Cell
Cook, whose books are generally mixtures of good ideas and just-barely-passable writing, here focuses on a fictional new technology, iDoc, a smartphone-based diagnostic tool that appears to be connected to the deaths of several people, including the fiancée of the book’s central character, Dr. George Wilson, who has appeared in previous Cook novels and will risk his career, not to mention his life, to penetrate a murderous conspiracy. The prose is typical for Cook: workmanlike, at best, but definitely clunky, feeling more like a dashed-off first draft than a polished final product (in many cases, he takes several repetitive sentences to say something that could have been said in one artfully constructed sentence). On the other hand, also typically, the ideas are interesting and just plausible enough to make you think: hey, what if this really happened? Fans of Cook’s lengthy oeuvre will certainly enjoy this book, but it may receive a less warm reception from readers who like their medical thrillers to be more evenly balanced between ideas and polished prose.      HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: It may not be artful, but Cook has found a formula that keeps readers coming back for more. That won’t change here. --David Pitt