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Godplayer
Dr. Cassandra Kingsley is about to discover that neither her marriage nor her job is what she thought. And when she sets out to find the truth, it may just kill her.
336 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published July 11, 1983
154 people are currently reading
2033 people want to read
About the author
Robin Cook
187 books4,983 followersLibrarian Note: Not to be confused with British novelist Robin Cook a pseudonym of Robert William Arthur Cook.
Dr. Robin Cook (born May 4, 1940 in New York City, New York) is an American doctor / novelist who writes about medicine, biotechnology, and topics affecting public health.
He is best known for being the author who created the medical-thriller genre by combining medical writing with the thriller genre of writing. His books have been bestsellers on the "New York Times" Bestseller List with several at #1. A number of his books have also been featured in Reader's Digest. Many were also featured in the Literary Guild. Many have been made into motion pictures.
Cook is a graduate of Wesleyan University and Columbia University School of Medicine. He finished his postgraduate medical training at Harvard that included general surgery and ophthalmology. He divides his time between homes in Florida, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts where he lives with his wife Jean. He is currently on leave from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. He has successfully combined medical fact with fiction to produce a succession of bestselling books. Cook's medical thrillers are designed, in part, to make the public aware of both the technological possibilities of modern medicine and the ensuing ethical conundrums.
Cook got a taste of the larger world when the Cousteau Society recruited him to run its blood - gas lab in the South of France while he was in medical school. Intrigued by diving, he later called on a connection he made through Jacques Cousteau to become an aquanaut with the US Navy Sealab when he was drafted in the 60's. During his navy career he served on a nuclear submarine for a seventy-five day stay underwater where he wrote his first book! [1]
Cook was a private member of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Board of Trustees, appointed to a six-year term by the President George W. Bush.[2]
[edit] Doctor / Novelist
Dr. Cook's profession as a doctor has provided him with ideas and background for many of his novels. In each of his novels, he strives to write about the issues at the forefront of current medical practice.
To date, he has explored issues such as organ donation, genetic engineering,fertility treatment, medical research funding, managed care, medical malpractice, drug research, drug pricing, specialty hospitals, stem cells, and organ transplantation.[3]
Dr. Cook has been remarked to have an uncanny ability to anticipate national controversy. In an interview with Dr.Cook, Stephen McDonald talked to him about his novel Shock; Cook admits the timing of Shock was fortuitous. "I suppose that you could say that it's the most like Coma in that it deals with an issue that everybody seems to be concerned about," he says, "I wrote this book to address the stem cell issue, which the public really doesn't know much about. Besides entertaining readers, my main goal is to get people interested in some of these issues, because it's the public that ultimately really should decide which way we ought to go in something as that has enormous potential for treating disease and disability but touches up against the ethically problematic abortion issue."[4]
Keeping his lab coat handy helps him turn our fear of doctors into bestsellers. "I joke that if my books stop selling, I can always fall back on brain surgery," he says. "But I am still very interested in being a doctor. If I had to do it over again, I would still study medicine. I think of myself more as a doctor who writes, rather than a writer who happens to be a doctor." After 35 books,he has come up with a diagnosis to explain why his medical thrillers remain so popular. "The main reason is, we all realize we are at risk. We're all going to be patients sometime," he says. "You can write about great white sharks or haunted houses, and you can say I'm not going into the ocean or I'm not going in haunted houses, but you can't say you're n
Dr. Robin Cook (born May 4, 1940 in New York City, New York) is an American doctor / novelist who writes about medicine, biotechnology, and topics affecting public health.
He is best known for being the author who created the medical-thriller genre by combining medical writing with the thriller genre of writing. His books have been bestsellers on the "New York Times" Bestseller List with several at #1. A number of his books have also been featured in Reader's Digest. Many were also featured in the Literary Guild. Many have been made into motion pictures.
Cook is a graduate of Wesleyan University and Columbia University School of Medicine. He finished his postgraduate medical training at Harvard that included general surgery and ophthalmology. He divides his time between homes in Florida, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts where he lives with his wife Jean. He is currently on leave from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. He has successfully combined medical fact with fiction to produce a succession of bestselling books. Cook's medical thrillers are designed, in part, to make the public aware of both the technological possibilities of modern medicine and the ensuing ethical conundrums.
Cook got a taste of the larger world when the Cousteau Society recruited him to run its blood - gas lab in the South of France while he was in medical school. Intrigued by diving, he later called on a connection he made through Jacques Cousteau to become an aquanaut with the US Navy Sealab when he was drafted in the 60's. During his navy career he served on a nuclear submarine for a seventy-five day stay underwater where he wrote his first book! [1]
Cook was a private member of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Board of Trustees, appointed to a six-year term by the President George W. Bush.[2]
[edit] Doctor / Novelist
Dr. Cook's profession as a doctor has provided him with ideas and background for many of his novels. In each of his novels, he strives to write about the issues at the forefront of current medical practice.
To date, he has explored issues such as organ donation, genetic engineering,fertility treatment, medical research funding, managed care, medical malpractice, drug research, drug pricing, specialty hospitals, stem cells, and organ transplantation.[3]
Dr. Cook has been remarked to have an uncanny ability to anticipate national controversy. In an interview with Dr.Cook, Stephen McDonald talked to him about his novel Shock; Cook admits the timing of Shock was fortuitous. "I suppose that you could say that it's the most like Coma in that it deals with an issue that everybody seems to be concerned about," he says, "I wrote this book to address the stem cell issue, which the public really doesn't know much about. Besides entertaining readers, my main goal is to get people interested in some of these issues, because it's the public that ultimately really should decide which way we ought to go in something as that has enormous potential for treating disease and disability but touches up against the ethically problematic abortion issue."[4]
Keeping his lab coat handy helps him turn our fear of doctors into bestsellers. "I joke that if my books stop selling, I can always fall back on brain surgery," he says. "But I am still very interested in being a doctor. If I had to do it over again, I would still study medicine. I think of myself more as a doctor who writes, rather than a writer who happens to be a doctor." After 35 books,he has come up with a diagnosis to explain why his medical thrillers remain so popular. "The main reason is, we all realize we are at risk. We're all going to be patients sometime," he says. "You can write about great white sharks or haunted houses, and you can say I'm not going into the ocean or I'm not going in haunted houses, but you can't say you're n
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 192 reviews
April 17, 2017
Did not like this book at all. It was very boring, the main characters were pathetic. There were too many loose ends that never got resolved. Characters came into the picture that didn't do anything of any significance. There was no action throughout the majority of the book. Everything happened in the last 100 pages or so. The only reason I finished it at all is because I can't quit reading a book right in the middle of one otherwise I would have cast it aside. Quite a disappointment coming from such a great author as Robin Cook.
April 21, 2011
An OK book, but not one of Cook's best. I could see most of the plot twists coming a mile away, so that sort of took the suspense out of it. One of the story lines I thought was a key plot turns out to be unanswered by the end and nearly forgotten. The final pages hint that there could be a sequel, but to the best of my knowledge, there wasn't one.
I didn't feel like I knew enough about any of the characters save the main character, Cassi, and characters would reappear a couple chapters after introduction but I had already forgotten about them. It's not that there were too many to keep track of, more like the opposite, where there were so few possible suspects that there was little left for guessing.
Overall, it was a quick read, and made me think about such issues as drug addiction in doctors, the balance needed in our healthcare system between teaching cases to educate our doctors and private cases to keep the budget funded, and the motivation that results in patients dying at the hands of the ones entrusted to care for them. Glad Robin Cook's writing and stories have improved since this one was written.
I didn't feel like I knew enough about any of the characters save the main character, Cassi, and characters would reappear a couple chapters after introduction but I had already forgotten about them. It's not that there were too many to keep track of, more like the opposite, where there were so few possible suspects that there was little left for guessing.
Overall, it was a quick read, and made me think about such issues as drug addiction in doctors, the balance needed in our healthcare system between teaching cases to educate our doctors and private cases to keep the budget funded, and the motivation that results in patients dying at the hands of the ones entrusted to care for them. Glad Robin Cook's writing and stories have improved since this one was written.
June 3, 2015
This book made me very very angry.
Here's the thing: Someone is killing patients at Boston Memorial, and the reasons are confusing - but two people might be starting to figure out that something is going on. One, Cassi Kingsley, is a former pathology resident who has switched to psychiatry, and the other is her friend Robert, who is still in pathology. They've noticed a pattern in deaths that don't have proper explanations. Cassi's husband, Thomas, is a superstar of the cardiology ward, and a surgeon of top class - he wants her to stop, as if these deaths have a medical reason, it will bring down the hospital.
Sounds neat, right? Well, it is. Except that the book was written in the 80s, and here's the 'getting mad' part.
Thomas is annoyed that Cassi is associating with a 'known homosexual' like Robert. Other homosexuals in the book are likened to AIDS as a sort of causal result of their lifestyle (this from a doctor, *sigh*). Oh, and when Cassi starts to wonder about her husband's sanity, everyone tells her to calm down, stand by her man, etc. She also constantly thinks things like, "If my husband left me, my life would fall apart! What would I do?!" He's emotionally abusive, and she takes it as if it is her due. Sexism is rampant throughout the book, Cassi has all the resolve of a wet noodle, never trusts herself without her husband's opinion, won't schedule necessary eye surgery because her husband hasn't chatted it over with her yet, and dear criminy I'll stop now, before I blow a vein or something. Urk.
Here's the thing: Someone is killing patients at Boston Memorial, and the reasons are confusing - but two people might be starting to figure out that something is going on. One, Cassi Kingsley, is a former pathology resident who has switched to psychiatry, and the other is her friend Robert, who is still in pathology. They've noticed a pattern in deaths that don't have proper explanations. Cassi's husband, Thomas, is a superstar of the cardiology ward, and a surgeon of top class - he wants her to stop, as if these deaths have a medical reason, it will bring down the hospital.
Sounds neat, right? Well, it is. Except that the book was written in the 80s, and here's the 'getting mad' part.
Thomas is annoyed that Cassi is associating with a 'known homosexual' like Robert. Other homosexuals in the book are likened to AIDS as a sort of causal result of their lifestyle (this from a doctor, *sigh*). Oh, and when Cassi starts to wonder about her husband's sanity, everyone tells her to calm down, stand by her man, etc. She also constantly thinks things like, "If my husband left me, my life would fall apart! What would I do?!" He's emotionally abusive, and she takes it as if it is her due. Sexism is rampant throughout the book, Cassi has all the resolve of a wet noodle, never trusts herself without her husband's opinion, won't schedule necessary eye surgery because her husband hasn't chatted it over with her yet, and dear criminy I'll stop now, before I blow a vein or something. Urk.
September 12, 2018
This was by far one of the worst books I ever read. But this is what happens all the time. Good writers start out writing some great books, become rich, well known, and then start authoring bad books, figuring their readers will buy them. This book made no sense at all. I could go on and on but I won't. I will give you one of the preposterous scenarios..if you were a psych MD in a hospital and your good friend was a pathologist, and the two of you were investigating unexplained deaths in seemingly healthy surgical patients in that same hospital, would the two of you elect to have your simple surgeries in that same hospital???? So absurd a plot, ridiculous.
March 7, 2022
2.5
This was kind of boring, with few thrilling aspects. It was kind of obvious from the start who was responsible for all that happened.
This was kind of boring, with few thrilling aspects. It was kind of obvious from the start who was responsible for all that happened.
March 18, 2025
This is a re-read. I read this book many years ago— before GoodReads was even a thing. I recall that I enjoyed it back then, but I couldn’t quite remember the story, so decided to read it again. And, I still enjoyed it. Looking through others’ reviews, I see that many people didn’t care for it, however, I enjoyed it for the most part. There were amusing parts as I came across the dated medical aspects that made me either smile or cringe— the secrecy of not telling the patient what their temperature reading was 🙄, the glass IV bottles shattering , , the nastiness of the surgeon to the nurses and the nurses coddling the doctors (although maybe that still happens, but I rather doubt it). I was rather disappointed in the spinelessness of Cassi as she made excuses for the meanness that her surgeon husband, Thomas, displayed towards her. And while he got his comeuppance, it seemed to me that she could have had a stronger personality, especially as she was a physician. (And yet, I told myself that her weakness was probably typical of a an abused woman— mentally and verbally, if not physically.) I was amused by the homophobia and while I thought it was crazy, I told myself that probably there were people like that. And sadly, there probably still are.
The book did give one hope that narcissists will have their day of comeuppance. One can certainly hope, can’t they?
The book did give one hope that narcissists will have their day of comeuppance. One can certainly hope, can’t they?
June 16, 2025
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Review: Godplayer by Robin Cook
When egos go unchecked and scalpel-happy surgeons think they're gods, it’s time to hide your chart and pray your anesthetic holds.
The Plot (Spoilers Ahead):
Dr. Cassandra Kingsley is a second-year cardiac surgery resident at Boston Memorial Hospital—yes, that one again—recently married to the brilliant but emotionally distant Dr. Thomas Kingsley, a superstar heart surgeon.
At first, things seem to be going well. But then fellow doctors start dying under mysterious circumstances: heart attacks, unexplained accidents, overdoses. All highly respected, all too sudden to feel random. Cassandra is suspicious, especially when surgical outcomes also start going downhill. Patients are dying on the table at higher-than-usual rates, and no one seems to want to talk about it.
Enter the hospital’s new computerized record system, which Cassandra uses to dig through data. What she uncovers is terrifying:
The deeper she investigates, the more isolated she becomes. With mounting evidence that a surgeon is playing god in the OR—deciding who lives and dies—Cassandra races to expose the truth before she becomes the next casualty.
The Medical Issue Examined:
Cook dissects the dangers of:
Surgical egotism and the god complex many top surgeons develop
Power hierarchies in hospitals that silence whistleblowers
Sabotage and psychological manipulation in the high-pressure world of cardiac surgery
Early hospital computerization, highlighting how technology can both reveal and obscure malpractice
It’s more psychological and institutional than scientific, but it hits hard, especially for anyone who's worked in a toxic workplace—only here, that toxicity kills people on the operating table.
Characters:
Dr. Cassandra Kingsley – A classic Cook protagonist: competent, determined, and facing massive institutional gaslighting. She’s more mature than Susan Wheeler in Coma and less naïve, but still emotionally vulnerable.
Dr. Thomas Kingsley – Handsome, talented, and emotionally cold. Is he a misunderstood genius—or a homicidal sociopath with a scalpel?
Hospital Board and Surgeons – A wall of arrogance, secrets, and passive aggression. Several feel like ticking time bombs wrapped in scrubs.
Dr. Robert Seibert – A shady psychiatrist with his own agenda, further muddying Cassandra’s investigation.
Writing Style:
Taut and efficient, with a noir tone creeping into the hospital corridors. Cook uses surgical scenes for tension but leans more heavily into psychological suspense here than medical jargon. There’s a chilly intimacy to the prose, perfect for a story where love, trust, and the Hippocratic Oath are all under the knife.
The mystery is layered but not convoluted, and the emotional stakes are high thanks to Cassandra’s personal investment.
Final Word:
Godplayer takes hospital hierarchy and carves it wide open. If Coma made you fear the system, this one makes you fear the people inside it—particularly the brilliant ones with shaky ethics and spotless surgical gloves.
A tight, smart thriller where the villains don’t need supernatural powers—just confidence, charisma, and a god complex.
Read if you like:
Hospital politics + murder
Female doctors fighting institutional rot
Psychological thrillers with scalpel suspense
When egos go unchecked and scalpel-happy surgeons think they're gods, it’s time to hide your chart and pray your anesthetic holds.
The Plot (Spoilers Ahead):
Dr. Cassandra Kingsley is a second-year cardiac surgery resident at Boston Memorial Hospital—yes, that one again—recently married to the brilliant but emotionally distant Dr. Thomas Kingsley, a superstar heart surgeon.
At first, things seem to be going well. But then fellow doctors start dying under mysterious circumstances: heart attacks, unexplained accidents, overdoses. All highly respected, all too sudden to feel random. Cassandra is suspicious, especially when surgical outcomes also start going downhill. Patients are dying on the table at higher-than-usual rates, and no one seems to want to talk about it.
Enter the hospital’s new computerized record system, which Cassandra uses to dig through data. What she uncovers is terrifying:
The deeper she investigates, the more isolated she becomes. With mounting evidence that a surgeon is playing god in the OR—deciding who lives and dies—Cassandra races to expose the truth before she becomes the next casualty.
The Medical Issue Examined:
Cook dissects the dangers of:
Surgical egotism and the god complex many top surgeons develop
Power hierarchies in hospitals that silence whistleblowers
Sabotage and psychological manipulation in the high-pressure world of cardiac surgery
Early hospital computerization, highlighting how technology can both reveal and obscure malpractice
It’s more psychological and institutional than scientific, but it hits hard, especially for anyone who's worked in a toxic workplace—only here, that toxicity kills people on the operating table.
Characters:
Dr. Cassandra Kingsley – A classic Cook protagonist: competent, determined, and facing massive institutional gaslighting. She’s more mature than Susan Wheeler in Coma and less naïve, but still emotionally vulnerable.
Dr. Thomas Kingsley – Handsome, talented, and emotionally cold. Is he a misunderstood genius—or a homicidal sociopath with a scalpel?
Hospital Board and Surgeons – A wall of arrogance, secrets, and passive aggression. Several feel like ticking time bombs wrapped in scrubs.
Dr. Robert Seibert – A shady psychiatrist with his own agenda, further muddying Cassandra’s investigation.
Writing Style:
Taut and efficient, with a noir tone creeping into the hospital corridors. Cook uses surgical scenes for tension but leans more heavily into psychological suspense here than medical jargon. There’s a chilly intimacy to the prose, perfect for a story where love, trust, and the Hippocratic Oath are all under the knife.
The mystery is layered but not convoluted, and the emotional stakes are high thanks to Cassandra’s personal investment.
Final Word:
Godplayer takes hospital hierarchy and carves it wide open. If Coma made you fear the system, this one makes you fear the people inside it—particularly the brilliant ones with shaky ethics and spotless surgical gloves.
A tight, smart thriller where the villains don’t need supernatural powers—just confidence, charisma, and a god complex.
Read if you like:
Hospital politics + murder
Female doctors fighting institutional rot
Psychological thrillers with scalpel suspense
July 6, 2012
Although this book ended up being fairly predictable, it was suspenseful, and I couldn't put it down. The story follows a woman named Cassi who works at Boston Memorial. Her husband is a famous surgeon who definitely has a God-complex. Cassi and her friend in pathology are looking into a number of mysterious cases that exhibit what they believe is death with no cause. As they get closer to the cause, Cassi's friend becomes a victim of the mysterious death, and the mysterious killer. The puzzle starts coming together much more clearly during this time, which is also when Cassi is in the hospital as a patient for her own surgery. After several murder attempts, which Cassi survives, she goes to the chief surgeon for help with her husband (the killer), who thinks that she is just going crazy, since the attempts on her life made it look like she was trying to commit suicide. Her husband confesses that he needs help, and whisks her away, while really planning to kill her once and for all. They get in a car wreck, and her negligent husband, who drove like a maniac and refused to wear his seat belt, was killed and survived by his resilient wife. Great book and great author. I look forward to reading more of Robin Cook's work in the future.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 3, 2024
Der Klapptentext versucht das Buch als medizinischen Horror-Thriller zu verkaufen. Eigentlich ist es über weite Strecken eher eine Charakterstudie.
Während ich die ersten paar Dutzend Seiten recht gut fand, hatte ich später etwas Mühe. Das lag eben an den 2 Hauptcharakteren, dem brillianten aber arschlöchrigen Herzchirurgen Thomas und seiner duckmäuserischen und von Minderwertigkeitskomplexen beladenen Ehefrau Cassie.
Beide gingen mir etwas auf den Keks - aus ganz verschiedenen Gründen - , was es schwierig machte, das Buch zu genießen.
Später wurde es dann doch noch recht spannend und war letztendlich doch eine halbwegs runde Sache mit ordentlichem Schluss.
3.5/5
Während ich die ersten paar Dutzend Seiten recht gut fand, hatte ich später etwas Mühe. Das lag eben an den 2 Hauptcharakteren, dem brillianten aber arschlöchrigen Herzchirurgen Thomas und seiner duckmäuserischen und von Minderwertigkeitskomplexen beladenen Ehefrau Cassie.
Beide gingen mir etwas auf den Keks - aus ganz verschiedenen Gründen - , was es schwierig machte, das Buch zu genießen.
Später wurde es dann doch noch recht spannend und war letztendlich doch eine halbwegs runde Sache mit ordentlichem Schluss.
3.5/5
June 30, 2014
I liked it a lot, Cook is one of my favourite writers in the pure entertainment department. Obviously the medical side of the story looks a bit updated, but the mad scientist is always an engaging character. Cassie, the protagonist, is a little too princess-y for my taste but she turns out ok in the end.
February 8, 2025
Medicínsky triller nie je úplne moja šálka kávy, ale toto bolo celkom fajn. Autor ma vedel udržiavať v neistote ohľadom motívov a príčetnosti jednotlivých postáv, i keď som si meno páchateľa vedela tipnúť už v polovici knihy. Na môj vkus používal priveľa odborných výrazov, ktoré som si musela googliť - asi je fakt cieľovkou skôr moja stará mama (od ktorej ju mám požičanú) s kariérou v neurológii a slabosťou pre Rosamunde Pilcherovú, než ja.
March 24, 2013
BOOK: Godplayer
AUTHOR: Robin Cook
This novel was a medical thriller classic. It was interesting & engaging…..two qualities that make a medical thriller work. The gripping ending was well written & the characters captivate the reader. The idea of SSD (Sudden Surgical Death) is well laid out in this book along with many other soul searching questions associated with the medical field. However, the main question put forward in this book is one which is still asked till this day………..who can judge who really requires expensive medical aid of a hospital……..everyone ? even when there are shortage of beds ? even those who we know won’t survive for long ?......who is going to bell the cat…..who is going to play God ?
The story is well presented with a lot of heated dialogues about what is morally right & what isn't when one is concerned about treatment. The easy way a person can kill another in a hospital is also very well described in this book. To give internists a chance to work on patients, the risks involved & all the information about a surgery that is kept a secret from unquestioning patients is well illustrated in this novel. The delicacy of cardiac surgery is also one of great importance that is presented in this novel & how many people each day die of heart related symptoms.
Another idea that presents itself in this book is about the egoism & narcissistic tendencies of excellent surgeons. The pressure on good surgeons is tackled very well by Robin Cook including the way such surgeons often take recourse to drugs to overcome the sort of ‘emptiness’ they feel within after too much of adulation. However, as the book describes, such surgeons often are unable to be in control of their thoughts & emotions & therefore, have a terrible end.
Two characters that stand out in this novel are the famous cardiac surgeon Thomas Kingsley & his wife Cassandra (Cassi) Cassidy who is a first year psychiatrist who was earlier into pathology. Both are very different characters. Though Cassi is the protagonist in the story, more emphasis is given to her spouse Thomas who is a very volatile character always on tenterhooks & ready to burst at all times. Their failing marriage along with Thomas’ drug abuse is the focal point of this novel. Both characters have tendencies to be dependent on an external factor to feel ‘fine’. While Cassi finds her solace in her husband, Thomas’ finds his in drugs & extra-marital affairs. The author ultimately relates how intelligence does not necessarily mean one can be successful in life……only when one is happy with ones state of life & takes each day as it comes, only them is one in total control of ones faculties.
The bureaucratic interference in surgery as well as the drastic decisions they take to make a mark in the market is also put forward very well & delicately in the novel. How business has changed the face of medicine especially surgery is narrated in most of the chapters in a very interesting way as well as the loopholes that such groups want to keep a secret or shield from the public eye. In the novel it is shown that truth always does not garner importance if it interferes in the working of the bureaucracy. The story shows the reader clearly how the fine line separating medicine & business is slowly disappearing.
Thrilling & a challenge to read, Godplayer is a real looking glass into the workings of the human mind &………….how at times it is simply too easy to kill.
AUTHOR: Robin Cook
This novel was a medical thriller classic. It was interesting & engaging…..two qualities that make a medical thriller work. The gripping ending was well written & the characters captivate the reader. The idea of SSD (Sudden Surgical Death) is well laid out in this book along with many other soul searching questions associated with the medical field. However, the main question put forward in this book is one which is still asked till this day………..who can judge who really requires expensive medical aid of a hospital……..everyone ? even when there are shortage of beds ? even those who we know won’t survive for long ?......who is going to bell the cat…..who is going to play God ?
The story is well presented with a lot of heated dialogues about what is morally right & what isn't when one is concerned about treatment. The easy way a person can kill another in a hospital is also very well described in this book. To give internists a chance to work on patients, the risks involved & all the information about a surgery that is kept a secret from unquestioning patients is well illustrated in this novel. The delicacy of cardiac surgery is also one of great importance that is presented in this novel & how many people each day die of heart related symptoms.
Another idea that presents itself in this book is about the egoism & narcissistic tendencies of excellent surgeons. The pressure on good surgeons is tackled very well by Robin Cook including the way such surgeons often take recourse to drugs to overcome the sort of ‘emptiness’ they feel within after too much of adulation. However, as the book describes, such surgeons often are unable to be in control of their thoughts & emotions & therefore, have a terrible end.
Two characters that stand out in this novel are the famous cardiac surgeon Thomas Kingsley & his wife Cassandra (Cassi) Cassidy who is a first year psychiatrist who was earlier into pathology. Both are very different characters. Though Cassi is the protagonist in the story, more emphasis is given to her spouse Thomas who is a very volatile character always on tenterhooks & ready to burst at all times. Their failing marriage along with Thomas’ drug abuse is the focal point of this novel. Both characters have tendencies to be dependent on an external factor to feel ‘fine’. While Cassi finds her solace in her husband, Thomas’ finds his in drugs & extra-marital affairs. The author ultimately relates how intelligence does not necessarily mean one can be successful in life……only when one is happy with ones state of life & takes each day as it comes, only them is one in total control of ones faculties.
The bureaucratic interference in surgery as well as the drastic decisions they take to make a mark in the market is also put forward very well & delicately in the novel. How business has changed the face of medicine especially surgery is narrated in most of the chapters in a very interesting way as well as the loopholes that such groups want to keep a secret or shield from the public eye. In the novel it is shown that truth always does not garner importance if it interferes in the working of the bureaucracy. The story shows the reader clearly how the fine line separating medicine & business is slowly disappearing.
Thrilling & a challenge to read, Godplayer is a real looking glass into the workings of the human mind &………….how at times it is simply too easy to kill.
July 19, 2025
Mali bogowie.
Cassandra Kingsley jest rezydentką psychiatrii, a prywatnie żoną bardzo znanego kardiochirurga. Wydawałoby się, że jej życie jest poukładane i niczego jej nie brakuje. Niestety, to głównie pozory. Jej mąż od pewnego czasu zachowuje się dość dziwnie, czym wzbudza niepokój Cassandry. Kiedy kobieta zaczyna łączyć kropki, nagle wszystko układa się całość – jej mąż nadużywa pewnych leków, dość częsta przypadłość wśród ambitnych lekarzy. Pytanie tylko, czy jego stan może mieć coś wspólnego z serią nagłych zgonów pooperacyjnych, o których poinformował ją dawny kolega, patolog Seibert.
Fabuła prosta, rozwiązanie intrygi też, ale znajdziemy tu problem ponadczasowy – kiedy lekarze zaczynają decydować, czyje życie należy ratować – czy nie bawią się wtedy w Boga? A i temat łatwej dostępności leków oraz nadmiernego ich stosowania do redukcji stresu i zmęczenia – o tym się za dużo nie mówi, a jednak problem w środowisku istnieje. Podobnie jak rdzenie sobie z problemami przez topienie ich w alkoholu. Brakuje na studiach medycznych (a przynajmniej za moich czasów tak było) zajęć, na których człowiek mógłby nauczyć się chociaż podstaw radzenia sobie ze stresem.
6/10
Cassandra Kingsley jest rezydentką psychiatrii, a prywatnie żoną bardzo znanego kardiochirurga. Wydawałoby się, że jej życie jest poukładane i niczego jej nie brakuje. Niestety, to głównie pozory. Jej mąż od pewnego czasu zachowuje się dość dziwnie, czym wzbudza niepokój Cassandry. Kiedy kobieta zaczyna łączyć kropki, nagle wszystko układa się całość – jej mąż nadużywa pewnych leków, dość częsta przypadłość wśród ambitnych lekarzy. Pytanie tylko, czy jego stan może mieć coś wspólnego z serią nagłych zgonów pooperacyjnych, o których poinformował ją dawny kolega, patolog Seibert.
Fabuła prosta, rozwiązanie intrygi też, ale znajdziemy tu problem ponadczasowy – kiedy lekarze zaczynają decydować, czyje życie należy ratować – czy nie bawią się wtedy w Boga? A i temat łatwej dostępności leków oraz nadmiernego ich stosowania do redukcji stresu i zmęczenia – o tym się za dużo nie mówi, a jednak problem w środowisku istnieje. Podobnie jak rdzenie sobie z problemami przez topienie ich w alkoholu. Brakuje na studiach medycznych (a przynajmniej za moich czasów tak było) zajęć, na których człowiek mógłby nauczyć się chociaż podstaw radzenia sobie ze stresem.
6/10
July 8, 2025
Une série de mort étrange a l’hôpital de Boston. L’intrigue est intéressante mais trop longue à se mettre en place, la fin est prévisible et très rapide voire bâclée. Le livre a été écrit il y a 40 ans et ça se sent un peu trop par moment à cause de certains stéréotypes notamment. A part Cassy qui est le personnage principal, on s’attache très peu aux personnages car on apprend pas grand chose sur eux, il y a quelques intrigues secondaires qui ne sont pas assez exploitées. Le cardiologue est insupportable j’en pouvais plus
November 29, 2017
He leído ocho libros del doctor Robin Cook, el 75% han sido thrillers médicos de conspiraciones y experimentos que salieron mal, del 25% restante, la mitad fue un libro de una conspiración por ocultar el tráfico de tesoros arqueloógicos en Egipto y la otra mitad fue un excelente libro de ciencia ficción con muchísimos cambios inesperados en la trama. Todos esos libros tienen un perfecto balance de suspenso, acción, erotismo, sorpresas y dilemas éticos.
Por desgracia Godplayer (o "El Falso Dios", en mi edición), tiene tan solo una pizca de todo lo que mencioné, es cierto que no carece de dichos elementos, imprescindibles en toda obra de Cook, pero la trama resulta predecible, desde el principio es evidente quién será el villano y por consiguiente el culpable de las misteriosas muertes en el Boston Memorial.
De las 254 páginas del libro, 200 transcurren sin pena ni gloria, son entretenidas pero obvias y de no ser por las últimas 50, el libro bien podría ser una novela mediocre de algún autor segundón.
La única razón por la cual le otorgo dos estrellas en lugar de una, es por el dilema ético, que como en todos los libros anteriores, también está presente y me deja pensando: ¿Es mejor salvar el corazón de una persona que tiene todo a su favor para llevar una vida plena y duradera o salvar el de una persona con decenas de enfermedades que lo llevaran a una muerte segura aun si sobrevive a la operación cardiaca?
A lo largo de la novela estuve deambulando entre ambas opciones, a veces me parecia mejor una que otra, aunque al final no me he podido decidir totalmente por un lado. Pobres medicos, que bueno que estudié ingeniería, ¡jajaja!
Por desgracia Godplayer (o "El Falso Dios", en mi edición), tiene tan solo una pizca de todo lo que mencioné, es cierto que no carece de dichos elementos, imprescindibles en toda obra de Cook, pero la trama resulta predecible, desde el principio es evidente quién será el villano y por consiguiente el culpable de las misteriosas muertes en el Boston Memorial.
De las 254 páginas del libro, 200 transcurren sin pena ni gloria, son entretenidas pero obvias y de no ser por las últimas 50, el libro bien podría ser una novela mediocre de algún autor segundón.
La única razón por la cual le otorgo dos estrellas en lugar de una, es por el dilema ético, que como en todos los libros anteriores, también está presente y me deja pensando: ¿Es mejor salvar el corazón de una persona que tiene todo a su favor para llevar una vida plena y duradera o salvar el de una persona con decenas de enfermedades que lo llevaran a una muerte segura aun si sobrevive a la operación cardiaca?
A lo largo de la novela estuve deambulando entre ambas opciones, a veces me parecia mejor una que otra, aunque al final no me he podido decidir totalmente por un lado. Pobres medicos, que bueno que estudié ingeniería, ¡jajaja!
December 11, 2018
I used to read Robin Cook in high school, but have gone away from reading him for a long time. I had forgotten why I loved him. I found this book very hard to put down, and was surprised by the real culprit in the end. I found the book very hard to put down, generally spending more time reading it than I had or intended each time I picked it up. I am fascinated by the medical aspects of the book. There were dated details, such as a patient smoking in the main character's office and a doctor having to fight his way across a dark apartment to get to the phone when called in the middle of the night, that reminded me of how long ago this book was written, but they didn't detract from the story. I highly recommend this to people who love murder mysteries, medical fiction, or want a reminder of how much easier it is today to deal with an illness such as diabetes.
May 29, 2023
( AUDIOLIBRO )
Pues uno más de Robin Cook.
Nada especial que reseñar, quizá se haga muy evidente lo que pasa, pese a sus intento de distracción aunque quizá se.trate también de que llevo ya leídos muchos de.este autor y ya se hace más difícil que me sorprenda.
Lo que me sigue atrapando es cómo describe los hospitales y el sistema hospitalario de forma que te parece que perteneces a ese "mundillo" aunque no tengas ni la más mínima relación con él, te va metiendo, te va metiendo y acabas pensando en quitarte la bata blanca cada vez que sueltas el libro.
Creo que me tomaré un descanso de este autor.
Pues uno más de Robin Cook.
Nada especial que reseñar, quizá se haga muy evidente lo que pasa, pese a sus intento de distracción aunque quizá se.trate también de que llevo ya leídos muchos de.este autor y ya se hace más difícil que me sorprenda.
Lo que me sigue atrapando es cómo describe los hospitales y el sistema hospitalario de forma que te parece que perteneces a ese "mundillo" aunque no tengas ni la más mínima relación con él, te va metiendo, te va metiendo y acabas pensando en quitarte la bata blanca cada vez que sueltas el libro.
Creo que me tomaré un descanso de este autor.
June 18, 2023
I did not like how the character of Cassi was just made to be so very obtuse and obsequious, despite being someone who is in a profession that requires critical thinking; further she was interning as a shrink... But for the sake of the resolution coming at the very last moment, the author chose to make her that way but made Thomas a suspect from the beginning.
The fact that it is in the air if he was the one behind the death of the other patients, since it could still be any of those other surgeons, makes this story dis satisfactory even as a short story if that is what it was when it was written.
The fact that it is in the air if he was the one behind the death of the other patients, since it could still be any of those other surgeons, makes this story dis satisfactory even as a short story if that is what it was when it was written.
April 1, 2015
This was a fairly good book with a kind of blah ending. There was a lot of build up for a two page resolution. I did like the mystery and suspense. The dated nature of the subject matter was actually very interesting and amusing (hospitals and the behavior of people in general were a lot different in the 70s and 80s than they are now). Some of the plot twists didn't make sense or seemed obvious (I would say to myself "duh, didn't they realize that!?")
So, not a disappointing read, but only 3 stars.
So, not a disappointing read, but only 3 stars.
April 6, 2009
This is some of Robin Cook's early writing. It's not as well-developed as later books, but it is still a good, solid mystery. I especially liked reading it because I could see how Mr. Cook's writing evolved and improved over time. It was like seeing a bud before a flower blooms. Oh, and don't read this book if you're in the hospital or are having surgery very soon. You'll think about it at night as you peer into the shadows around your bed. This is the voice of experience talking. :)
September 7, 2019
A decently exciting whodunit medical potboiler that unfortunately pretty much gives away the identity of the perpetrator a few pages in. Although marred by a number of characters and situations that are just not believable, the book does hold one's attention through twists and turns until we run into the Stupid Victim Syndrome. Nonetheless, goodness triumphs in the end, and maybe all's well that ends well.
July 12, 2015
Story plods along to an unsatisfactory and blatantly simplistic resolution. Lacking the medical maturity of his other books, this was one of the more frustrating and least thought provoking Robin Cook stories I have read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 28, 2022
Niby taki światowej sławy autor, a to było po prostu... przeciętne. Miał być thriller medyczny, a dostaliśmy historię niezdrowego małżeństwa, typiary z syndromem Sztokholmskim i egoistycznego chirurga z syndromem Boga.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 20, 2013
It was quite refreshing to read a medical thriller after so long. Robin Cook is as always at his best. I loved the plot, the suspense. Another good book by Robin Cook.
September 16, 2013
I agree not one of Cook's best, just okay. I think some parts of the book drag and didn't have anything to do with the plot.
October 25, 2016
Excelente. Atrapante desde el principio hasta el final, y super ágil de leer.
Recomendadísimo al 100%
Recomendadísimo al 100%
January 7, 2019
Ich mag die Thematik..man hofft bis zu Ende das es doch nicht so ausgeht XD
June 17, 2020
Me gustó, aunque en momentos es totalmente predecible. Creo que esta frase del libro es fabulosa: Nuestra tarea consiste en salvar vidas, no en juzgar a los pacientes para definir quién es más digno.
March 1, 2021
Ik vond dit wel een goed boek maar niet om te zeggen van wow. Ik had moeite met het doorlezen maar het doorzetten was het wel waard.
March 17, 2024
Het boek is vreselijk voorspelbaar. De homohaat en het narcisme in dit boek maken dat ik het met weinig plezier heb gelezen. Blij dat het erop zit.
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