Foreign Body

Foreign Body
Robin Cook
436 pages hardback
2008

Foreign Body is one of many that Robin Cook has written in the Medical Thriller genre.  A fellow Menchie worker told me that he liked Robin Cook books so I went to our local library and there were only 2 on the shelf (neither of which were the titles that he had read).  The one on medical tourism caught my attention and it was set in India.  The story started out pretty fast-paced for the first chapter or so, then it became a bit of a labor to read and I found the characters lacking depth.  The ending, although predictable, again picked up in pace but there were a lot of pages in the middle when the same situation was being described time and again from person to person.  I found it hard to really connect with any of the characters and yes the bad guys were clearly bad, but the good guys were neutral and when I finished the story I did not find myself missing anyone like I sometimes do with a really good read.  The book does seem authentic enough with its use of medical terms and those desiring a glance at India will not be disappointed and I liked the intent of the last sentence (but writing it out would give away the ending).  Over-all, it was too many pages for the good that came from it, I hope that does not sound too harsh.  Robin Cook is known as a #1 New York Times bestselling author and has written at least 27 novels so maybe i just did not pick his best work.

Lethal Harvest

Lethal Harvest
by: William Cutrer, M.D. and Sandra Glahn
Paperback, 407 pages
2000

Dr. Bill Cutrer taught Russell and I in our newly marrieds Sunday school class, rescued Hannah and Sophie from traumatic birth experiences and was recovering from his own heart surgery at the time of Isaiah's birth.  A remarkable man in so many ways that when he died recently in Kentucky where he and Jane had moved to after their Dallas years, I found myself missing him very much.  His first medical thriller novel, Lethal Harvest, I had read years ago, but it was a joy to reread it and get a fresh glimpse at an old friend.  The meaningful funeral in the opening of the story made me wonder about Dr. Bill's own funeral.  In this novel he drew heavily on his own personal experiences as a doctor, a husband, father, missionary and a man of great care for the needs of others and reading the book helped me to see this all over again.  The story dealt fairly with the ethical questions of life and research particularly as it affects cell stems and the medical part of Dr. Bill shown brightly in the writing, even with the fictitious disease.  The love-story part of the novel was believable as well and made for a nice balanced read.  The on-going mystery concerning a law-suit, made me more aware of various aspects of a doctor's world and motives that can drive people to action.  So, the general setting: 3 doctors at 1 clinic over about a 7 month period of time told in modern day (modern for 2000, when computer use was just becoming more available for normal people).  There is decent character development and an intriguing plot.  Somewhere toward the end of the book I remembered that there was a sequence to the novel but I was very satisfied at this story's conclusion.  I have a feeling that down the road I will read Deadly Cure (#2 in the Bioethics Series) or maybe one of his books on marriage.  Thank you Dr. Bill for putting some of what God has gifted you with down on paper so that many can be blessed by reading what you have written.  You are an inspiration to me!