Viral

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$21.49


Robin Cook’s latest novel hits close to home, featuring the struggling Murphy family during the time of COVID-19. On a summer outing to the beach, a mosquito bite results in a shocking and mysterious new virus that sends Emma Murphy to the ICU. Soon after, Emma and Brian’s young daughter starts exhibiting symptoms as well, and not only is Brian forced to deal with the emotional fallout of the situation, he also starts down a harrowing path of debt as he realizes that his health insurance was not quite as advertised.

As a huge fan of Robin Cook’s earlier works from the 70s and 80s, Viral delivered a very different type of medical thriller to what I expected. The fear and thrills in Viral stem from Cook’s portrayal of the modern health insurance system, rather than from the virus itself. In fact, the book felt much more like a political manifesto at times than a story (it will only take you a few pages of reading the incredibly forced dialogue between characters to understand what I mean). That said, Viral was still a pretty addictive read, and Cook very effectively makes his point by showing the devastating consequences of our current healthcare system through a family tragedy.


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Author Robin Cook
Star Count /5
Format Hard
Page Count 432 pages
Publisher G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publish Date 17-Aug-2021
ISBN 9780593328293
Bookshop.org Buy this Book
Issue February 2022
Category Mystery, Crime, Thriller
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