Toxin - Hardcover

Cook, Robin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0399143165 ISBN 13: 9780399143168

Publisher: Putnam Adult, 1998

Synopsis

Dr. Kim Reggis, one of the country's top cardiac surgeons, finds himself ill equipped to deal with a medical catastrophe involving his own daughter, Becky. Newly divorced, Kim takes Becky to her favorite fast-food restaurant on a special night out. The quintessential American meal of burgers and fries leads to tragedy. Over the following week Becky becomes gravely ill from E. coli bacterial poisoning.
Beginning with the initial emergency room visit, Kim is driven to distraction by the realities of current medicine. Already beaten down by the indignities of a major hospital merger and the subsequent loss of his departmental chairmanship, Kim collides head-on with cost-cutting rules that restrict his daughter's treatment.
Half crazed by grief, Kim launches himself on an inquiry to learn how and why his daughter got sick. The trail of deadly evidence of shoddy meat-industry practices and complicity stretches from the slaughter-house to the industry hierarchy to the USDA. Aided in his quest by his ex-wife, Tracy, and a young, idealistic USDA inspector, Kim ultimately learns the shocking truth - but the price may be his life and the lives of those he loves.

About this title

Review

Just when you thought it was safe to eat a hamburger again, Robin Cook--master of medical mysteries, deadly epidemics, and creepy comas--returns with an all too likely villain drawn right from current headlines: the American meat industry. If you've ever wondered where the E. coli bacteria comes from, and exactly how it can ravage the human body, destroying everything in its path, this is the book for you. As usual, Cook delivers solid information, well-researched medical arcana, and a scathing indictment of managed health care.

His protagonist, Kim Regis, is an all-too-typical ego-driven surgeon, whose arrogance and invulnerability set him up to be brought low by the deadly toxin that takes the life of his young daughter. Sparing no time and barely a paragraph to reflect on his loss, Regis goes right after the culprit, a meat-packing behemoth that brings dead and diseased animals to the slaughterhouse, breaking every health regulation in the book. The scenes set on the killing floor and in the boning rooms will make a vegetarian out of the most confirmed red-meat eater. Toxin is a heart-pounding thriller that hits very close to home. --Jane Adams

About the Author

Dr. Robin Cook is the author of thirty previous books, most recently Nano, and is credited with popularizing the medical thriller with his wildly successful first novel, Coma. He divides his time between Boston and Florida. His most recent bestsellers include Death Benefit, Cure, and Intervention.

About this edition

• Publisher: Putnam Adult
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0399143165
• ISBN 13: 9780399143168
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 356