Viral
A Sinister and Chilling Thriller from the Master of the Medical Mystery
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- 5,99 €
Descrizione dell’editore
In Viral, an electrifying medical thriller from New York Times bestseller Robin Cook, a family’s exposure to a rare yet deadly virus puts them at the centre of a terrifying new danger to mankind – and pulls back the curtain on a health care system powered by greed and corruption.
Brian Murphy and his family are enjoying a relaxing summer vacation when his wife, Emma, comes down with mild flu-like symptoms. Their leisurely return home to New York City quickly turns into a race to the ER when her condition dramatically deteriorates. At the hospital, she is diagnosed with Eastern Equine Encephalitis, a rare and highly lethal mosquito-borne viral disease caught during one of their evening cookouts. Worse still, Brian and Emma’s young daughter exhibits alarming signs of the same illness.
An already harrowing hospital stay turns even more fraught when Brian receives a staggering hospital bill that his insurer refuses to pay out on, citing dubious clauses in his policy. Forced to choose between the health of his family and bills he can’t afford, and furious at both an indifferent healthcare system and the lack of public awareness about a virus that poses a growing threat, Brian vows to seek justice.
As he uncovers the dark side of a historically ruthless industry that preys on the sick and defenceless, it becomes clear he must take his revenge against those responsible by whatever means necessary . . .
'You’ll find yourself completely hooked' - Daily Mail
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this disappointing thriller from bestseller Cook (Genesis), New Yorkers Brian and Emma Murphy are vacationing on Cape Cod when Emma is bitten by an Asian tiger mosquito. Emma has violent seizures on the drive back to New York, where Brian takes her straight to the emergency room of his local hospital, Manhattan Memorial, a choice that his insurer later uses as a basis to deny coverage for an astronomical hospital bill. Even as Brian grapples with a diagnosis that Emma has eastern equine encephalitis, the hospital's administration puts the screws on him to come up with a payment plan. Subsequent developments force Brian to seek justice in his own way. Clunky dialogue ("Having grown up in France where this type of tolerated robbery involving healthcare would never happen, how has it come to be here in the United States that hospitals and health insurance companies operate with such impunity?") and underdeveloped characters make this one of Cook's lesser efforts. This screed against the state of American health care will have limited appeal to suspense fans.
