Chromosome 6 (original 1997; edition 1998)

work was much slower than expected yesterday and today and so i had a lot more time to read than i thought i would - still, i flew through this book. it was fun, interesting, and while not great literature, much better than i expected. i liked the science, most of which was simply explained and actually plausible (except, i think, for the *spoiler* rapid evolution of the bonobos, which, even with the chromosomal help, seemed a bit too speeded up).

*end spoiler* i like that robin cook seems to be one of the only thriller writers that i've read (and i haven't read that many, i suppose) who is completely able to write his books with no sexism, with no gender stereotyping of his characters, with strong, leading, flawed women and equally strong, flawed, and non threatened men. also i really like that what he does with the medical and science stuff is generally to make it a moral or ethical issue, wrapped up in the thriller. i last read two of his books probably 15 or 20 years ago (the year of the intern and coma and remember liking them, remember strong women, remember them factoring into my decision (or backing up my decision, i can't remember which) not to go to medical school, but remember thinking they were pretty strong books. in spite of a couple of cheesy parts in this book, and the overuse of the word "quipped," i would be quite happy to read him again. ( )

An odd book, in the last episode (Contagion) Dr Jack Stapleton was a cynical & sarcastic risk taker whose banter I quite enjoyed, in the opening of this book suddenly he has the appetite for risk of a 90 year old with osteoporosis, then suddenly he decides to flit off to Africa, with his own money, and 5 additional people, 2 of which were complete strangers he's just met. It all was a bit ramshackle.

On the medical side of things, the areas of the book which dealt with forensic pathology and transgenics were interesting but the overall impression was a handful of narratives grouped together where there were holes in the plot line. It wasn't a bad book, but I definitely preferred the other Robin Cook books where realism takes a higher priority compared to sensationalism. ( )

Enjoyable read with an interesting premise. Given the way genetic research is growing, the plot is certainly plausible. This book was written 15 years ago making it even more prophetic.
The characters meshed well. There were minimal characters that were not germaine to the story.
Overall a good read. ( )

very nice novel, the story about group of doctors of two different places, how they come together to solve a mystery about the liver transplant, overall a very nice concept ( )

Chromosome 6 presents an intriguing point of view from a storytelling front - as well as challenging whether or not a certain front of genetic manipulation should be followed.

The book is a great medical thriller and poses one of the best not only "What if?", but also "Should you if you had the wherewithal to do so?" questions.

After all, if you were able to have a perfect genetic match for any transplant you might need, would you take it? But what if it involved the kind of research that could and would raise eyebrows? Would you use that option then?

Very good reading. ( )