Chromosome Six

With Robin Cook's signature cutting-edge suspense, Chromosome 6 combines the fast action of a nerve-jangling thriller with the medical possibilities of the all-too-near future.

When notorious underworld leader Carlo Franconi is gunned down, his Mafioso competitors become prime suspects. Suspicions are fuelled when Franconi’s body disappears from the city morgue before it can be autopsied – much to the embarrassment of the authorities, but to the amusement of forensic pathologist Dr Jack Stapleton.

A few days later, the mutilated, unidentifiable body of a ‘floater’ arrives on the autopsy table and Jack himself becomes disturbed by the case. While unidentified bodies routinely make their way to the medical examiner’s office, what rouses Jack’s curiosity is not so much that the body is missing it head, hands and feet – but also its liver.

Aided by his colleague Dr Laurie Montgomery, he identifies the corpse as the missing mobster. But who actually killed Carlo Franconi? And was the killer also responsible for the theft of the corpse and its grisly disfigurement?

Their search for the truth leads them to the steamy jungles of equatorial Africa, where they discover a sinister cabal whose activities include surgical procedures a step beyond the latest in current technology – and a leap beyond accepted medical ethic.

Enjoy more medical mystery thrillers with Contagion, Vector, and Pandemic.