Get ready to be terrified once again! When Dr. Jack Stapleton and Dr. Laurie Montgomery (both last seen in Cook's Chromosome 6) witness some unusual cases in their capacities as New York City forensic pathologists, the question soon becomes whether the pair will solve the puzzle before a terrorist unleashes ultimate terror in the form of a modern bioweapon. Publishers Weekly In this age of lethal bioweapons, there's a frightening logic in the idea that your next breath might kill you. Alas, Cook's latest, about an impending bioterrorist attack in New York City, is more ho-hum than horrifying. The premise has promise: cab driver Yuri Davydov is a disillusioned Russian immigrant haunted by his involvement in a tragic accidental release of government-produced anthrax that killed hundreds, including his mother. Armed with hatred for America and practical skills in how to build a biochemical weapon, he's joined forces with Curt Rogers and Steve Henderson of the People's Aryan Army. This catastrophic coalition aims to attack the Jacob Javits Federal Building and the Upper East Side; but for starters, Davydov tests his weapons on his own much-maligned wife and random, innocent rug merchant Jason Papparis. When medical examiner Jack Stapleton (last seen in Cook's Chromosome 6) does an autopsy on Papparis, the first of a series of plot-deadening coincidences occurs--he meets Davydov, who just happens to be cruising by to see if Papparis is dead. Too much "just happens" throughout this novel; worse, the investigators maddeningly bumble around obvious clues the reader has long since pieced together. Stapleton just happens to play basketball with the brother of Davydov's murdered wife; when autopsying the body of Aryan Army informant Brad Cassidy, he has a contrived hunch, and tests the body for anthrax poisoning. The whole plot, including the finale, hinges on happenstance, and Cook seems to know it--his characters say things like, "What kind of weird coincidence could this be?" Cook's biotechnology research is rewarding, the pace is as pleasingly hectic as you'd expect from the author of Toxin, etc., and some of the characters are well drawn. But in the end, this potentially spine-tingling premise is undermined by a disappointing plot manifesting authorial machination rather than authentic, character-driven events. (Mar.) Library Journal Medical thriller master Cook (Toxin) explores the ramifications of biological weapons as forensic pathologist Jack Stapleton deals with three seemingly unrelated deaths. The first involves a rug importer mysteriously infected with anthrax. The second is a particularly horrific murder of a white supremacist, while the third begins as a routine asthma death that becomes suspicious. Attempting to find the asthma victim's actual cause of death, Jack races against time when he uncovers a plot masterminded by a neo-Nazi group working with a bitter Russian immigrant to release anthrax spores into New York City. Although some of the plot developments are implausible and some of the characters stereotypical, the chillingly realistic premise combined with Jason Culp's accurate portrayals of a large cast of characters makes this a compelling tale that will be popular in all fiction collections.--Susan McCaffrey, Haslett H.S., MI Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information. Beth Amos March 1999 Cookin' Up Some Terror - For more than 20 years, Robin Cook has been the undisputed master of the medical thriller, coming up with plots that tap into our darkest fears and exploit our greatest vulnerabilities. His latest book, Vector, is no exception, offering up the specter of biological terrorism as its premise.

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