Search - Shock

this book is about infertility and just how far scientists will go to get to a means to an end....shocking subjects are raised about science and where infertility may head in the future ......if not now

Robin Cook, master of bestselling medical thrillers, answers the "What's the worst thing that could happen?" question in this plot-twisting novel in which villains with no sense of ethics or social responsibility get their greedy hands on the newest cloning technology. It starts when a couple of Harvard graduate students answer the Wingate Clinic's ad for egg donors. The women figure on financing a year in Venice and the down payment on a Boston condo with the extraordinary sum they're promised. But a year later, the heroines feel the emotional need to seek out the children they've made possible for infertile couples. So they disguise themselves and seek jobs at the clinic in order to access the identifying information. The clinic, as it turns out, has plenty of secrets to protect, so it's hard to believe that a pair of computer neophytes could bypass its security. But they do, and the author is an adept enough writer to finesse this detail.

Deborah Cochrane and Joanna Meissner, close friends and fellow grad students, respond to a newspaper ad that promises to solve their financial problems:an exclusive, highly profitable fertility clinic northwest of Boston is willing to pay top dollar to a few attractive, slim, athletic Ivy-league egg donors. The women are pleased to be accepted into the donor program by the Wingate Infertility Clinic, and the procedures are done quickly, with minimal inconvenience. Both women are impressed by the clinic and its personell. With her background in biology, Deborah applauds the organization's commitment to research, while Joanna is intrigued by the business aspect;she had no idea treating infertility was such a lucrative endeavor. With the money earned by their donations, Deborah's and Joanna's circumstances change dramatically. After using the lions share of the proceeds as a down payment on a two-bedroom condominium, the friends splurge on an extended trip to Venice. When they return, Joanna can't resist the urge to look into the fate of their donated eggs. Deborah is quickly drawn in, and curiosity turns into full-blown obsession as the pair is stymied by Wingate's iron veil of secrecy. The women remain undeterred, particularly after uncovering some disturbing irregularities at the clinic. And the truth they ultimately discover far exceeds the very worst they imagined.

Book could have been much better.

-=-=-=-Another by the master of cutting edge medical tech-=-=-=-=
Deborah Cochrane and Joanna Meissner, graduate science students and close friends, spot a campus newspaper ad that promises to solve their financial problems: an exclusive, highly profitable fertility clinic on Boston's North Shore is looking for egg donors. Deborah and Joanna figure they can do a good deed--help infertile couples--and earn money. Although rumors of a fellow student donor's unexplained disappearance surface, the duo is not deterred. The procedures seem to go smoothly. Deborah is particularly intrigued by the technology involved and by Dr. Spencer Windgate, the charismatic fertility expert responsible for the clinic's success. But second thoughts and curiosity prompt the two women to find out more about the fate of their donated eggs. Stymied by the clinic's veil of secrecy, Deborah and Joanna obtain employment there to continue their probe. Working under aliases, they soon discover the horrifying aims of Dr. Windgate's research, immediately putting their lives--and their sanity--irrevocably at risk. Posited on up-to-the-minute science, Shock finds Robin Cook at the uncertain crossroads of medical technology and ethics.

Fun read that makes you think about what can happen when you go under the knife!