CRITICAL
Robin Cook
Berkley
Medical Thriller
Hardcover: 039915423X
Paperback: 9780425222881

In 1977 Robin Cook’s second book, COMA, catapulted him into the limelight, and he has been a bestselling author ever since. He is the “father” of the medical thriller, and his 27th effort, CRITICAL, is another fast-paced, character-driven chiller. This time he challenges the notion of “specialized private hospitals” that resemble hotels and are stockholder-owned.

“I heard the government had a moratorium against them for a while” says Dr. Ravelo. “The government was against them for a time, because [they] involve some level of physician ownership to guarantee a continual flow of patients.” And readers learn that these hospitals are “not whole hospital[s]…they do only a number of limited services, [says] Dr. Ravelo.”

This conversation has come up because, under the aegis of Angels Healthcare, a sudden breakout of a rare staph infection is sending patients to the medical examiners’ slabs instead of home. Cook has brought back his former medical examiners, Dr. Laurie Montgomery and her husband, Jack, who is scheduled for knee surgery at Angels Orthopedic Hospital. But Laurie is against him going under the knife at this time, especially at an Angels facility. News of a young, healthy man who died of sepsis after the same procedure Jack needs will put him in the same operating room as the deceased. Since Jack is determined to go ahead with his surgery anyway, Laurie feels compelled to investigate and get to the bottom of the problem. Almost as soon as she starts comparing patients’ charts does a pattern of deaths after relatively simple operations emerges from Angels Hospitals.

The number of deaths at their facilities terrifies those behind the institution. Their reputation is at stake, but even more, they are planning to take their investor-driven “business” public. First, they don’t want to lose their cash cow, and second, they don’t want people to die, which could bury their IPO. But Angela Dawson, the founder and CEO of Angels Hospitals, is willing to sell her soul to keep the media in the dark about the problems while she scurries around seeking money.

When she was looking for seed money for this start-up business, she turned to her ex-husband Michael, a “money man.” He did find investors and an anonymous donor who gave millions to the enterprise. What he didn’t tell her is that the money was coming from a longtime, high-ranking Mafioso. When the IPO is in danger of not going public as scheduled, Vinnie Dominick gets very angry. He reads the riot act to Michael when he comes back to Vinnie to beg for $200,000 more to get them over the short fall.

Vinnie is furious and will get his revenge. Enter the thugs. Of course they are the stereotypical bad guys, who are shadowed by a cop and a dark figure that stays in the shadows. These “soldiers” start off with two murders and continue their hunt for their perceived nemesis, Laurie Montgomery. The bodies begin to stack up, and the MEs are working overtime.

Readers always find themselves riveted to Cook’s books from the first few sentences to the explosive climax --- and CRITICAL is no exception. Fans know what to expect from his novels: a lot of dialogue that drives the plot along at a breakneck pace and an interesting story played out by characters who fit their roles beautifully. This is a perfectly entertaining beach book and vacation thriller.

   --- Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum

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