A Case of Need: A Suspense Thriller

Great, fast, fun, smart read. Also, as always with Crichton, there are excellent medical insights and enough philosophy to keep the mind's deeper aspects from falling sleep in what is really a medical detective thriller. For its genre it was really 4.75 stars for me but I reserve 5 stars for things like All The Light We Cannot See and the like. So 4 stars it is.

Very interesting story. Well written. It kept my interest through out the story. Luckily I am in the medical field so I could understand what was going on but I feel that normal person may have some difficulty keeping track of what is happening.

I may have given this 5 stars however improbable that may seem if it weren't for the constant bibliographical notations on medical or surgical terms or phrases used by the author in assuring the reader of the correct descriptions of events or facts. At the end of every chapter one was then confronted by a glossary of references and terms of explanation used in the telling of the story. In the end I just gave up and did not bother as I knew that Michael Crichton was a Doctor and Lawyer and therefore knew the subject he was describing in the narrative just read. It did not destroy my experience of a good story well-told but was just a bloody nuisance.

For fans of medical fiction and, especially, Michael Crichton, this novel's a winner. My only problem with it is that the original was written long enough ago that some of the medical issues have advanced since then. But, the story is still good.

Anyone would enjoy this novel by one of my favorite authors. But if you have a medical background the read is that much better. If you don't, the author provides definitions at the of each chapter. Kept me guessing.

That was basically it. I really liked the first three quarters of the book--up to the point where Berry first meets with Wilson the lawyer. I was sitting there, with my teeth on edge, waiting for something momentous to happen next, and... it went flat. The ending left waaaaay too many characters just hanging--the father, the stepmother, the other doctors. In general, there were too many of them--doctors Berry meets casually, their names too similarly Anglo-Saxon, their little habits unmemorable--it was difficult to keep up with the names.
What I really liked was the little look into what goes on in the world of medicine--and little hamburger places! I don't think I'll ever have a hamburger again in my life... It was also a fascinating, albeit a harrowing, look into the time when the rich women in this country were sent to have their abortions to Puerto Rico, and the poor ones--down dark alleys.

This novel did not feel like an Michale Crichton novel. It started with a great expectations but ultimately ends on a drug driven act. May be the fact and it might be true. But a bit disappointing Crichton novel.

the book was very poorly loaded to my kindle. There were pages of different type face and each of thos pages was at a different part of the book. Could not possibly follow story line. A very messy job at best and I should be given a refund if you're at all responsible. Mary Heisserman

I will certainly pass this infor on to friends

When I first saw the notice that these books were written before Michael Crichton became THE Michael Crichton, I was a little skeptical. He's a little heavy on the medical jargon, but he explains himself well and defines his terms so it makes sence. Good "Who done it?" Dated in the '60s before cell phones and everybody smoked cigarettes. I recommend it! Now I'm going to read the next one!

This book is unusual because the pathologist has no experience in criminal investigation. But he is certain his friend, an OB-GYN, is charged with murder after a teen dies from a botched abortion. Her Stepmother claims the girl told her it was done by him. The OBGYN insists he did not perform the abortion. The case is further complicated by evidence that indicates the girl was not pregnant.

Once again author Crighton hits it out of the park with a timeless work that takes us back to the early days of the abortion issue. Well written, as usual, with enough technical medical depth to satisfy the physicians among us.

Creighton is always reliable to give a great read! I love to escape and relax with him after a stressful week. Yet, he always gives me something to ponder in the days following conclusion of the book.

I really enjoyed this book, perfect description of the different "medical personalities" very accurate descriptions, It took me back to my early hospital days. A real page turner. Lo e this Crickton phase.

although this was written almost 50 years and some of the medical info behind story is a bit dated there was still plenty of suspense and conflict; one thing that has not changed much is that doctors look out for themselves sometimes at the expense of patients

Definitely not Crighton's best work and the medical references are at times tedious, and don't really help the story along. But it's consistent enough to make you wonder who did it, and why. Although the plot doesn't lead you along the investigative path of the protagonist. In other words, it's a story you're being told, not one you feel becoming part of.

Enjoyed it a great deal. Stories that reflect clash of medical ethics, the law and common sense can be compelling. Prior to abortion becoming legal a doctor is arrested when a young woman dies following an abortion. Was he arrested because she died? Because he preformed an abortion? Or because the deceased woman was from an important family? Maybe all three. Would the doctor be arrested if she was an unknown? Told in first person by the close friend of the doctor now in jail. The storyteller is also a doctor and uses his diagnostic problem solving skills as a pathologist to find out just what happened.
Some books have great character development. Some have a riveting story line and some are written by a supremely talented author. This has all three. For anyone not old enough to have lived at that time it is a revelation to witness the change in American culture.