World of Medical Thriller in Couch

When Americans hear the name “Robin Cook,” they think of the medical thrillers. A medical doctor/novelist, he has been writing medical novels for more than 30 years. His booklist includes Coma, which deals with the subject of the black market for human organs and the issue of brain death, and Mutation, which depicts a genetically engineered genius.

The main figure in Crisis is Boston doctor Craig Bowman, who is a physician in a busy upscale practice. Bowman tepidly responds to an urgent call from a hypochondriac patient. When he finally does the house call, he realizes the urgency. But the patient dies abruptly. His unethical response puts him in court. The truth hidden in the “normal” death begins to emerge. The novel introduces a very unique American medical service called “concierge medicine.” The concierge service is a doctor’s house-call service that often costs upwards of 20 thousand dollars a year.

Cook dissects the current medical practice in the U.S., which does not serve the public good any longer. Cook shows us the reality of today: Med students are forced to compete with and win over classmates, and doctors consider their patients just as sources of income. The book Crisis is a mixed cuisine with all the seasonings in it. The two main seasonings, legal and medical spices, are well administered. But we cannot brush away our dejavu; it seems all too familiar. We cannot help recalling the TV series CSI. We are wondering how much and how the well-structured scenario and wonderful visual attracts us. On the other hand, Michael Crichton represents a genre of technology thriller. Crichton was a doctor to begin with. Tied of lack of the imagination in the medical society, Crichton started a new career as a novelist. People around the world have loved his works such as Jurassic Park and Congo.

Crichton fascinates his readers with his well woven scientific, but unrealistic stories. He employs the same tactic in Next. A bioengineering treasury unfolds its fantasies, depicting for us a boy who becomes aged upon application of a bioengineering spray, a parrot which has the intellectual capacity of a human, and a researcher who is a 21st century Frankenstein having the genes of chimpanzee.

It feels fun and amusing. The honorary nickname of “natural storyteller” deserves the fame. But it has gone too far to say that it’s the disaster report and warning to the human race. Its subject of “bioengineering” is all too familiar. Crichton’s work does not lead to the realization that we should stop patenting bioengineering technologies.

Anyway, a novel is a novel. Cook or Crichton, we do not care. All we need is some amusement. Let’s go back to our couch. When we feel sleepy, we can put away the book and take a nap. The world of thrillers and imagination is for us.

ray@donga.com