Robin Cook's Foriegn Body

Corruption runs rampant through India. The big dogs look out for themselves, and only themselves. Any way to make a bit of money is not out of reach, and when Jennifer Hernandez hears of her grandmother’s sudden death during elective surgery in India, she becomes suspicious. Jennifer ends up traveling to India and finds herself caught in the center of a web of conspiracy and corruption. Robin Cook’s Foreign Body provoked thoughts of the plausibility of similar instances happening in reality.

Unfortunately, this book contains certain characteristics that disappointed me. One, over-casting, can degrade from the overall effect of a book by going into too much detail involving minor characters. Another problem of over-casting involves remembering characters. With so many characters, remembering every one, and relevant information involving them, becomes difficult. Robin Cook also uses strange names in Foreign Body, which is justified because the events unfold in India. However, he uses names very similar to each other, for example the names Rajish and Ramesh can be confused very easily.

Another dissatisfying trait that this book possesses is the point at which the book caught my interest. By the time I actually reached the good part of this book, I had sworn that I would never read another of Cook’s books. The satisfying action in this book occurred within the last twenty percent of the novel. Most books have action placed throughout, but this manuscript concentrated all interesting parts near the very end. Not only is the action too concentrated, but also any decent skirmish dissipates momentously quickly.

Thus far I have not allowed Robin Cook any leeway or slack. Thus far I have criticized and cut down his work, but despite all of the negative aspects of this novel, some positive features exist. For one, this book made me think. The events told of in this paperback seem impossible at first, but upon further inspection, a revelation may occur. Some people will do anything for money and power. Inside this tale, greedy, despicable humans inside this book and outside, commit crimes remorselessly just to gain material possessions or power. This book simply provokes one to question the morality of big business, their government and others, and perhaps other seemingly normal people. After reading this novel, I realized that anyone can succumb to corruption, and given the right circumstances, definately will.

Regretfully, this book’s over-casting, slow pace, and other degrading traits take away from the thought provoking aspects of this novel. If read through completely, Foreign Body becomes a decent read, but the difficulty lies in reading through the book completely. Had I not had to have read the book for AP Biology, I would have thrown the paperback into the fire and realize that watching the sorry book burn actually turned out to be more entertaining than reading to where I got to. I must say, I do not recommend this book to anyone save die hard Robin Cook fans. To be quite blunt, Robin Cook’s Foreign Body was a complete waste of time and given the opportunity, I would un-read the pitiable novel.

506 Pages