Robin Cook’s Contagion is the second of the Jack Stapleton & Lauri Montgomery series. As someone who likes medical mysteries, I’m enjoying the Stapleton & Montgomery series. I wish I started reading them years earlier.
Jack Stapleton and Lauri Montgomery are medical examiners for New York City. When people start dying from rare infectious diseases at a prominent hospital, Jack suspects they aren’t accidents.
While investigating the deaths, Jack winds up going on a couple of dates with a woman in the advertising business. She is working on an ad campaign for a health provider that is the rival of the one that runs the hospital where people are dying.
As the story unfolds, Jack reluctantly gives the advertising executive hints on what could be a good ad campaign. When Jack is attacked by gang members paid to warn him to forget about the deaths, she takes him to the hospital and lets him recover in her apartment.
Not willing to run away without knowing why innocent people are dying from rare diseases, Jack keeps investigating. When a woman who has been helping him gets shot, Jack knows he’s alone.
While I enjoyed Contagion and I’m looking forward to continuing the series, there was something that seemed too hard to believe. People, when faced with multiple murder charges, wouldn’t seem to have difficulty killing. Since I don’t want to give much away, I will stop there.
If you like medical mysteries, Contagion will be worth your time. Jack and Lauri are excellent, likable characters.