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Shock (novel)
Encyclopedia
Shock is a novel written by Robin Cook
in 2001. Its a medical science fiction woven around a fertility clinic that uses unethical means to get rich.
s. Joanna dumps her boyfriend Carlton Williams and finds herself in need of money to complete her studies. Her friend Deborah shows her a newspaper article about Wingate Clinic that is offering $45,000 for people willing to donate their eggs for infertile patients. The two friends decide to take the offer and donate the eggs. Everything goes on peacefully till they complete their doctorate
studies and come back to USA. Here their curiosity gets the better of them and they decide to find out what happened to their eggs. With the Wingate Clinic maintaining a strict silence about their working, the two of them decide to use some unfair means to get this information.
friend, Joanna and Deborah try to break into the online records of Wingate Clinic, but are met with failure as it was a very well-protected system. They then decide to get the inside information by first getting in posing as prospective employees. They use Social Security Number
of recently deceased women to forge their identity and get employed in the clinic. Joanna (under the alias of Prudence Heatherly) gets the work as a word processing
employee while Deborah (under the alias of Georgina Marks) get a job of a lab assistant.
In order to get access to the high security data, they steal the Access Card of Wingate Clinic's owner, Spencer Wingate by giving him an overdose of liquor. Using the Access Card, they gain (un)authorized entry into the Server Room
, from where the records are managed. Unfortunately for them, as all movements into the Server Room as well as the changes made in the file system are logged, their identity gets revealed. In parallel, they find out that while Joanna was subjected to organ theft
, the Clinic illegally performs ovary culture (on stem cells) on all the stolen eggs as well as uses many workers as surrogate mothers.
From here starts the chase where the Wingate Clinic's officers try to kill the women and they try to save their lives and bring Wingate's ill-deeds to the knowledge of the world.
The novel has an open-ending, leaving the readers to guess what happens to the villain
s in the end.
and organ theft
as possible unethical means left unchecked by society to give a chance for people to make quick money. Although the author himself doesn't specifically mention this, the message from this book is clear that the author considers it wrong for people to use these means. The author uses this as a creative possibility for a thriller medical science fiction novel.
The other creative possibility used by the author as a new method of doing fraud is identity theft
, although in this novel, the author specifically uses the possibility of identity theft from recently deceased people whose records don't get updated quickly.
Robin Cook (novelist)
Dr. Robin Cook is an American physician and novelist who writes about medicine and topics affecting public health....
in 2001. Its a medical science fiction woven around a fertility clinic that uses unethical means to get rich.
Plot introduction
The novel is about two friends Deborah Cochrane and Joanna Meissner, both of whom are shown equally as protagonistProtagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
s. Joanna dumps her boyfriend Carlton Williams and finds herself in need of money to complete her studies. Her friend Deborah shows her a newspaper article about Wingate Clinic that is offering $45,000 for people willing to donate their eggs for infertile patients. The two friends decide to take the offer and donate the eggs. Everything goes on peacefully till they complete their doctorate
Doctorate
A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...
studies and come back to USA. Here their curiosity gets the better of them and they decide to find out what happened to their eggs. With the Wingate Clinic maintaining a strict silence about their working, the two of them decide to use some unfair means to get this information.
Plot summary
Using the help of a hackerHacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
friend, Joanna and Deborah try to break into the online records of Wingate Clinic, but are met with failure as it was a very well-protected system. They then decide to get the inside information by first getting in posing as prospective employees. They use Social Security Number
Social Security number
In the United States, a Social Security number is a nine-digit number issued to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and temporary residents under section 205 of the Social Security Act, codified as . The number is issued to an individual by the Social Security Administration, an independent...
of recently deceased women to forge their identity and get employed in the clinic. Joanna (under the alias of Prudence Heatherly) gets the work as a word processing
Word processing
Word processing is the creation of documents using a word processor. It can also refer to advanced shorthand techniques, sometimes used in specialized contexts with a specially modified typewriter.-External links:...
employee while Deborah (under the alias of Georgina Marks) get a job of a lab assistant.
In order to get access to the high security data, they steal the Access Card of Wingate Clinic's owner, Spencer Wingate by giving him an overdose of liquor. Using the Access Card, they gain (un)authorized entry into the Server Room
Server room
A server room is a room that houses mainly computer servers. In information technology circles, the term is generally used for smaller arrangements of servers; larger groups of servers are housed in data centers...
, from where the records are managed. Unfortunately for them, as all movements into the Server Room as well as the changes made in the file system are logged, their identity gets revealed. In parallel, they find out that while Joanna was subjected to organ theft
Organ theft
Organ harvesting refers to the removal, preservation and use of human organs and tissue from the bodies of the recently deceased to be used in surgical transplants on the living...
, the Clinic illegally performs ovary culture (on stem cells) on all the stolen eggs as well as uses many workers as surrogate mothers.
From here starts the chase where the Wingate Clinic's officers try to kill the women and they try to save their lives and bring Wingate's ill-deeds to the knowledge of the world.
The novel has an open-ending, leaving the readers to guess what happens to the villain
Villain
A villain is an "evil" character in a story, whether a historical narrative or, especially, a work of fiction. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters...
s in the end.
Characters in "Shock"
- Deborah Cochrane – main character (alias of Georgina Marks)
- Joanna Meissner – main character (alias of Prudence Heatherly)
- Carlton Williams – Joanna's boyfriend (becomes ex')
Major themes
The major theme of the book is the issue of cloningCloning
Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
and organ theft
Organ theft
Organ harvesting refers to the removal, preservation and use of human organs and tissue from the bodies of the recently deceased to be used in surgical transplants on the living...
as possible unethical means left unchecked by society to give a chance for people to make quick money. Although the author himself doesn't specifically mention this, the message from this book is clear that the author considers it wrong for people to use these means. The author uses this as a creative possibility for a thriller medical science fiction novel.
The other creative possibility used by the author as a new method of doing fraud is identity theft
Identity theft
Identity theft is a form of stealing another person's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name...
, although in this novel, the author specifically uses the possibility of identity theft from recently deceased people whose records don't get updated quickly.