the story was about business, greedy business people, insurance, greed, nuns, Wall Street, medicine, research, Albanian Mafia, viruses, stem cells, deadbeat dads, perverted uncles, organ generation, etc. The people at the OCME, who I like the most, were pretty much ignored. The worst part of the book is the ending. It has more lose ends/incomplete story lines than a porcupine has quills. I would say that anyone who rates this book higher than 3 stars has very low expectations.

I am on page 146 and wondering where the "thriller" part some readers have mentioned will happen. The wall street guys, and their investigators (and investors) are all so one dimensional it is beyond belief. I love Robin Cook's books whenever I need a medical thriller. I don't expect a lot out of his books, but tolerate a lack of literary skill because he usually has interesting medical research combined with actual thrills...so far this is a dud. I am going to give it 10 more pages and stop if it doesn't pick up.

I agree with the less than favorable reviews on this book. I've enjoyed the Jack/Laurie books and always like Cook's hot-off-the-presses medical thriller issues. But this one was just totally muddled. The characters were one-dimensional and not very believable, there were too many plot lines left un-finished, and the Armenian mafia/long lost daughter stuff was just ridiculous, convoluted, and off the track. Not one of his best, and not even exciting.

His first novel in many years not to feature Drs. Jack Stapleton and Lori Montgomery, Robin Cook seems to have been inspired by The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Millennium Trilogy). Pia, a 4th year Columbia med student, bears an uncanny resemblance to Lisbeth Salander of Steig Larsson's Tattoo trilogy. Death Benefit centers on two researchers growing human organs in a lab. The public health implications are enormous--patients with diabetes may live a decade longer or more. It would largely eliminate the donor list registry. Rejection of transplants would be a thing of the past.

But greed gets in the way of their work when some uber-wealthy investors learn what the researchers are up to. Their startup, LifeDeals, capitalizes on life insurance policies for the elderly, many having diseases that would be cured by a lab-grown pancreas matching the patient's DNA. When untold millions are at stake, the Albanian mob gets involved, kidnapping Pia and attempting to thwart the progress of groundbreaking medical research.

Robin Cook underwrote this novel. There is neither controlled pacing nor descriptive buildup to lift the reader at key moments. With no shortage of action, this was needed to add variety to the clunky dialogue spouted by Pia and her friend with benefit George. The overall feeling is a rushed effort. Not even a cameo appearance by Drs. Stapleton and Montgomery can save Death Benefit from mediocrity.

I had been rather disappointed with the last couple of books from Mr.Cook, but he bounces back in this Science/Medical thriller. Great breakthroughs in Stem cell research and Regenerative medicine throws up a fascinating scenario in a medical school, that draws in the Wall Street Bankers and the Albanian Mafia, and develops a plot that is a very good read. Though the story is in a medical school with a Nobel Laureate and research students, the focus is more on 'Science & Business' - where rapid developments in Science can create havoc on established business models. The book would have been even better, if Mr.Cook had not made the ending even more complex than was needed.

This story is more of a typical 'Michael Crichton' plot than a usual 'Robin Cook' story. It will also make you think of the implications of many new technologies of the 21st century when stem cells, genomics and nanotechnology converges.

I have read every single one of Robin Cook's books and so I ordered this as soon as it was available....some are superb, some are great, a few have been a little laborous...but this one was just all over the place! Robin.....I think maybe you were thinking "sequel" at the end? I hope you read these reviews. I do admit that the first few chapters were a little dull, then it picked up, got very interesting with the lab incident, Pia's eventual "escape", but the last few chapters simply did not satisfy.....Mother Superior and the convent disappeared, did not hear anything more about George's grandmother, what was up with the maintenance men in Pia's office, who was the "spy" in the lab?, Jack, Laurie & Chet's "appearance", then gone......please, please Robin, do NOT begin to write in a "formulary" fashion as Danielle Steele's books now seem...your readers are smart & savy.....please do not let us down. It would be interesting to see Pia's character developed more...where DOES she head from here? Maybe in the mob? Ok..that was a joke, but you are always on the cutting edge and have been since COMA......please give us more...or my $$$ will go elsewhere.