Charlatans - Robin Cook- Book Review

   
        Last year; I did not dive much into medical thrillers except one by Jeffery Hudson.So, thought I will read one right at the start of 2020. And who else other than Robin Cook. RC has been a name with regard to medical thrillers. Browsing through the books in a nearby library, this book did attract me with the simple red and white color. And my first RC book of the decade.
The stage is the famed BMH (Boston Memorial Hospital) which incorporates hospital as well as teaching. Noah Rothauser is the new super chief resident at BMH who manages surgical schedules and deals with anything that happens on a surgical table. A seemingly easy minor operation soon escalates to death of the patient. Fingers are pointed quickly. Some serious fall outs happen with blames falling on Dr.William Mason, a highly egotistic but renowned surgeon and staff anesthetist Dr.Ava London. The nursing staff along with Noah also voice against Dr.Mason given his character. But then two more accidents befall; leading to more deaths and more blames come in Dr.Ava's way. Noah gets to know more about Ava growing close to her. But then with his duty, ethics and integrity on the line; he needs to get to the bottom of it which forms the story for Charlatans.
The book has typically Robin Cook written all over it; given the genre. The story looked interesting and had a good start. The way the plot was taking shape; I predicted a totally different plot from what I got to read. The character of Ava London is interestingly portrayed. As the author describes, she is like an onion wherein you peel through each layer to find another layer below. She had quite some enigma around her, socially inactive at hospital but socially very much active over the web. But then the author lingered more around her to showcase her enigmatic personality and so by half way I was like tired of the whole Ava enigma. The other character, Noah is the main character. He was the typical workaholic doctor who is socially awkward and considers hospital his home. I can understand how he connected with Ava provided the similarities in them but then I felt he was too much naive. Given the social recluse I am, I do not think myself to be so naive while putting myself in his shoes. The other characters does have their share of visibility but the more attention goes to Ava, Noah and then Mason. Then there is this hit man kind of guys (I don't remember the name of the two guys) who ends up killing people. They were kind of on and off for me. But i did like the topic that the book steered towards the end to even though I am not sure how much I support the way the book ended. As usual, RC points out the ethical side. I really liked the part where they talk about the issues between nutritional food companies and the government/public and about the outdated medical education system that is being followed for decades.
I have read some books by RC and have an idea of the general tone of his books. Compared to the others I have read this is quite an average read for me. Give it a try; you might enjoy it.

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