I was looking for a book to listen to this past week, and I wanted something edge-of-your-seat to keep me engaged while I drove. I chose this book for it’s being a medical “thriller” but throughout the story, I was none too impressed. I finished it, but it was definitely not edge-of-my-seat. It felt more like a medical drama than a thriller, and that’s just not what the doctor ordered.

Of course, I’m not sure what I expected. I’ve only read Robin Cook once book before (Contagion, which apparently is even in the same series as Genesis), and I didn’t love that book either. Perhaps it’s because I’m used to pop-adventure-thrillers by authors like Clive Cussler, Michael Crichton, and Tom Clancy, but this book was way too mellow for me—and by “mellow” I guess I intend the pun “mellow-dramatic.” It covers issues like morgue management, inconsiderate interns, sexism, autism, and breast cancer. It’s more about office politics and interpersonal conflict than anything, and even through there’s murder involved, it’s almost forced into the story, like: “Well, I guess the formula says I need to kill off a major character now. Here goes.”

Telling to me )now that I think about it) is that Genesis is Cook’s latest in the “Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery” series (Book 12). Contagion was Book 2, and I didn’t even notice the connection until I Googled to see if Robin Cook is still alive. That’s not good. These characters left so little impression on me that I made it through the entire novel without making the connection that I’d read about these characters before. The only tie-in that I can recall is that the main character liked to play basketball…and his name might have been Jack. But every hero’s name is Jack, and I just thought Robin Cook was a basketball fan. Dirk Pitt or Jack Ryan this guy Stapleton is not! He’s a forgettable character placed into forgettable plots that remind of (___ insert the title of any medical drama here__).

I’ll likely never read something from this series again, which shouldn’t surprise you, though I do wonder if I could handle some of Cook’s standalone novels, like Coma, Sphynx, or Fever. I suppose I’d be willing to try one again, if the thrills are there, but it would have to something really great to make me continue reading Robin Cook thereafter. Not my kind of author, and not my style of book.

©2023 E.T.