Jack Stapleton is still a workaholic pathologist and medical examiner trying to banish the ghosts of his first wife and children. He is married to-and reports to-Laurie Montgomery, who is now the chief ME. Since his daughter with Laurie has been tentatively diagnosed with autism, Jack is looking for a new project to distract himself. The diversion he finds is the case of the subway death of a young woman, who went so quickly from healthy to moribund that her dying recalls similar rapid deaths on the subway during the 1918 influenza pandemic. Lethal? Yes. Contagious? Maybe. Influenza? No. Virus? Likely. George Guidall gives the narrative his usual masterly touch. VERDICT The audio is highly recommended, though some longtime fans of the series may be disappointed that the characters are not as likable as they once were. But the autopsy descriptions and forensics are still interesting, the potential of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing is fascinating, and Guidall's narration keeps listener's interest and the plot moving along.-Cliff Glaviano, formerly with Bowling Green State Univ. Libs., OH © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

If Cook's latest were about 75 pages shorter, it might have been a lean, mean medical thriller. As it is, the book feels a bit bloated. Characters tell each other things they probably should already know, for the benefit of the reader. They engage in the kind of small talk that suggests they are generally bad at small talk. The story meanders when it should accelerate. All of which is too bad, really, since the plot, which involves a handful of strange-circumstance deaths, an inquisitive medical examiner (Jack Stapleton, Cook's go-to protagonist), and a rather nasty megalomaniac, is quite interesting. Cook's greatest skill lies in his ability to take some new medical development and build a fictional story around it; that approach tends to bring built-in hooks here it's gene modification run amok that the medical-thriller crowd can't resist. Devoted fans will certainly take a bite of this one, too, but the book's excessive wordiness may deter those sampling Cook for the first time. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The Cook brand will sell this one, even if the product is not up to par.--David Pitt Copyright 2018 Booklist

When a seemingly healthy woman collapses on a subway train in Manhattan and dies shortly afterward from an unknown cause, New York City medical examiner Jack Stapleton, the hero of this unremarkable thriller from bestseller Cook (Charlatans), suspects viral pneumonia-and fears that the city might be on the verge of a pandemic. Since the woman's phone and purse were stolen from her as she lay dying in the subway car, she's declared a Jane Doe when she's delivered to Bellevue Hospital. A tattoo on the body eventually leads Jack to identify her as Carol Stewart, who recently received a heart transplant but, oddly, has no trace of immunosuppressants in her system. Jack's investigation, aided by a colleague who is, naturally, a stunningly attractive woman, leads him to butt heads with his wife, Laurie, the head of the city's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, who wants to avoid an unnecessary panic. A maverick, Jack isn't afraid to ignore Laurie's orders in his quest for the truth behind Carol's death. Cook offers nothing that genre readers haven't seen before. (Dec.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.