Michael Crichton A Case of Need

Last updated: April 2, 2024


Michael Crichton A Case of Need

We looked at the top Thriller Novels and dug through the reviews from some of the most popular review sites. Through this analysis, we've determined the best Thriller Novel you should buy.

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Product Details

In our analysis of 59 expert reviews, the Michael Crichton A Case of Need placed 10th when we looked at the top 10 products in the category. For the full ranking, see below.

From The Manufacturer

In the tightly knit world of Boston medicine, the Randall family reigns supreme. When heart surgeon J. D. Randall’s teenage daughter dies during a botched abortion, the medical community threatens to explode. Was it malpractice? A violation of the Hippocratic Oath? Or was Karen Randall murdered in cold blood? The natural suspect is Arthur Lee, a brilliant surgeon and known abortionist, who has been carrying out the illegal procedure with the help of pathologist John Berry. After Karen dies, Lee is thrown in jail on a murder charge, and only Berry can prove his friend wasn’t the one who wielded the scalpel. Behind this gruesome death, Berry will uncover a secret that would shock even the most hardened pathologist. An Edgar Award–winning novel by the author of such blockbusters as The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park—and creator of the long-running NBC drama ER—A Case of Need is a “superb” medical-thriller mystery (Los Angeles Times).

Expert Reviews


What reviewers liked

Not for the lavender and Lavoris readership of Dr. Kildare, but in its drastic fashion quite, quite readable.
A Case of Need is powerful, compelling, informative, and suspenseful—classic Crichton at his best.
Despite these issues, A Case of Need is a compelling, worthwhile, and exceedingly readable piece of fiction, dealing with controversial subject matter without resorting to condescension or binary choices.

What reviewers didn't like

All this is not to say that this work is without flaws. Dialogue, at times, veers into the overly expository. More egregiously, the book begins to suffer from new character fatigue slightly over halfway through the narrative.
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