Shock [IMPORT] (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The human egg cell, or oocyte, that was snared by the slight suction exerted through the blunt end of the holding pipette was no different..." (more)
Key Phrases: oogonia cultures, donor folder, server room door, Wingate Clinic, Randy Porter, Paul Saunders (more...)

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Books (January 1, 2001)
• ISBN-10: 0333902815
• ISBN-13: 978-0333902813
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 1.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (154 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #3,563,029 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars did Cook really write this book, September 1, 2001

By	Karen B. Nelson "Book addict" (Layton, Utah) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Shock (Hardcover)

I own and have read every one of Robin Cook's books, some several times. They are riveting, exciting and well written.
With Shock, I was in shock. Here are two female post grads from Harvard, no less, with newly acquired Doctorates in Economics and Microbiology. Then in comes Laverne & Shirley. How Cook expected to pass this off as a well written mystery beats me, the two girls giggled, argued, made a mockery out of average intelligence(to wit, the first and only day on the job, like no one noticed they took 1/2 hour breaks every hour, met at the water fountain and disappeared with no notice) and it was supposed to be a medical mystery. The only mystery is how he managed to keep a straight face as he wrote it. Would not recommend it at all. Unless you get it free or on loan, but remember, I told you so.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Yikes!, June 17, 2005

By	J. L. Ennis "daisygrl1268" (Berlin, NJ United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Shock (Paperback)

I won't go so far as to say that this was a horrible book. I don't feel that I've read enough of Robin Cook's novels to be able to make that statement fairly. However, I do know that I spent 340 pages of reading being fairly entertained, and then 12 pages being SORELY disappointed. To say that this novel ran out of steam is an understatement of DRASTIC proportions. Even with a sequel planned for this story, I have trouble comprehending that his editors let him get away with this ending. Keep this one at the bottom of your pile and definitely get it from the library!

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A tacky and deritative medical thriller without any thrills., September 16, 2001

By	E. Bukowsky "booklover10" (NY United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Shock (Hardcover)

How low can he sink? Robin Cook's new medical thriller, "Shock," is shocking in only one respect. How can an author with Cook's reputation write a book so hackneyed, wooden and lacking in suspense as this one?

The protagonists are Joanna Meissner and Deborah Cochrane, two beautiful and brainy doctoral students. Yet, for all of their intellectual prowess, these two women see nothing fishy in an advertisement in the "Harvard Crimson" for egg donors. The ad offers forty-five thousand dollars to every egg donor that the clinic accepts.

Naively, the two women go to the Wingate Infertility Clinic, and they donate their eggs. They women take a glorious trip to Italy with their newfound wealth. Over a year later, they decide to look into the fate of their donated eggs by finding employment in the Wingate Clinic and doing some snooping. Joanna and Deborah predictably find out that the Wingate Clinic is engaged in some very questionable and unethical research. Will the ladies be able to get the authorities to help them before they are captured and killed by the nasties who run the clinic?

Joanna and Deborah are two of the most ridiculous sleuths that I have ever seen. They are like two overaged Nancy Drews, coming up with one presposterous plan after another. Their dialogue is stilted and silly and their behaviour is immature and inane. Deborah dresses like a hooker to avoid being recognized at the clinic and her ridiculous getup becomes a silly recurring joke. The book peters off at the end and Cook offers no real resolution to the asinine plot.

The premise of the book, namely that fertility clinics are the ideal setting for reproductive chicanery, has been done before many times. Cook breaks no new ground here. "Shock" is witless, dull and without any literary merit whatsover.