Bellevue A novel

Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital is the oldest public hospital in the United States, dating back to the late eighteenth century. You have to figure it's seen its share of shady goings-on over the years, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that the protagonist of Cook's new medical thriller, a young surgical resident at Bellevue, has some trouble settling in. For one thing, people under his care are dying; for another, he's plagued by unsettling visions. He soon realizes that Bellevue's past and his present are inextricably intertwined. The book is more Gothic than Cook's usual fare, more horror-adjacent than most of his books, which tend to be somewhat predictable thrillers involving massive conspiracies. So, yes, it's something a bit different, which is good; on the other hand, the writing is pretty much the same as it always is, which is not so good. Bellevue has an interesting story, but Cook's characters are thin, and his dialogue clunky. While Cook's loyal fans will surely enjoy it, the book is a missed opportunity to find new readers with its change-of-pace story.

Bestseller Cook (Viral) proves better at describing the day-to-day work of a medical resident than in generating scares in this limp horror novel set in Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital. Mitt Fuller has landed a spot in Bellevue's prestigious surgical residency program, following in the footsteps of multiple generations of his family. He's not just a nepo hire, though; Mitt was an academic prodigy, graduating from med school at 23. His first days at Bellevue prove nightmarish, however, as he has hallucinatory visions of a young blonde girl dressed in clothing from the mid-20th century, and thinks he sees operating room instruments, such as forceps, move on their own. These disorienting moments pale in comparison to a string of unexpected deaths of patients whose care he'd been assigned to oversee. Mitt's also stunned to learn that two of his ancestors' careers were controversial; one opposed using anesthesia after it was widely accepted, on the grounds that "denying natural pain was the devil's work," and the other mocked germ theory. Cook peppers the narrative with medical jargon most lay readers will have to look up and telegraphs what's behind the possibly supernatural phenomena, lessening the suspense. This falls flat. Agent: Erica Silverman, Trident Media Group. (Dec.)