April 11, 2016

A Case of Need by Michael Crichton

Title:  A Case of Need
Author:  Michael Crichton (writing as Jeffery Hudson)
Pages:  416
Genre:  Medical Mystery / Thriller
Publisher:  Signet, 1968
Series:  Stand Alone

Synopsis: A Case of Need is Michael Crichton's award-winning debut novel, written shortly after he completed his medical internship. Set against the ever-building pressure and pace of a large Boston medical center, the tensions flare-and explode - when a surgical operation tragically ends in death, raising countless questions. Was it accidental malpractice? A violation of the Hippocratic oath? Or cold-blooded murder?
"There they are," Art said, "dying on the highways at the rate of about eighty a day. Everybody accepts it as a fact of life. So who's going to care about 14 women who die every day of abortions?"
Review:  Less than 24 hours to finish this book.  It was fabulous, impossible to put down.  Think John Grisham at his best, only about doctors instead of lawyers.

Set in the days when abortion was illegal in all but a very few states, a doctor is accused of doing an illegal abortion....and the patient died as a result.  Dr. John Berry, a pathologist and former police officer, must solve this mystery before his friend, Dr. Art Lee, is tried and sent to prison for a crime he didn't commit.

This is an inside view of hospitals at the time and the doctors who worked there.  There is so much information on the medical field and how doctors think, which made it very interesting.  It's also slam-packed with excitement and mystery.  I was so sure I knew who was to blame.....and I was wrong.  I loved this book!!

Michael Crichton proves again why he is one of my favorite authors with this one.  I'm not sure it was his first novel, although the synopsis says it is.  Still, it was one of his first and it was great!

Rating:  10 / 10

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