The last time I read a Robin Cook’s book was almost 10 years back. I don’t really remember which book it was. All I remember is that I didn’t like it very much. I hated Bio in school. So a medical thriller was not something I enjoyed reading. And I never gave it a chance again.
Recently a friend of mine asked me whether I’ve read any books by Robin Cook. This conversation is what ignited my memory about medical thrillers. And then a few days later I saw Robin Cook’s Cell in the library. This time when I read the blurb, it sounded interesting enough and I decided to give medical thrillers another chance.
I was not disappointed by the book. All the medical explanations did not put me off like it did all those years back. But I wasn’t impressed either!
The book started off really well. The plot was great. Halfway through the book, I was actually enjoying it. But somewhere along the way, the plot lost its grip on me. It turned out to be just another thriller. Nothing great or exceptional about it.
The book has all the elements of a great thriller. A good plot. A mystery. Fast-paced throughout. Great writing. But the plot development was lacking. If it had been developed well, the book could have become one of my favorites.
The characters were not that likable either. The protagonist, George, is shown to be a clever character. But at times, he is so naive that it really doesn’t fit in with his character. It was so obvious that he was being taken advantage of.
I also felt that there was a lot of repetition in the book. Towards the end, I was kind of fast reading because almost the same things were being repeated over and over again.
And then the ending. I pretty much didn’t like how it ended. I was literally looking at the number of pages left and thinking “That’s not enough pages for all the things that need to happen!”
Anyways, it’s good for a one time read. And I’m definitely reading more medical thrillers. This book did get me out of my notion about medical thrillers.
My rating: 3.5⭐/5