Robin Cook, master of bestselling medical thrillers, answers the "What's the worst thing that could happen?" question in this plot-twisting novel in which villains with no sense of ethics or social responsibility get their greedy hands on the newest cloning technology. It starts when a couple of Harvard graduate students answer the Wingate Clinic's ad for egg donors. The women figure on financing a year in Venice and the down payment on a Boston condo with the extraordinary sum they're promised. But a year later, the heroines feel the emotional need to seek out the children they've made possible for infertile couples. So they disguise themselves and seek jobs at the clinic in order to access the identifying information. The clinic, as it turns out, has plenty of secrets to protect, so it's hard to believe that a pair of computer neophytes could bypass its security. But they do, and the author is an adept enough writer to finesse this detail.

As in past books, Cook is much better at the technical details of medical research than he is at characterization, but he definitely knows how to plot a thriller. This one keeps you turning the pages until the final denouement, though the last chapter ends abruptly, leaving the reader to wonder whether he ran out of steam or is just setting up a sequel in which he'll recycle the villains in a new scheme with a new pair of victims. --Jane Adams


From Publishers Weekly
The medical thriller has come a long way since Cook and Michael Crichton invented it: recent practitioners like Tess Gerritson have polished it into a powerful dramatic and social engine. Alas, Cook appears to have gotten off at the wrong station or missed the train entirely, judging by his latest effort, a crudely conceived, ineptly written and most damning of all totally unexciting story ripped from old headlines. Things have been going to hell at the Wingate Fertility Clinic, housed in a rambling Victorian mansion near Boston, ever since the gifted Dr. Spencer Wingate decided to take some time off to write a novel and chase women. Not only was he unsuccessful at both activities, but the nasty little replacement he left in charge has been doing some weird stuff including paying young Harvard women $45,000 for their eggs and driving down the profits. Spencer returns at the same time as two of these women, Deborah Cochrane and Joanna Meissner, who have been spending their payment on Boston real estate and a year in Venice. Judging by the burly security guards on hand who conveniently dispose of a donor who dies on the operating table (and her friend, too) in the first chapter, Deborah and Joanna aren't about to be greeted with open arms. They manage to join the clinic staff under assumed names, hoping to find out what became of the eggs they contributed. Add a farm straight from The Island of Dr. Moreau, where the Wingate staff experiment on animals when they're not busy applying unethical electric shock treatments to human zygotes, and the result is a medical and literary mess with no redeeming features. Advertising on the Today show and CNN; author tour. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Ah, the wonders of modern medicine, which have given us, among other things, the medical thriller. Here, two graduate science students decide to earn a little extra money by donating their eggs to a fertility clinic. But then they discover that something is amiss. A Literary GuildR, Mystery GuildR, and Doubleday Book Club main selection. Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
Technology and greed combine to bring the listener to the brink of a futuristic medical nightmare. Except it's not a dream. Kate Burton narrates with a staccato drumbeat that reflects the intrigue and terror thrust upon Deborah and Joanna, two women who decide to become egg donors. Close friends and fellow graduate students, they don't know they're participating in a secret human-hybrid cloning scheme. As Burton provides a skillful narration, with on-target age and gender changes, the listener is drawn into the complex plot. The story is exceptionally well done, and its ending merits its title, leaving the listener in shock as the final credits roll. G.D.W. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
Harvard graduate students Joanna Meissner and Deborah Cochrane decide to sell their eggs to a medical clinic to make money while writing their dissertations. The medical procedures go smoothly, and soon Deborah and Joanna are off to Venice for the sake of their theses. But when they return a year and a half later, Joanna desperately wants to know what's happened to her eggs and persuades Deborah to help her. When they fail to get the information they want, they adopt false names and disguises to get jobs at the clinic. Once hired, Joanna tries to hack into the computer system, while Deborah focuses on the unusual research being done at the clinic. They find more than they bargained for when they discover the true nature of that research and the lengths clinic doctors will go to cover it up. Cook's latest isn't up to par with his best. He spends too much time detailing how the women sneak into the clinic; the revelations, when they finally come, aren't particularly shocking or well explained; and the ending is abrupt. Still, the issues of egg selling and secret clinical research are timely enough to generate reader interest. Kristine Huntley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
A startling novel based on the latest fertility technology, it's "one of the most memorable of Robin Cook's medical thrillers." (The Associated Press)


Download Description
"Deborah Cochrane and Joanna Meissner, graduate science students and close friends, spot a campus newspaper ad that promises to solve their financial problems: an exclusive, highly profitable fertility clinic on Boston's North Shore is looking for egg donors. Deborah and Joanna figure they can do a good deed--help infertile couples--and earn money. Although rumors of a fellow student donor's unexplained disappearance surface, the duo is not deterred. The procedures seem to go smoothly. Deborah is particularly intrigued by the technology involved and by Dr. Spencer Windgate, the charismatic fertility expert responsible for the clinic's success. But second thoughts and curiosity prompt the two women to find out more about the fate of their donated eggs. Stymied by the clinic's veil of secrecy, Deborah and Joanna obtain employment there to continue their probe. Working under aliases, they soon discover the horrifying aims of Dr. Windgate's research, immediately putting their lives--and their sanity--irrevocably at risk. Posited on up-to-the-minute science, Shock finds Robin Cook at the uncertain crossroads of medical technology and ethics. "

FROM OUR EDITORS

Hoping to help infertile couples and looking for hard cash, two graduate school friends decide to become egg donors. But science students Debbie Cochrane and Joanna Meissner discover that somewhere behind the high walls of the North Shore fertility clinic, their little good deed is being transformed into a ghastly great crime. Cutting-edge science and suspense.

ANNOTATION

Technology and greed converge in this spine-tingling novel of medicine run amok by the bestselling master of medical suspense. ...Posited on up-to-the-minute science, Shock finds Robin Cook at the uncertain crossroads of medical technology and ethics.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Deborah Cochrane and Joanna Meissner, close friends and fellow grad students, respond to a campus newspaper ad that promises to solve their financial problems: an exclusive, highly profitable fertility clinic northwest of Boston is willing to pay top dollar to a few attractive, slim, athletic Ivy-league egg donors. The women are pleased to be accepted into the donor program by the Wingate Infertility Clinic, and the procedures are done quickly, with minimal inconvenience. Both women are impressed by the clinic and its personnel. With her background in biology, Deborah applauds the organization's commitment to research, while Joanna is intrigued by the business aspect; she had no idea treating infertility was such a lucrative endeavor. With the money earned from their donations, Deborah's and Joanna's circumstances change dramatically. After using the lion's share of the proceeds as a down payment on a two-bedroom condominium, the friends splurge on an extended trip to Venice. When they return, Joanna can't resist the urge to look into the fate of their donated eggs. Deborah is quickly drawn in, and curiosity turns into full-blown obsession as the pair is stymied by Wingate's iron veil of secrecy. The women remain undeterred, particularly after uncovering some disturbing irregularities at the clinic. And the truth they ultimately discover far exceeds the very worst they had imagined.

FROM THE CRITICS

Barnes & Noble Guide to New Fiction

Technology and greed converge in this medical thriller by a master of the genre. When two female grad students decide to solve their financial problem by becoming egg donors, they find that the fate of their donated eggs is pretty murky, ultimately discovering the horrific aims of the clinic's research and putting their own lives at stake.

Publishers Weekly

The medical thriller has come a long way since Cook and Michael Crichton invented it: recent practitioners like Tess Gerritson have polished it into a powerful dramatic and social engine. Alas, Cook appears to have gotten off at the wrong station or missed the train entirely, judging by his latest effort, a crudely conceived, ineptly written and most damning of all totally unexciting story ripped from old headlines. Things have been going to hell at the Wingate Fertility Clinic, housed in a rambling Victorian mansion near Boston, ever since the gifted Dr. Spencer Wingate decided to take some time off to write a novel and chase women. Not only was he unsuccessful at both activities, but the nasty little replacement he left in charge has been doing some weird stuff including paying young Harvard women $45,000 for their eggs and driving down the profits. Spencer returns at the same time as two of these women, Deborah Cochrane and Joanna Meissner, who have been spending their payment on Boston real estate and a year in Venice. Judging by the burly security guards on hand who conveniently dispose of a donor who dies on the operating table (and her friend, too) in the first chapter, Deborah and Joanna aren't about to be greeted with open arms. They manage to join the clinic staff under assumed names, hoping to find out what became of the eggs they contributed. Add a farm straight from The Island of Dr. Moreau, where the Wingate staff experiment on animals when they're not busy applying unethical electric shock treatments to human zygotes, and the result is a medical and literary mess with no redeeming features. Copyright 2001 CahnersBusiness Information.

Library Journal

Ah, the wonders of modern medicine, which have given us, among other things, the medical thriller. Here, two graduate science students decide to earn a little extra money by donating their eggs to a fertility clinic. But then they discover that something is amiss. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

Kirkus Reviews