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Crisis Audiobook
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(3.01) - 2,562 listener ratings
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When Dr. Craig Bowman is served with a summons for medical malpractice, he's shocked, enraged, and more than a little humiliated. A devoted physician who works continuously in the service of others, he endured grueling years of training and is now a partner in an exclusive concierge medical practice. No longer forced to see more and more patients while spending less and less time with each one just to keep his office door open, he now provides the kind of medical care he is trained to do, lavishing twenty-four-hour availability and personalized attention on his handpicked patients. And at last, he is earning a significant income, no longer burdened by falling reimbursements from insurance companies.But this idyllic practice comes to a grinding halt one sunny afternoon-and gets much, much worse. Enter Dr. Jack Stapleton, a medical examiner in New York City and Bowman's brother-in-law: Jack's sister Alexis-now Craig's estranged wife-tearfully begs for his help as her husband's trial drags on. Jack agrees to travel to Boston to offer his forensic services and expert witness experience to Craig's beleaguered defense attorney. But when Jack's irreverent suggestion to exhume the corpse to disprove the alleged malpractice is taken seriously, he opens a Pandora's box of trouble. As Craig Bowman's life and career are put on the line, Jack is on the verge of making a most unwelcome discovery of tremendous legal and medical significance-and there are people who will do anything to keep him from learning the truth.
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"Crisis is another in a long line of medical thrillers from author Robin Cook. I have enjoyed many of his previous books, and this one lived up to the same standard. Favorite characters Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery resurface again. Jack is a medical examiner in New York City. When he learns that his sister's husband is being tried for medical malpractice up in Boston, he heeds his sister's call for help when the trial doesn't seem to be going well and comes up to Boston. His brother-in-law, Craig Bowman, is on trial for the death of Patience Stanhope, a "problem patient" of his who died of a heart attack. The plaintiff's case is that Craig didn't respond to the threat of a heart attack with proper speed, and instead of sending Patience straight to the hospital, he made a house call, delaying her care. The motive for this house call was alleged to be that Craig wanted to make the start of the symphony concert that evening to show off his mistress, and could only do so if he made a quick stop by the house on the way to the concert. It turned out that Patience was in very serious condition, and after being rushed to the hospital she died a bit later.Once he arrived, Jack suggested that he may be able to help by conducting an autopsy of the deceased patient, in hopes of finding some major pathology that would prove that the delay had no bearing on the patient's death, or that some other factors mitigated against medical malpractice. So he began the process of exhuming the body, first needing permission from the husband (and plaintiff in the case), and once that was secured, needing to arrange for the exhumation and autopsy to happen quickly. Along the way, he was met with much opposition, mostly in the form of intimidation from Franco, the plaintiff lawyer's rather dubious sidekick. But Jack pressed on, and finally, on the evening before the last day of the trial, he was able to conduct an autopsy. But what he found surprised him. There was no pathology suggesting heart disease, and neither was there any type of pathology indicating why the patient had declined so quickly. This created quite a mystery, but one that was finally solved by toxicology. A potent poison was found in her system that causes failure of the sodium channels of all muscles, and thus, major problems with the heart. This proved especially interesting because the poison in question is a highly controlled substance, but also a chemical that Craig himself used extensively in research. It turned out that upon inspection, traces of it were found in Craig's medical bag. He had murdered his "problem patient," much to Jack's dismay. But this evidence was turned over to the judge, who dismissed the medical malpractice case and forwarded the evidence to the district attorney for criminal charges.Crisis is another good medical thriller from Robin Cook. There were some interesting plot twists, though the characters (and especially the villains) seemed a bit stylized, though in this case that proved to be good misdirection, as they were not ultimately behind the wrongdoing. Crisis is worth the read (or as in my case, the listen), and is a good, fast paced, and engaging mystery."
— James (4 out of 5 stars)
Crisis Listener Reviews
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Ann, 1/15/2019
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" Gripping. The end wasn't unforeseeable, but it was a great twist nonetheless "
— Scott, 2/9/2014 -
" It has been several years since I've read a Robin Cook book, so I was very excited to dig into this one. Without fail, Cook had me hooked from the start and fully enjoyed the ending! "
— Beth, 1/30/2014 -
" topic is good..but not page turner... "
— Shweta, 1/14/2014 -
" not his best, if looking for a medical thriller this is more a legal thriller with bits and pieces of medical "
— Becko, 1/6/2014 -
" The boogeyman has done it again. Robin Cook has written a "fiction" story that could very well become the truth in this day and age. Lock your doors and close your windows for you are in for a ride. "
— Kristen, 1/1/2014 -
" Four stars for the story, two stars for the writing. Torturous, unnatural dialog, and an unhealthy attraction to exclamation points! "
— Anthony, 12/30/2013 -
" This book took me about 2 months to finish! It was VERY slow for much of it, picking up about 5 chapters or so from the end. I thought the ending was crappy. Wouldn't recommend this to anyone. "
— Deanna, 12/30/2013 -
" I found this to be a fascinating mystery that kept me guessing to the very end. Maybe more of a testament to my lack of incite than excellent literature but it was a good read and was clean. "
— carl, 12/28/2013 -
" It was ok, kind of predictable and ALOT like his other book Contagion. Dont bother. "
— Krista, 12/26/2013 -
" It took me a while to get through this book, I just wasn't interested in the whole legal aspect and the Bowman's did not intrigue me in the slightest. The book didn't get interesting until the last 20%, which is out of the ordinary for a Robin Cook book, his stuff usually grips me from the start. "
— Natalie, 11/18/2013 -
" A page turner with an intriguing ending. "
— Alex, 9/10/2013 -
" Interesting but did not like that story never seem to explain itself "
— Doreen, 6/5/2013 -
" Robin Cook's books are pretty well written. An enjoyable read. No blood and gore. "
— sbcrowder, 5/31/2013 -
" Jack's brother-in-law is sued for malpractice. It was an okay book, didn't like the characters much. "
— Deb, 4/5/2013 -
" A good summer, midless read. Typical of Robin Cook. "
— Victoria, 2/19/2013 -
" This book was pretty good. It's about a doctor who is being sued for malpractice but did not commit malpractice. Kept me pretty interested throughout the book, and had a realllly shocking ending. "
— Britny, 1/14/2013 -
" This book was a little different in the direction it went, but Cook made it all come together. The ending was a surprise. It's great to still find books that keep you guessing until the very last page. "
— Greg, 10/20/2012 -
" This was a pretty good read that is not only a good medical/legal suspense story but deals with health issues we currently face. I was especially interested in reading about "concierge" medicine, or personal physicians, which my last doctor became (which is why I can't afford him now) "
— Robin, 9/17/2012 -
" This one was slow and predictable. They even used the same poison as in another one of his books. The characters were flat. It was disappointing. "
— Mindy, 6/3/2012 -
" good twist at the end, as per robin cook style. a quick and fun read. "
— Sara, 5/4/2012 -
" Usually I do not enjoy reading Cook but this book was an exception. Good story line. Hook - concierge medicine. Great ending. "
— Hapzydeco, 4/9/2012 -
" good book to read when you are near brain dead to begin with. short on substance but a good quick read with a little diversion to boot. "
— Shannon, 2/2/2012 -
" A good compelling mystery to listen to while I'm in the car. It kept me guessing and awake. "
— Diane, 10/4/2011 -
" Ugh! No more lollipop books!! "
— Zsuzsanna, 6/8/2011 -
" AS always a good book by Robin Cook. "
— Lori, 5/13/2011 -
" Despite numerous missed edits and Cook's maddening lack of social aptitude in character conversation, this was a very good story. Although the last few pages left me with a "Huh? Really?" taste in my mouth, the tale was otherwise closed somewhat nicely. "
— doug, 3/26/2011 -
" Robin Cook's books are those rare books that I can sit down and read cover to cover. I always wait to begin his books when I know I will have time to read it cover to cover. "
— Laurie, 3/9/2011 -
" Another medical thriller. Took a long time to get to the goods and way too much courtroom drama. It was ok. "
— Marian, 12/27/2010 -
" This book was pretty good. It's about a doctor who is being sued for malpractice but did not commit malpractice. Kept me pretty interested throughout the book, and had a realllly shocking ending. "
— Britny, 12/10/2010 -
" A look into concierge medicine and medical malpractice. "
— Liz, 10/23/2010 -
" A fun novel with a good twist at the end. "
— Margaret, 9/5/2010 -
" A typical Robin Cook book. I love how he writes these totally off the wall medical mysteries that possibly could not happen..... or can they. Excellent read. "
— Sherrie, 8/30/2010 -
" Jack Stapleton , went to help brother in law. Law suit for wrongful death. Jack just makes it to church for wedding to Lauri. "
— Mary, 8/25/2010 -
" MP3 from the Gates Library. This was good Robin Cook stuff! Lots of action. Lots of medical technical jargon (as we have come to expect from Robin). And a great twist at the end! "
— Cheryl, 8/9/2010 -
" It has been several years since I've read a Robin Cook book, so I was very excited to dig into this one. Without fail, Cook had me hooked from the start and fully enjoyed the ending! "
— Beth, 8/4/2010 -
" Despite numerous missed edits and Cook's maddening lack of social aptitude in character conversation, this was a very good story. Although the last few pages left me with a "Huh? Really?" taste in my mouth, the tale was otherwise closed somewhat nicely. "
— doug, 7/20/2010 -
" good, but too many characters to keep up with "
— Dianna, 7/9/2010 -
" A good compelling mystery to listen to while I'm in the car. It kept me guessing and awake. "
— Diane, 6/8/2010 -
" Usually I do not enjoy reading Cook but this book was an exception. Good story line. Hook - concierge medicine. Great ending. "
— Hapzydeco, 5/11/2010
About Robin Cook
Robin Cook, MD, is the author of forty books and is credited with popularizing the medical thriller with his groundbreaking and wildly successful 1977 novel, Coma. Twelve of his novels have made the New York Times bestsellers list.
About George Guidall
George Guidall, winner of more than eighty AudioFile Earphones Awards, has won three of the prestigious Audie Award for Excellence in Audiobook Narration. In 2014 the Audio Publishers Association presented him with the Special Achievement Award for lifetime achievement/ During his thirty-year recording career he has recorded over 1,700 audiobooks, won multiple awards, been a mentor to many narrators, and shown by example the potential of fine storytelling. His forty-year acting career includes starring roles on Broadway, an Obie Award for best performance off Broadway, and frequent television appearances.