Cell

By: Robin Cook

Narrated by: George Guidall

The New York Times best-selling author and master of the medical thriller returns with a top-notch fusion of groundbreaking medical science and edge-of-your-seat suspense.

George Wilson, M.D., a radiology resident in Los Angeles, is about to enter a profession on the brink of an enormous paradigm shift, foreshadowing a vastly different role for doctors everywhere. The smartphone is poised to take on a new role in medicine, no longer as a mere medical app but rather as a fully customizable personal physician capable of diagnosing and treating even better than the real thing. It is called iDoc.

George's initial collision with this incredible innovation is devastating. He awakens one morning to find his fiancée dead in bed alongside him, not long after she participated in an iDoc beta test. Then several of his patients die after undergoing imaging procedures. All of them had been part of the same beta test.

Is it possible that iDoc is being subverted by hackers - and that the U.S. government is involved in a cover-up? Despite threats to both his career and his freedom, George relentlessly seeks the truth, knowing that if he's right, the consequences could be lethal.

©2014 Robin Cook (P)2014 Penguin Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"Rare is the writer who can take us into the fast-paced, miraculous, often bewildering world of modern medicine the way Robin Cook can. Cell is a superbly crafted, full-steam thriller, to be sure, but also a vivid lesson in just how momentous are the advances being made in medicine almost by the day—and how highly unsettling are some of the possible consequences." (New York Times best-selling author David McCullough)

"With Cell Robin Cook demonstrates why he is the undisputed king of medical thrillers. Can a smartphone app kill you? You'll believe it can after you read this story, which blasts along faster than a truckload of quad core processors. Equal measures a substantive social commentary that we will all soon have to deal with and a terrifying blood-and-guts tale of what lies right around the technology corner, Cook has delivered a home run worthy of the writer who has consistently thrilled millions ever since his blockbuster Coma." (Number one New York Times best-selling author David Baldacci)

"Robin Cook has been entertaining medical thriller fans for decades, but he does much more with his latest novel, Cell...a thought-provoking story." (Associated Press)

Stay healthy my friends

Would you consider the audio edition of Cell to be better than the print version?

About equal in my opinion. You sometimes want to 'rewind' to understand a little better what was happening.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Cell?

When they sneak into the clinic housing the coma patients, seeing them walking around wearing helmets for exercise.

What does George Guidall bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The way he reads helps you to 'visualize' what the character is experiencing.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

not sure

Disappointing ending

A great listen, however a disappointing ending. It is as if Cook got tired of writing, or else couldn't bring it to a reasonable close, and just wrapped it up and quit.

Suspenceful

Terrifying medical thriller about health care from an app! The story us thought provoking and action packed. Robin Cook doesn't disappoint.

wow watch those cell phones

it could happen that's for sure hopefully not but you never know. great story loved the ending

Predictable

Interesting but predictable. Okay, if nothing else is available. Performance okay but not that great with female characters.

One of Robin Cook's Best

Would you listen to Cell again? Why?

No, I have lots of books that I have never listened to. I would listen to this only if I finished them.

What other book might you compare Cell to and why?

Compares to Cook's earlier book, like Coma and Marker

Have you listened to any of George Guidall’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I really don't pay a lot of attention to the reader unless he is bad, so I am not certain if I have heard him before.

Any additional comments?

It started off a little slow and I thought it might be disappointing. It really picked up and although it was predictable in a few spots, the ending was exciting.

Ugh. Maybe more enjoyable for guys?

The gist of the plot was given in the first moments of the story, it made me wonder exactly what the mystery was here. In the end the mystery was simply, "What's going to happen to our main character?" which actually doesn't resolve by the end. That made it feel a bit pointless, though I suppose the point of this book would be to ultimately ponder and discuss the future of healthcare in our nation.
There were too many uses of dirty language for me to really relax and enjoy this story as it progressed.
-Janina, wife of the subscriber

I love Robin Cook's books! And my friends do to.

I love your books and my friends do to! Always looking for new releases. Keep writing.

Dire, boring.

Maybe it is me-maybe it is Cook. I don't know. I really used to enjoy his work. The last two, not so much. This looked like a real slam-dunk, materiel I am interested in and have some serious concerns about.

I was so bored I fell asleep and lost the thread a whole lot. I had to keep going back. Maybe this type of novel just doesn't interest me any longer. I'm usually fully engaged and my last audiobook was the full set of Robert. A Caro's biography of LBJ. I raced through that, riveted to every single one of the 4,000 pages, over sixty hours in Audible.

Cell is a snore-fest, and I can't really pick out why. The narrator was his usual excellent self, George Guidall is no dope. It's just the material was staler than week old white bread.

As I said, maybe it's me. See what the other reviewers say before you spend yer credit.

I didn't like it one bit.



brendan

Potential nightmare of government-controlled medicine

I've always enjoyed Robin Cook's books and this was no exception. I found the story to unfold a bit slowly but quickly gain momentum and griped my attention. The nightmares potentially resulting from of government-controlled medicine