Review: Pandemic

Pandemic by Robin Cook
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Robin Cook’s Pandemic is the eleventh book in the Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery series. It is, however, the first of the set that I’ve read. Considering both the popularity of Cook’s sizable body of work and his huge fan base, I expected so much more. In the end it was extraordinarily mediocre.

Generally, I avoid novels that feature the same characters over several volumes, and I do so for a number of reasons. First, I have commitment issues. Seriously. I want to meet them, read about them and move on once I close the cover. Second, in many same-character-series novels I’ve found that in addition to a single, driving plot, an inordinate amount of real estate is occupied by subplots examining evolving situations and relationships—things that were established in earlier books. If the reader hasn’t read the earlier books, the characters lack that substance needed for one to fully engage. I mention all of this because it is at the crux of my disappointment with this book.

Jack Stapleton and wife Laurie Montgomery are both NYC medical examiners, and it’s clear from the start that their back story is complicated and complex, built upon over the course of the eleven novels in the series. References are made to their family, their jobs and the tension between them—references with vague explanations that left me feeling like an outsider, unable to invest in them either individually or as a couple. There unjust wasn’t enough in this one novel to allow me to fully invest in what happened to either of them. I understand that the author is courting loyal followers, but here he is also alienating those new to the work.

Which brings me to the central plot. I was drawn to the title because I thought it would be about a...um....pandemic. Spoiler—it wasn’t (or it was but only tangentially). I won’t ruin it for you any further other than to say that the climax and conclusion were just a very weary “so what.”

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Cook overuses the verb “snapped” (seriously...the guy loves the word) or that there are entire pages that require a medical degree to explain.

Just very, very average.

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