CURE

by Robin Cook - available in bookstores

Part medical mystery, part police mystery and part lecture on America's health care industry, CURE may be the last Robin Cook book that I purchase.

The main character is NYC Medical Examiner Laurie Montgomery, just returning to work from maternity leave. Determined that her first case back is not going to be a "natural" death, she twists herself into a pretzel trying to find another cause. Her reactions and responses are silly and over the top; mostly she's just annoying.

CURE has weak characters, a far fetched winding plot about Japanese gangs, the most bungling Mafia I've ever seen in print and the biomedical industry.

The "cure" for this one is to save your money and buy something better to read.