Robin Cook: Spasm (UK 2025)

From the Publisher:
From Robin Cook, the 'master of the medical thriller' (The New York Times), fan favourites Jack and Laurie return in another fast-paced story about a deadly bioweapon that could disrupt the world order as they know it.

'Masterful... Robin Cook is at the top of his game' - Freida McFadden, bestselling author of The Housemaid
When Laurie Montgomery steps down from her position as chief medical examiner at the OCME, she and Jack decide to embark on a weekend getaway. And the timing couldn't be better when they receive a call from Jack's old peer about a strange death and their potential association with an alarming upswing in Alzheimer's cases in Essex Falls.

Agreeing to help, Laurie and Jack head upstate to find that Essex Falls is far from the rural idyll of their imagination. The residents appear earnestly intent on returning America to the 1950s. They are told of the deaths of two local troublemakers, who prior to their deaths had both begun to complain of muscle spasms, nausea and off-the-charts anxiety.

As Jack and Laurie investigate, they uncover a terrifying possibility: a dangerous bioweapon. In the wrong hands, it could threaten the lives of the entire town... and potentially all of America.

Robin Cook: Spasm. Macmillan, ISBN: 9781035079179 (December, 2025), 352 p., £25.00.

Robin Cook: Spasm (USA 2025)

From the Publisher:
From the "master of the medical thriller" (The New York Times), Robin Cook, fan favorites Jack and Laurie return in another fast-paced spine chiller about a deadly bioweapon that could disrupt the world order as we know it.

"Masterful... Robin Cook is at the top of his game." -#1 NYT bestselling author FREIDA MCFADDEN

When Laurie Montgomery temporarily steps down from her position as Chief Medical Examiner, she and Jack find themselves uncharacteristically free for a couple of weeks. And the timing couldn't be better when they receive a call from Jack's former medical school classmate, Robert Neilson, who is the sole family practitioner in Essex Falls, an idyllic town tucked away in New York State's Adirondack Mountains. Serving also as the Hamilton County coroner, Dr. Neilson is in over his head trying to explain the sudden death of a young, healthy pest control worker on top of an outbreak of rapidly progressive Alzheimer's-like cases, and he pleads with Jack and Laurie to come lend a professional hand. Unable to resist a good mystery and a vacation in one, Laurie and Jack agree to help and head upstate.

Essex Falls is beautiful enough and their accommodations are even better than they imagined. But they soon learn the town has suffered a major economic and social setback, which has shaken its residents to their cores. When the body of the pest control worker disappears without a trace just prior to an autopsy, Jack's penchant for solving forensic conundrums launches him into a full-scale investigation that uncovers the most frightening modus operandi of his career so far.

Robin Cook: Spasm. A Novel. Putnam's, ISBN: 9798217044931 (December, 2025), 339 p., $32.00, eBook $14.99.