The characters in Fever ruined this book. Fever had an interesting premise that tied in medical and environmental issues, but all the characters were selfish and impulsive (maybe Cook was going for “realistic”? I don’t even know), and I felt like a helpless bystander who couldn’t do anything to rectify the many things that went wrong. It also didn’t help that Cook exposed the characters’ every single thought, since that just made me hate them even more. And even though the ending made me like the characters a teeny weeny bit more, it also felt rushed and unrealistic. IntroductionForty-five-year-old Charles Martel changed careers from a doctor to a cancer researcher at the Weinburger Research Institute after his first wife died of lymphoma. Now his twelve-year-old daughter, Michelle, is suddenly down with a fever; when she gets diagnosed with leukemia, Charles fears that the same tragedy will happen again. By chance, he discovers that large amounts of benzene from Recycle, Ltd. has been leaking into the pond near his house, and he suspects that this was the main cause of Michelle’s leukemia. As Charles tries to bring charges against the company and hasten his research in hopes of finding a cure for Michelle, his increasing aloofness and random bouts of rage cause his relationship with his new wife, Cathryn, and his two other children to fall apart. Worse yet, he’s forced to take over running research trials for a new cancer drug, Cancerian, due to the previous head researcher fabricating research data. Time’s running out for Michelle – how far is Charles willing to go to save his daughter? DiscussionThere’s a problem when none of the characters in a book are likeable. First, Charles is the worst protagonist ever. He doesn’t understand why his eldest son isn’t doing well in college and why he doesn’t want to become a researcher just like him; he’s rude to his lab staff and to his supervisors, and basically to everyone he meets; he doesn’t properly communicate with Cathryn during this whole mess; and his personality and his actions are just really, really awful. Cathryn is a weak character who seems helpless and easily manipulated, and I had moments when I even hated Michelle because she keeps incorrectly assuming that Charles is mad at her. And everyone outside of the family is evil, conniving, mean, or just plain unlikeable. It’s like someone gathered all the antagonists from every single book and stuck them in this one! Ugh.Part of what makes the characters unlikeable is due to Cook’s writing style, which feels apathetic and dry most of the time. Even when a character is outraged or emotional, the scene feels lifeless and forced because there’s no subtlety to it. For example, Cathryn, at one point, feels a “stabbing pain of guilt” that is nowhere near as stabbingly painful as it could’ve been if it were shown using actions or gestures.In addition, everyone’s thoughts and feelings are broadcasted, so we are unfortunately subjected to hearing about how Cathryn’s stepson is infatuated with her, how Charles’ lab assistant lusts after him, and how Michelle’s doctors think Charles is crazy. No one thinks nice thoughts, and it feels like everyone’s being self-destructive.The plot itself is also extremely bleak and unrealistic; although Cook combines some interesting issues such as environmental toxicants, disease risk, and a lot of other sciencey things, some situations felt exaggerated and melodramatic. Throughout the story and even up to the ending, I kept thinking, “Do you really expect me to believe that?” ConclusionSo my first Robin Cook book didn’t go as well as I expected. Fever is a deadly combination of bad characters and bad plot. Even though the premise was interesting and the issues raised in this book are very real, this story completely self-destructed. Paper Breathers (Book Reviews & Discussions)
FEVER was my first Robin Cook.Needless to say, I enjoyed it thoroughly.Cancer is the bane of human society today, and even at this moment innumerable scientists are breaking their heads over it, trying to find a cure for the millions that suffer. FEVER is the story of a determined scientist, racing towards a cure for leukemia for his daughter, before it's too late. The emotional turmoil and confusion that Dr. Charles Martel goes through is so well-described that I literally felt his exasperation, anger and sorrow. I was hooked into this book from start to finish.The only qualm I had with FEVER was the apparent lack of character development of the supporting characters. This book kind of played out like a movie, rather than a novel, where we see everything from Charles' point of view. I would be fine with that if the author hadn't randomly jumped in with the support characters' POVs, especially Chuck's or Jean Paul's. This lead me to believe that there was more to their stories, and that they had a significant role to play in the plot. However, their narratives came only once or twice in the beginning, and then were promptly forgotten. I think it would've been better if the author hadn't narrated from their views at all, and had just taken the MC's POVs. That said, FEVER was hugely entertaining. My final rating would be 3.5.
What do You think about Fever (2000)?
Having lost his wife to cancer, a physician has taken up cancer research. Contrary to majority of the scientists he thinks that the cure could be found by looking from the immunological perspective. After several years of research with no publications he suddenly has to accelerate hi research as the devil strikes again; this time on his daughter. Caught between unyielding chemotherapy and loosing his lab while fighting the industry that released the carcinogenic material in river, he has to take desperate steps...This fast paced book was like watching a movie. Although not at all convincing to a biologist but entertaining.
—Trunil
There aren't enough "Duh's!" in the world to express my feelings throughout this book.Robin Cook is normally a very good author with strong character development and excellent medically-involved plots. But, in "Fever" he has fallen off the boat and drowned. "Fever" has an excellent plot, like all of Robin Cook's books, but all of the characters are so flawed in myriad ways preventing the reader from empathizing with any of them. This prevents a connection to the readers and therefore to the book. It seems Robin Clook was mad at everyone when he wrote this book and has used this book to disparage the entire human race,i.e,Doctors are temperamental jerks without common sense, but with a definite God complex.Woman are weak, subservient and easily intimidated dimwits.Mothers are selfish son-in-law haters with no sensible thoughts except to feed everyone.. One half of all sons are selfish, slovenly idiots. The other half, the good ones, are pretty much ignored.Nurses are uncaring, bumbling ninnies. Policemen are ineffective and corrupt, at their best. And so on, and so on.It's a real shame that it took nearly 300 pages to develop Charles's character into someone that the reader can admire and Cathryn's character into a courageous woman. Even afterwards, Mr. Cook has her revert to the not-too-bright character with "The more I think about what's happened, the less I understand it," Cathryn says as she does her womanly needlepoint.Even Michelle seems to be unlikable at first.It took nearly 300, of this 335 page book, to develop Charles's character into someone that the reader can admire and Cathryn's character into a courageous woman. It took 309 pages for the boys to become likable characters. That's too long to go in a book with only scorn for all of the characters. Had I been a less persistent reader, I would've thrown the book to the side a couple of hundred pages earlier.The final 50 pages made the book worth reading. Well, almost, if it hadn't been for the epilogue once again plunging the reader into despair.
—Janet
This is a horrible book by Robin Cook standards. I have been a faithful reader from day one. Try "Coma" I think you'll love it. This one was made into an excellent movie. Also, I think, it's "Toxin" that is a similar story but so much better. The book I'm referring to is one where a doctor's daughter needs a half cooked hamburger. I'm sure you'll find this interesting.
—Cheryl Gill
