Title: Brain
Author: Robin Cook
Publication date: January 1982
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
ISBN: 9780451157973
Genre: Medical, Mystery
I was introduced to the works of Robin Cook by my biology teacher in Class XI. That was when I realised fiction can be in the form of medical thrillers with crime and suspense embedded in a medical backdrop.
‘Brain’ was a good read though not particularly as impressive as ‘Toxin’ and ‘Chromosome 6’, the first Robin Cooks I had read.
As in all the books of Cook, the protagonist is a doctor and we are presented with a walkthrough of the different areas in a hospital. We have a female romantic interest, also a member of the medical fraternity, who, as usual, adds a bit of spice to the serious plot.
Other characters are all highly qualified professionals working towards the peak of their careers. This novel shows the apprehension and horror of a patient undergoing brain surgery as opposed to operations on other organs.
A string of inexplicable cases of patients with seizures, all of them after having undergone routine gynecological checkup, sparks the interest of Dr Martin Philips, Assistant Chief of neuro radiology in Hobson University Medical Center. His investigation, supplemented with an x-ray reading software to locate brain abnormalities with precision, leads to unearthing of unethical activities in the hospital forming a chilling climax.
Robin Cook provides an interesting foray into the mechanics of a working hospital, which may seem a bit complex to the layman’s eye. Nevertheless, it piques the interest of those who wonder what doctors and nurses do behind the closed doors of surgical theatres and medical laboratories. A doctor himself, Cook loves to touch on an ongoing issue of medical malpractice and base a fictional novel on it. This is one such product from him and has been given a justified deliverance.
~ Fahima Yousouf
A Writer's Retreat 