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After losing his Midwestern ophthalmology practice to a for-profit medical giant, and then his family to a commuter airline tragedy, Dr. John Stapleton's life is in ashes. Abandoning his home and practice, Stapleton retrains as a medical examiner and relocates to a city that suits his changed perspective: the cold concrete maze of New York City.
Stapleton thinks he is past pain and past caring, but as a series of lethal illneses — capped by a particularly deadly outbreak of a rare strain of influenza — strikes the young, the old and the innocent, his suspicions are aroused. And when the apparent epicenter of these outbreaks is revealed to be a hospital controlled by the same for-profit giant that cannibalized his old ophthalmology practice, Stapleton fears he has stumbled upon a conspiracy of catastrophic proportions.
Solving the mystery leads to his unlikely pairing, both professionally and personally, with Terese Hagen, an art director at a hot Madison Avenue advertising firm. And as he gets closer to discovering the real explanation behind the killer contagions, he finds his life is on the line — for there are those who will pay any price to keep the diabolical truth from being revealed.
Contagion anticipates some of the uncharted consequences of managed health care, in an age when even the wariest consumer may be at risk. It is a terrifying cautionary tale for the millennium, as health-care giants collide. It is Robin Cook at his unerring best.
In Cook's numerous best-selling medical thrillers, the nasty microbes and lethal diseases are never as loathsome as the greedy villains who spread illness for profit. Here, a cynical forensics doctor suspects that a for-profit medical firm is murdering its more costly subscribers. A Literary GuildR main selection.
| Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
| $99.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub |
Jim Renfro
reviewed Contagion on February 03, 2021
Contagion
2.5 Stars
Entertaining so I am feeling generous and am rounding up to three stars. This is not great literature and not very believable but in the middle of winter and if you are stuck indoors because of the weather (and COVID-19) it can be a way to pass the time.
The prologue introduces three characters whose lives will intersect in the future. The protagonist, Jack Stapleton, is a medical examiner in New York city. Formerly he had a small opthamology practice but retrained when a managed care firm bought out his practice. Needless to say he has a certain bias when it comes to managed care. When a body is brought to the mortuary and that person had been a hospital patient who died of plague Jack sees a chance to stick it to managed care.
Soon there are other unexplained deaths at the same hospital …. plague, tularaemia, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, influenza. All highly contagious diseases. But there are only a handful of deaths and then they stop. Jack is on a mission. He suspects something is wrong but can't get a handle on it. He is persona non grata at the hospital where the deaths occurred and angers his bosses. He doesn't get fired but finds that a gang in New York has targeted him. First there is a beating to warn him off. Then there are attempts to kill him.
Undeterred by the beating, attempts on his life, and warnings from his employer and co-workers his job is in jeopardy Jack continues his investigation. He believes that the diseases and patient deaths are deliberate. But how are the people being infected? What is the connection? Some of the people who died worked in the hospital supply department and had no contact with patients.
There was a surprise twist towards the end but overall it is a rather poor ending. It seemed as though the author ran out if ideas and just had to finish the story up. As I mentioned at the beginning this is not great literature. If you are looking for a quick read and have time on your hand it is entertaining but I don't think it won any awards or is likely to.
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