As these students complete their three-month surgical rotation, the dilemmas and problems faced by a woman in a male-dominated profession are also highlighted.

Susan notices that two patients, Nancy Greenly and Sean Berman, mysteriously went into comas immediately after their surgeries.

She discovers that the oxygen line to Operating Room 8 has been tampered with to induce carbon monoxide poisoning in patients during surgery, ultimately causing brain death.

After unraveling further details, and evading pursuit by a man hired to kill her, Susan is led to the Jefferson Institute.

Stark confronts Susan over her findings, then drugs her, intending to put her in an irreversible coma under the pretext of an appendectomy.

After Cook's first book failed to sell well, he studied the common ingredients of bestsellers and felt that for an unknown writer, mystery thrillers had the best chance of success.

[3] Coma's literary awards and acclaims include a long tenure on the New York Times Best Seller list, reaching its high position of #6 in the fiction category.