Mystery/SuspenseLarge Print Edition* A New York Times Bestseller* A Literary Guild Main SelectionFrom the undisputed master of the medical thriller comes the story of a deadly epidemic a terrifying cautionary tale for the millennium. After a series of outbreaks of virulent and extremely lethal illnesses, including a rare strain of influenza, hits only clinics and hospitals owned by a certain corporation, forensic pathologist Dr. John Stapleton becomes suspicious. Could this company be engaged in a systematic elimination of its more costly members? Contagion anticipates some of the uncharted donsequences of managed health care in an age when even the wariest consumer could be at risk. It is Robin Cook at his unerring best.