Crime, Mysteries & Thrillers discussion

Welcome to our discussion of Coma, by Robin Cook, which is part of our Spring/Summer Collection Group Reads. Your discussion leader is Lisa.
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About spoilers

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Summary

The blockbuster bestseller that kickstarted a new genre--the medical thriller.

They called it "minor surgery," but Nancy Greenly, Sean Berman and a dozen others--all admitted to Boston Memorial Hospital for routine procedures--were victims of the same inexplicable, hideous tragedy on the operating table. They never woke up.

Susan Wheeler is a third-year medical student working as a trainee at Boston Memorial Hospital. Two patients during her residency mysteriously go into comas immediately after their operations due to complications from anesthesia. Susan begins to investigate the causes behind both of these alarming comas and discovers the oxygen line in Operating Room 8 has been tampered with to induce carbon monoxide poisoning.

Then Susan discovers the evil nature of the Jefferson Institute, an intensive care facility where patients are suspended from the ceiling and kept alive until they can be harvested for healthy organs. Is she a participant in--or a victim of--a large-scale black market dealing in human organs?

Hello, friends. Welcome to the discussion thread for Coma. I'll be grabbing this one from the library tomorrow. Looking forward to chatting with you all!

I'm gonna try and get my book tomorrow.

I love Robin Cook, I've read this one a couple of times but years ago. If I participate, it will be towards the end of the month, I'm trying to finish the books I've already checked out.

Ah! Sounds interesting! I live in Japan so it’s hard to find English books unless they’re recent or mega sellers- but I’ll try to get a copy shipped ASAP

Sounds good, everyone! Haldana, welcome, best of luck in finding a copy. It was a blockbuster, albeit years ago, so I’m hopeful.

I read this years ago and loved it. I'll see if it is still available in the library.

Great, George! I'm going to grab a copy from my library this afternoon.

Started last night and LOVE it.

Sheri, I started last night and love it too! It has such a 70s feel, and I love the detailed medical jargon! I know there are things to dislike about the dated feel, particularly the descriptions/depictions of women. But it's like a time capsule to me, and I value it even if it's a bit bracing.

(view spoiler)[ I'm having a few issues with believability. I'm an RN and having worked with medical residents I've never known one to be so overwhelmed with a persons beauty that they allow that person to skip class and/or lectures which may get everyone into trouble. It may happen but I've been a nurse a long time and residents are usually too stressed, overworked, and busy trying to impress, to be looking down someones shirt and taking a change of being thrown out of the group. In my brain this nonsense could have been left out of the book. Once residency is over of course doctors, nurses, people in general get involved in all sorts of stuff of the amorous kind and it definitely does go in empty hospital rooms and supply closets. :) (hide spoiler)]

˜”*°•.˜”*°• Sheri •°*”˜.•°*”˜ wrote: "[spoilers removed]"

LOL, Sheri. Yes, that's a knock I've heard on this book, that there's a unrealistic focus on (view spoiler)[ beauty and sex, and a undesirable depiction of treatment of women. A different time, of course, but still can be distracting in the story. (hide spoiler)]

I finished last night. I'm going to leave my thoughts until the end of the month so as not to spoil it for anyone.

The discussion and pondering of Susan’s “femininity” and “warmth” has been pretty amusing. Wow. I liked her noting the doctors saying that they may be out of the woods rather than the patient; more focused on themselves and potential blame than the patient’s well- being. There’s definitely some clunky stuff here, but intelligent reflection and observations too. Loving the medical jargon so much.

I found the movie, watched it, and maybe for the first time ever liked the movie a little more than I liked the book. Maybe because in the movie Susan is already a physician so getting more respect and if men are looking down her shirt they're keeping it to themselves. 😊

Hospital security sure has changed a lot over the years.

I think I read this back in the day and to be honest, I’m not sure if I saw the movie. I think I will check my library to see if I can get it and join you guys .

Linda wrote: "I think I read this back in the day and to be honest, I’m not sure if I saw the movie. I think I will check my library to see if I can get it and join you guys ."

Great, Linda, and welcome!

I started the book yesterday after reading it decades ago. I didn't realize that it was the first medical thriller. After having several surgeries through the years, I could relate to the first patient's feelings. When the anesthesiologist used to have me count, I never made it past five numbers. Now, I am usually in a conversation with the anesthesiologist until I go under.

This book has similar vibes to a newer thriller, but I won't mention it because it may be a spoiler for the newer book.

George Stenger wrote: "I started the book yesterday after reading it decades ago. I didn't realize that it was the first medical thriller. After having several surgeries through the years, I could relate to the first pat..."

The counting part made me smile because I too can relate.

˜”*°•.˜”*°• Sheri •°*”˜.•°*”˜ wrote: "George Stenger wrote: "I started the book yesterday after reading it decades ago. I didn't realize that it was the first medical thriller. After having several surgeries through the years, I could ..."

I have a vivid memory of when I had my tonsils out as a kid, and the staff was getting ready to mask me for “countdown”. I told them that I just remembered that I had to meet the president today for lunch, and I was going to have to reschedule the surgery. I was 6, and had a stuffed dog under one arm and a doll under my other arm. I can’t imagine how hard they must have been laughing about this later.

I bet that they loved it. It sounds like something my 4-year-ol granddaughter might say!

Lisa wrote: "˜”*°•.˜”*°• Sheri •°*”˜.•°*”˜ wrote: "George Stenger wrote: "I started the book yesterday after reading it decades ago. I didn't realize that it was the first medical thriller. After having several..."

So cute and funny.

I'm a good chunk in and while interesting some parts make me cringe- especially the *men writing women* aspect lol

Oh my goodness, you’re not kidding Haldana. I like the character of Susan and her dedication to uncovering the mystery, and I even appreciate that the author used a female character in this role. But, mercy, some of her internal ruminations and the discussions of not being feminine if you choose the medical profession…wow. I am trying to read through the lens of a very different time, and find solace in intention ;)

I saw the movie when it first came out but had never read the book. I didn't remember much about the movie so it didn't spoil the book for me. :)

I enjoyed the book and gave it four stars but thought the plot was a little simplistic (not that simple is a bad thing). The book works well as a thriller but not so much as social commentary. I think Lisa has the right approach where you have to time travel back to the period as you read and put things into context.

The comments by Haldana and Lisa about men writing women's characters really interested me. How well an author writes characters different from themselves (gender/racial/sexual orientation, etc.) probably reflects on how much they have tried to consider viewpoints from different lenses and the cultural milieu in which they are writing.

Women started going to college in greater numbers in the 1960's so the 1970's were very much a new frontier in some respects as women came into male dominated roles (police, medical, etc.) which were still very much a good ole boy network. I recently read a murder mystery from the 1970's (it might have been a book from this group!) that had a female lead detective and had to keep reminding myself of the time period and the cultural changes that needed to occur in accepting that women could do jobs that were traditionally considered as male only occupations.

Similar to the justifications in denying women and Native Americans' the right to vote until the early 20th century (my favorite: they didn't have the intellectual capacity to understand politics), you see that same attitude in the book. Women are too emotional to be a doctor according to one the administrators in the book.

Gary wrote: "I saw the movie when it first came out but had never read the book. I didn't remember much about the movie so it didn't spoil the book for me. :)

I enjoyed the book and gave it four stars but tho..."

This! How well an author writes characters different from themselves (gender/racial/sexual orientation, etc.) probably reflects on how much they have tried to consider viewpoints from different lenses and the cultural milieu in which they are writing.

Gary wrote: "I saw the movie when it first came out but had never read the book. I didn't remember much about the movie so it didn't spoil the book for me. :)

I enjoyed the book and gave it four stars but tho..."

Really great thoughts, and points, Gary. I’m so glad we’re reading this! There has been such great discussion. I honestly considered leaving it off the list when I read reviews about how behind-the-times it felt. Ultimately, it won inclusion because it’s just an absolute OG in this category, and I’m glad to be reading it and talking about it with you all. Great stuff.

Lisa wrote: "Gary wrote: "I saw the movie when it first came out but had never read the book. I didn't remember much about the movie so it didn't spoil the book for me. :)

I enjoyed the book and gave it four ..."

Lisa, find the movie and let me know what you think. A friend and I both liked the movie.

Gary wrote: "I saw the movie when it first came out but had never read the book. I didn't remember much about the movie so it didn't spoil the book for me. :)

I enjoyed the book and gave it four stars but tho..."

I want you to be aware that I used a few of your thoughts in my review with quotes giving you credit as "a person in my group" because I didn't want to give out your name. You can read it here https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Finished Coma a few days ago. I really loved this book. It did, however, end a little abruptly, in my opinion. I would have liked a little more closure at the end of such a detailed book. What do you all think of the ending? (view spoiler)[What do you think happened? Did Susan live? (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[I think she did or maybe it’s because she did in the movie so that’s how I see it now 😉. I liked the book. I grew up during the books time but didn’t experience the gender degradation depicted here.
(hide spoiler)].

Sheri, I also grew up in the 70s-80s. It's always a bit of a shock to see this sort of language and framing. But, bigger picture, I like that the author decided to make a young woman the smartest person in the room. (view spoiler)[ Unfortunately, she still had to be rescued by a man, but progress happens slowly :) (hide spoiler)]