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Host  By  cover art

Host

By: Robin Cook
Narrated by: George Guidall
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Publisher's summary

The explosive new thriller from New York Times best-selling author and master of the medical thriller, Robin Cook.

Lynn Peirce, a fourth-year medical student at South Carolina’s Mason-Dixon University, thinks she has her life figured out. But when her otherwise healthy boyfriend, Carl, enters the hospital for routine surgery, her neatly ordered life is thrown into total chaos. Carl fails to return to consciousness after the procedure, and an MRI confirms brain death.

Devastated by Carl’s condition, Lynn searches for answers. Convinced there’s more to the story than what the authorities are willing to reveal, Lynn uses all her resources at Mason-Dixon - including her initially reluctant lab partner, Michael Pender - to hunt down evidence of medical error or malpractice.

What she uncovers, however, is far more disturbing. Hospitals associated with Middleton Healthcare, including the Mason-Dixon Medical Center, have unnervingly high rates of unexplained anesthetic complications and patients contracting serious and terminal illness in the wake of routine hospital admissions.

When Lynn and Michael begin to receive death threats, they know they’re into something bigger than either of them anticipated. They soon enter a desperate race against time for answers before shadowy forces behind Middleton Healthcare and their partner, Sidereal Pharmaceuticals, can put a stop to their efforts once and for all.

©2015 Robin Cook (P)2015 Penguin Audio

What listeners say about Host

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

I've read this before...

Back in high school I read a book called Coma. The whole time I read this book "Host", I couldn't help thinking I've read this same plot before. I know it is the same author and I don't know if his other books since "Coma" are as similar as this one is, but I always felt one step ahead of what was going on. Yes, there are tense moments and it is written well for a medical mystery (a lot of medical jargon thrown in which I didn't understand all that well). And I guess if you haven't read "Coma" then you might enjoy and be surprised. I wasn't. The narrator does a fine job. I

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37 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Can you say "Coma"??????

This book is almost an exact duplicate of Coma. I was disappointed in the story line, the characters and basically the whole premise. Save your credit!

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Entertaining but not too original

Probably because I listen too every one of Robin Cook's books (I started with COMA years ago), I am starting to see a "pattern" to his books. Each story follows a similar "script", so along the way, parts of the book are very predictable. Having said that, I still like Robin Cook. He may not be my favorite author, but he is way up there. In this book, there is a little too much stretching of realism. The way that two medical students are able to make their way around the hospital system and get what ever information they want lacks realism. I sometimes felt that the story was too "accommodating" in that a lot of events were simply too convenient, but were necessary for the story to proceed. The way that the bad guys infiltrated the anesthesia system for their evil deeds was just a little too far-fetched. As usual, a conspiracy of hospital personnel was necessary in order to facilitate the evil-doing. I don't mind stretching the imagination to advance the plot, but I thought parts of this story were a little too convenient. I would recommend this book, but the listener has to realize it requires a vivid imagination and not too much questioning of the lack of realism.

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11 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

coma 2.0

2015 version of Coma, good story but literally the exact same plot. At least he left room for a sequel



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8 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Couldn't finish

The dialogue between the two main characters with the sis and bro was too much. I feel like the author tried too hard to characterize Michael as black and it ruined the story for me. The overt stereotyping to not be the stereotype was too much. Why can't Micheal just be a successful black medical student like Lynne? There wasn't a constant reference to her being white. The author is very talented , but I just couldn't finish this one.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Narrator's odd pauses detract ... from story

What made the experience of listening to Host the most enjoyable?

This is a great story with engaging characters.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of George Guidall?

I would not cast George Guidall as a narrator ever. He tends to pause after 6-10 syllables whether it fits with the storyline or not. It interferes with the flow. The only narrator I like less is Roy Dotrice reading A Game of Thrones.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Thrilling, chilling, and futuristic medical concepts

I enjoyed the initial set up of each host case. The possibility of huge profit over taking the sworn Hippocratic oath of the medical providers such as the hospital facilities colluding with pharmaceutical manufactures could be occurring in today's society.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Worst Narrator I've ever tried to listen to!

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Narrator is so distracting I can't enjoy the book

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Can't pronounce many words properly and turns normal speech into a robotic monologue with emphasis in all the wrong places

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Good story - I think

Any additional comments?

If the narrator was paid, demand your money back

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Revisit to Coma and performance week!

Did not like the male voice reading a book basically centered about a female main character. It was also too much like the earlier book Coma. Anyway listened to it all luckily while walking the dog on the beach every morning.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Rewrite of Coma with an intersectional tweak

I found the dialog between the two main characters to be a bit cringe. The black savior trope in an obvious pandering attempt only detracted from the plot. The plot was enjoyable enough but it was definitely too close to Coma’s plot. Not sure I’m sold on Guidall’s blaccent either. 😉

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1 person found this helpful