Shock
Robin Cook

Deborah Cochrane and Joanna Meissner, close friends and fellow grad students, respond to a campus newspaper ad that promises to solve their financial problems: an exclusive, highly profitable fertility clinic northwest of Boston is willing to pay top dollar to a few attractive, slim, athletic, Ivy League egg donors. The women are pleased to be accepted into the donor program by the Wingate Infertility Clinic, and the procedures are done quickly, with minimal inconvenience. Both women are impressed by the clinic and its personnel. With her background in biology, Deborah applauds the organization's commitment to research, while Joanna is intrigued by the business aspect; she had no idea treating infertility was such a lucrative endeavor.
With the money earned from their donations, Deborah's and Joanna's circumstances change dramatically. After using the lion's share of the proceeds as a down payment on a two bedroom condominium, the friends splurge on an extended trip to Venice.
When they return, Joanna can't resist the urge to look into the fate of their donated eggs. Deborah is quickly drawn in, and curiosity turns into a full blown obsession as the pair is stymied by Wingate's iron veil of secrecy. The women remain undeterred, particularly after uncovering some disturbing irregularities at the clinic. And the truth they ultimately discover far exceeds the very worst they had imagined.

This book is actually a prequel to the book Seizure. The Wingate clinic in the Bahamas is the same Wingate clinic that resides in Boston in this book and the reason for their offshore move is revealed in this book. While it is probably best to read this book first and then Seizure, it is fine to read them in reverse order and doing so really didn't throw me off at all.

This is one of the problem's with Robin Cook's books. Many of his novels tie in to each other in one way or another and use the same characters, yet they aren't part of any numbered series so you don't realize this until you're already reading them out of order. This won't reflect in my review of this book, but it is something to note.

This book was much better than Seizure and the plot and promised action happened in a good amount of time and not towards the very end. Some of the secrets that these girls uncover - including the fact that the clinic doesn't just take eggs, it takes one of your ovaries - is horrifying and yet realistic in today's medical atmosphere. It brings a whole new terror to the cloning process and shows what could be a reality if places like this were allowed to go unchecked.

My only real issue with this novel is the abrupt ending. It didn't resolve much of anything and you never know what happened to the girls. Did they live? Were they killed? You never find out. It felt as if the author wanted to wrap things up quickly and there were too many loose ends. Even so, I do recommend this book, but be forewarned that the ending will not be a satisfying one and will leave many questions unanswered.

My rating: Four out of five snails.