Publisher, Penguin Audio (August 2007)

New York City medical examiners Laurie Montgomery and Jack Stapleton return in the stunning new novel from the master of the medical thriller—a ripped-from-the-headlines tale of an innovative doctor's dangerous downward spiral.

Angela Dawson, M.D., appears to have it all: at age thirty-seven, she owns a New York City apartment and a house on Nantucket, and enjoys a prosperous lifestyle. But her climb to the top has been rough, marked by a troubled childhood, a failed marriage, and the blow of bankruptcy as a primary-care internist. Aware of the role of economics in the health­care field, Angela returns to school to earn an MBA; she is determined to erase the memories of the controlling men in her past. Armed with a new degree and blessed with tenacity, she founds a start-up, Angels Healthcare, then takes it public. Confident in her abilities as both doctor and businesswoman, and virtually assured of finally controlling her own destiny, Angela is on the verge of seeing her ambitions fulfilled.

But then a surge of drug-resistant staph infections devastates Angela's carefully con­structed world. Not only do the infections result in deaths of patients but the fatalities cause a serious cash-flow problem, which puts her company's imminent IPO in jeopardy. Vowing to keep her business afloat, Angela works around the clock to save what she's built—knowing all too well that the only person she can count on is herself.

Montgomery and Stapleton are intrigued by the uptick in staph-related post-procedure deaths. Despite Jack's protests, Laurie can't help investigating—thus opening a Pandora's box of corporate intrigue that threatens not just her livelihood but her life and Jack's as well.

About the Author: Doctor and author Robin Cook is widely credited with introducing the word “medical” to the thriller genre, and twenty-five years after the publication of his breakthrough novel, Coma, he continues to dominate the category he created. Cook has successfully combined medical fact with fantasy to produce a succession of New York Times bestsellers, including Outbreak (1987), Mindbend (1988), Mutation (1989), Harmful Intent (1990), Vital Signs (1991), Blindsight (1992), Terminal (1993), Fatal Cure (1994), Acceptable Risk (1995), Contagion (1996), Chromosome 6 (1997), Toxin (1998) and Vector (1999).

In each of his novels, Robin Cook strives to write about issues at the forefront of current medical practice. To date, he has explored issues such as organ donation, genetic engineering, in vitro fertilization, research funding, managed care, drug research, and organ transplantation. In Shock, Cook reaches the crossroads of medical technology and ethics by uncovering secrets of a fertility clinic.

Cook says he chose to write thrillers because the form gives him “an opportunity to get the public interested in things about medicine they didn’t seem to know about. I believe my books are actually teaching people.”

Coma was made into a successful feature film, and Cook’s novels have also been made into television productions. In December 1993, CBS-TV aired “Robin Cook’s Harmful Intent”; in November 1994, NBC-TV aired “Robin Cook’s Mortal Fear”; in May 1995, NBC-TV aired “Robin Cook’s Virus,” based on Outbreak; and in February 1996 NBC-TV aired “Robin Cook’s Terminal.” In addition to 1997’s “Robin Cook’s Invasion,” NBC-TV has two other Cook novels in production.

Robin Cook is a graduate of Columbia University Medical School and finished his postgraduate medical training at Harvard. He is currently on leave from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. He divides his time between homes in Boston and Florida.

About the Performer: George Guidall is one of the foremost narrators in the audiobook industry, having recorded more t eight hundred unabridged novels. His forty-year career includes leading roles on and off Broadway and num­erous appearances on film and television. He has won an Obie for best performance.