Death Benefit

by Robin Cook Narrated by George Guidall

Overview

ROBIN COOK--New York Times-best selling author and master of the medical thriller--returns with another crackling tale of unchecked greed, medical malfeasance, adn starling science.

PIA GRAZDANI is an exceptional yet aloof medical student working closely with Columbia University Medical Center's premier scientist on cutting-edge research that could revolutionize health care by creating replacement organs for critically ill patients. Thorough her work with the brilliant molecular geneticist Dr. Tobias Rothman, Pia knows she will be given the chance to fulfill her ambition to participate in medical discoveries that can help millions while bringing her a measure of personal peace that might once and for all push aside memories of her difficult and abusive childhood.

But when tragedy strikes in the lab, Pia, with the help of infatuated classmate George Wilson, must investigate the unforeseen calamity in the hospital's supposedly secure biosafety lab.

Meanwhile, two ex-Wall Street whiz kids think they have found another loadstone in the nation's multi-trillion dollar life insurance industry. They race to find ways to control actuarial data and securitize the policies of the aged and infirm to make another killing.

As Pia and George dig deeper into the events at the lab one question remains unanswered: is someone attempting to manipulate private insurance information to allow investors to benefit from the deaths of others?

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

In this formulaic medical thriller from bestseller Cook (Coma), Pia Grazdani, a 26-year-old Columbia Medical School student who’s overcome a difficult childhood to emerge as a brilliant, beautiful, if still troubled adult, attracts the interest of Nobel Prize–winning molecular geneticist Tobias Rothman. Rothman, who has worked with virulent strains of typhoid-causing salmonella, is focusing on a revolutionary program of growing entire organs from stem cells. Meanwhile, greedy Edmund Mathews, the chairman of LifeDeals Inc., is using the company to buy up life insurance policies cheaply based on current actuarial data. Facing devastating financial losses if organ transplants were to become much cheaper, Mathews and his partners scheme to end the threat posed by Rothman’s organogenesis work. Grazdani ends up squarely in the villains’ crosshairs, but fortunately, smitten fellow Columbia med student George Wilson is there for support. Cook’s deft handling of medical science helps lift an otherwise pedestrian plot. (Dec.)

From the Publisher

Cook knows his medicine.”—Los Angeles Times

“Cook can write up a storm and spin a taut tale. . . . A master.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
“Rewarding . . . An intense read that raises thought-provoking questions. . . . Worthwhile.”—Associated Press
 
“Exciting.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

The New York Times

"Master of the medical thriller."

FEBRUARY 2012 - AudioFile

Robin Cook’s latest medical thriller teaches us about regenerative medicine, alerts us to the financial schemes of Wall Street big shots, and terrifies us with the ruthlessness of the Albanian mob. George Guidall narrates this action-filled story and makes the fantastic plot seem plausible and compelling. Guidall has the talent to make characters unique and enthralling. He produces the cool voice of Pia Grazdani, the medical school heroine; the nervous tone of George, Pia’s friend; the accented speech of the mobsters; and the authoritative lectures of the medical staff. This production is a happy pairing of a bestselling author and an outstanding narrator. D.L.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169875485
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	12/27/2011
Edition description:	Unabridged

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