Table of Contents
A chilling odyssey into the origins of lifeand death.
USA Weekend
MORTAL FEAR
At a large Boston clinic, a world-class biologist stumbles upon a miraculous discovery, a major scientific breakthrough. Soon, healthy. middle-aged patients are dying of old age. And the ultimate experiment in terror begins ...
Page-turning action ... reaches out and grabs you!
Richmond Times-Dispatch
DR. ROBIN COOK, a graduate of Columbia Medical School, finished his postgraduate medical training at Harvard. He is the author of Shock, Abduction, Vector, Toxin, Chromosome 6, Contagion, and numerous other bestselling novels.
Coast-to-Coast Raves for Robin Cooks thriller
MORTAL FEAR
AN EXCELLENT SUSPENSE NOVEL!
Copley News Service
POPULAR FICTION AT ITS BEST ... fast-paced, thoroughly grounded in fact and peppered with interesting insights ... Robin Cook, a physician, uses the latest medical and scientific data to give the novel an immediacy and power that grabs the reader.
Chattanooga Times
EXCITING ... CERTAIN TO PLEASE COOKS HUGE FOLLOWING.
Kirkus
FASCINATING ... Robin Cook, master of such medical thrillers as Coma and Mindbend, weaves his narrative around a fascinating question recently explored by real researchers: Why do humans age and ultimately die?
Washington Post
A REALISTICALLY FRIGHTENING PICTURE OF THE EVIL POTENTIAL OF GENETIC MANIPULATIONS ... Robin Cook takes his scalpel to the medical profession once again!
Cincinnati Post
FAST-PACED AND ENERGETIC!
The Commercial Appeal
ENGROSSING ... RICH IN POWERFUL IMAGERY ... Cook, a doctor himself, clearly knows his subject!
Chicago Tribune
ROBIN COOK IS AT IT AGAIN ... a definite skill at creating excitement!
Indianapolis News
NO ONE CAN TOP COOK WHEN HES SPINNING HIS MEDICAL MURDER-AND-MYSTERY YARNS!
Marlboro Enterprise/Hudson Daily Sun
HIS BIGGEST WINNER ... EVERY BIT AS GOOD AS COMA ... Cook spins a believable story of greed, corruption and fear that sweeps the reader into a maelstrom of horror ... WELCOME BACK, ROBIN COOK!
Panorama
ENTERTAINING, THOUGHT-PROVOKING, AND INFORMATIVE ... An arresting look at the ethical dilemmas inherent in the practice of genetic engineering.
Dow Jones News
A GUARANTEED BESTSELLER!
San Jose Mercury News
Titles by Robin Cook
SEIZURE
SHOCK
ABDUCTION
FEVER
VECTOR
TOXIN
INVASION
CHROMOSOME 6
CONTAGION
ACCEPTABLE RISK
FATAL CURE
TERMINAL
BLINDSIGHT
VITAL SIGNS
HARMFUL INTENT
MUTATION
MORTAL FEAR
OUTBREAK
MINDBEND
GODPLAYER
BRAIN
SPHINX
COMA
THE YEAR OF THE INTERN
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book could not have been written without the support and encouragement of all my friends who have helped me in a difficult time. You all know who you are, and you all have my heartfelt thanks.
For my older brother, Lee, and
my younger sister, Laurie.
Ive never been between two nicer people.
PROLOGUE
OCTOBER 11, WEDNESDAY P.M.
The sudden appearance of the foreign proteins was the molecular equivalent of the Black Plague. It was a death sentence with no chance of reprieve, and Cedric Harring had no idea of the drama about to happen inside him.
In sharp contrast, the individual cells of Cedric Harrings body knew exactly what disastrous consequences awaited them. The mysterious new proteins that swept into their midst and through their membranes were overwhelming, and the small amounts of enzymes capable of dealing with the newcomers were totally inadequate. Within Cedrics pituitary gland, the deadly new proteins were able to bind themselves to the repressors that covered the genes for the death hormone. From that moment, with the fatal genes exposed, the outcome was inevitable. The death hormone began to be synthetized in unprecedented amounts. Entering the blood-stream, the hormone coursed out into Cedrics body. No cell was immune. The end was only a matter of time. Cedric Harring was about to disintegrate into his stellar elements.
.
The pain was like a white-hot knife starting somewhere in his chest and quickly radiating upward in blinding paroxysms to paralyze his jaw and left arm. Instantly Cedric felt the terror of the mortal fear of death. Cedric Harring had never felt anything like it.
By reflex he gripped the steering wheel of his car more tightly and somehow managed to stay in control of the weaving vehicle as he gasped for breath. Hed just entered Storrow Drive from Berkeley Street in downtown Boston, and had accelerated westward, merging with the maddening Boston traffic. The images of the road swam before him and then receded, as if they existed at the end of a long tunnel.
By sheer strength of will, Cedric resisted the darkness that threatened to engulf him. Gradually, the scene brightened. He was still alive. Instead of pulling over, instinct told him his only chance was to get to a hospital as fast as possible. By lucky coincidence the Good Health Plan Clinic was not too far off. Hold on, he told himself.
Along with the pain came a drenching sweat that started on Cedrics forehead but soon spread to the rest of his body. Sweat stung his eyes, but he dared not loosen his grip on the steering wheel to wipe it away. He exited the highway onto the Fenway, a parklike complex in Boston, as the pain returned, squeezing his chest like a cinch of steel wire. Ahead cars were slowing for a traffic light. He couldnt stop. There was no time. Leaning forward, he depressed the horn and shot through the intersection. Cars went by, missing him by inches. He could see the faces of the startled and enraged drivers. He was now on Park Drive with the Back Bay Fens and the scruffy victory gardens on his left. The pain was constant now, strong and overpowering. He could hardly breathe.
The hospital was ahead on the right, on the previous site of a Sears building. Only a little further. Please.... A large white sign with a red arrow and red letters that said EMERGENCY loomed above.
Cedric managed to drive directly up to the emergency room platform, braking belatedly and crashing into the concrete abutment, He slumped forward, hitting the horn and gasping for breath.
The first person to reach his car was the security guard. He yanked open the door and after a glance at Cedrics frightening pallor yelled for help. Cedric barely choked out the words, Chest pain. The head nurse, Hilary Barton, appeared and called for a gurney. By the time the nurses and the security man had Cedric out of the car, one of the emergency room residents had appeared and helped maneuver him onto the stretcher. His name was Emil Frank and hed been a resident for only four months. A few years previously he would have been called an intern. He too noticed Cedrics cream-colored skin and profuse perspiration.
Diaphoresis, he said with authority. Probably a heart attack.
Hilary rolled her eyes. Of course it was a heart attack. She rushed the patient inside, ignoring Dr. Frank, whod plugged his stethoscope into his ears and was trying to listen to Cedrics heart.
