Book Review: Brain by Robin Cook

Brain by Robin Cook
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Let me begin by stating that I did enjoy this book significantly. I for some reason had a preconceived notion that the story would be much trashier than it turned out to be, which might have influenced my opinion in a positive way; I was pleasantly surprised, ergo inclined toward a kinder review. My grievances are, in the end, minor ones, even though they did affect my reading experience negatively.



Brain takes place over three days in the life of Dr. Martin Philips, a radiologist who has faired well in his career and is now collaborating with a computer scientist in research that could revolutionise the field. When testing out a device he has been given, he starts finding peculiar anomalies in several patients' head X-rays. Something is not right, people are exhibiting unexplained symptoms and then disappearing, and soon Philips finds himself in danger as he tries to get to the bottom of these mysteries. I admit, for some bits I did feel like I was at the edge of my seat. The novel was gripping and easy to read, so I plowed through it in just a few days — which at the moment is a bit of an exception for me. When the final twists began to be revealed, I was delighted at the successful red herrings. Funnily enough, my intuition woke up at the last minute and when the true culprit's identity came to light, I already knew to expect it. Whether or not this was supposed to happen, I haven't the foggiest.

However, there are multiple issues which prevent me from giving the novel a higher rating. First, Cook falls victim to the sin familiar to many writers: suddenly pausing to describe his characters at length, instead of giving an image of their appearance at a gradual pace. There may be differing opinions about this, but to me it has long been a sign that the writer has not quite grasped the concept of "show, don't tell". Then again, I'm not sure when that particular piece of literary advice was coined.

Second, the narration switches point of view at whiplash speed. Most of the novel is experienced inside the skull of the main character, Dr. Martin Philips, but every now and then we are given a chapter or part of a chapter through someone else's eyes. That is not what I find problematic. What I find problematic is the way we are often taken to another person's headspace for a couple of sentences, maybe a paragraph, before jumping back to Philips or whoever else is the main focus right then. For some reason, omniscient narrators irritate me. Perhaps here it was a source of annoyance because the switch felt like an unnecessary blip in the flow. (view spoiler)[As an example, toward the end of the book there is a scene in which Philips is in the apartment of someone involved, and Cook finds it necessary to tell us that the other person picks up a knife and slides it into his sleeve. I found this entirely superfluous; it could have been conveyed indirectly after Werner is killed by the agent, and perhaps Philips could have seen Werner fingering his sleeve nervously. (hide spoiler)]

Third, and this might really start to sound like nitpicking, Cook keeps going back and forth between what he calls his main character. In one sentence it's Philips, in the next it's Martin. I understand that this is the author's tactic to avoid using either one of the names until the point of aggravation, and to avoid using descriptors such as "the man" and "the doctor" but hells if it doesn't drive me bonkers. There is no internal logic to when either name is used! That is the issue.

Then there is the fact that the blurb on the back is misleading, although I suppose I should not dock any points for that—this is a common problem for books. I have never understood it and I never will.

It's probably a good thing I know next to nothing about medicine. Otherwise, the practices portrayed in the novel might have seemed rather archaic. Now, even though I know that they must be, it did not bother me.

In closing, I would recommend this to friends of medical thrillers who do not mind reading older material, but in all honesty, you can take it or leave it. I am certain there must be more modern versions of the same type of storyline. And yes, the subject matter did wake a few questions.

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