[.ca] Fever (ISBN 0425174204)

One of Cook's better novels:
"Fever", one of Robin Cook's earliest novels, is also one of his better ones. Some were better ("Mutation"), but it's much better than some of his recent works ("Abduction" and "Vector"). Like many of his novels, the premise varies little from novel to novel. This tale centers around a twelve year old girl who has developed a form of leukemia. Her father, a doctor/scientist who has studied and searched for a cure for cancer for the past nine years following the death of his wife to leukemia, is suddenly having to deal with his nightmares again. He has since remarried, but soon conflicts arise between the father and his wife, oldest son, and the doctors who prescribe chemotherapy treatment for his daughter. The father soon discovers the cause of his daughter's leukemia. That source was also the cause of another child's fatal disease. The father subsequently tries to bring the culprits to justice and continue his work while also trying to find his own cure for his daughter. The believability factor is strained a bit here. Cook does a masterful job of relaying the tension between the father and his family, but his description and reactions of the girl do seem to fit better with a younger child and not one twelve years of age. Like many of his novels, there is corporate greed entwined with government agencies. Even though it's a bit farfetched, Cook makes it work with his skillful writing. Overall, any fan of Cook or medical thrillers in general should enjoy this one.

Occasionally Confusing:
Dr Charles Martel is a cancer researcher, whose first wife died from lymphoma. Now their daughter Michelle has myeloblastic leukaemia, and Charles thinks she got it from benzene dumped in the local pond. An interesting idea (I rather do like medical thrillers), but characterisation was poor, and the book was occasionally frustrating. Mind you, it was published in 1982, if that accounts for anything. (B)

GREAT BOOK:
I am a 17 year old senior in high school. We had to pick a book for an anatomy project. I picked this book because it is kind of non fictional. I LOVED IT!!!! It is kind of slow to get into but about 15 pages in I couldnt put it down!!

Excellent medical thriller:
One of the best books of Robin Cook, it will keep you reading all the time, it also will show you that a family must stand together no matter what and that you must trust your wife or husband, at the end, is not out of the reality, at first you will think that that end is not possible, but when you read the explanation of why it can be you will believe it.

Ecology/Medical Thriller:
Robin Cook is one of my favorite authors. I enjoyed this book as much as all of his others. He's created a doctor/researcher who almost breaks down after an incredible number of problems are thrown at him. He's impulsive, but reacts as any of us might under the same pressures. I read the whole thing in one day, unable to put it down. As a mother, I found what happened to his daughter so shocking that I was both horrified by the book, yet unable to put it down. If you have a horror of sick children, you might want to choose another one of his books. But even if this bothers you, I will just say that the ending does justify reading the book.