Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Unavailable
    A Case of Need: A Novel
    Unavailable
    A Case of Need: A Novel
    Unavailable
    A Case of Need: A Novel
    Audiobook9 hours

    A Case of Need: A Novel

    Written by Michael Crichton and Jeffery Hudson

    Narrated by Nick Podehl

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Boston 1968

    When one doctor is accused of murder, it takes another to set him free.

    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.

    A Case of Need was adapted to the screen as The Carey Treatment, directed by Blake Edwards and starring James Coburn.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateAug 4, 2015
    ISBN9781501216251
    Unavailable
    A Case of Need: A Novel
    Author

    Michael Crichton

    Michael Crichton (1942-2008) was the author of the ground-breaking novels The Great Train Robbery, Jurassic Park, Disclosure, Prey, State of Fear and Next, among many others. Crichton’s books have sold more than 200 million copies worldwide, have been translated into thirty-eight languages, and provided the basis for thirteen feature films. Also known as a filmmaker and creator of ER, he remains the only writer to have a number one book, movie, and TV show in the same year.

    More audiobooks from Michael Crichton

    Related to A Case of Need

    Related audiobooks

    General Fiction For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Reviews for A Case of Need

    3.5/5

    617 ratings27 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      When a young woman dies mysteriously on the operating table and her physician is charged with murder, his colleague is drawn into a world of sex and drugs in order to clear his name. I liked this story although the ending was a little hard to follow. I give it a B+!
    • 4/5
      A Stimulating Story that kept my interest. A Case of Need is a stimulating story that kept my interest and I found that it was hard to put down. It educated s on some of the arguments for both sides of the abortion issue while maintaining a very good story line and character set. The plot revolves around who performed an illegal abortion on a girl from an affluent family. As you read on you that the abortion killed the girl, so the person who performed the abortion is guilty of murder. For medical thriller fans I would highly recommend this book.
    • 5/5
      Excellent story and author. I thoroughly enjoyed the book. Could not put it down. Like candy.
    • 4/5
      Immersion into a compelling and interesting story.
    • 4/5
      Thought-provoking story, full of suspense...
    • 5/5
      What a great look back into the medical profession fifty years ago. A topic which has great relevance in 2022.
      5Xs on Special Agent Fox Mulder X-Files scale
      1X hoax ------3unsure-----5Xconfirmed
    • 5/5
      This book was penned in 1968. Released again in the 1990s. In reading this book over the last two weeks, I find that the Contant and main theme are still incredibly relevant. As our nation faces a political decision as to whether abortion should be legal or not, this books insights into both a patient and doctor perspectives provides a thoughtful pause for those who read it. While not a tome to preach or emphasize one side or the other, this book does give one a purpose to pause, to dwell, and to consider both sides. Definitely worth a read!
    • 5/5
      This is one of my all-time favorite books I love this audiobooks a great compelling story
    • 3/5
      Started so well and so excitingly that I think I expected too much. The ending left me high and dry, or probably just the way it was written. 10/10 for the narrator, excellently voicing the characters and situations.
    • 5/5
      Classic Crichton; carefully written, thoroughly researched, human characters all providing an excellent read. The book, copyrighted in 2003 which meant probably written in 2001 or 2002, examines the abortion question which, at that time was thoroughly illegal. Crichton makes a strong case for reversing that but without tendentiousness. It is interesting to note how the public view of the operation has changed in the 11 year span from the publishing of this book.
    • 5/5
      Very good book. Recommend to those who like deep mysteries
    • 5/5
      Oh, if only his later novels were this good! Seriously, this is the goods. If you’re a Crichton fan, read this. Avoid ‘State of Fear’ and ‘Next’ at all costs.
    • 3/5
      Early Crichton novel, from 1968, shows promise but is a tangle of too many characters, late surprise revelations that really don’t have anything to do with the main plot thread, and an up-in-the-air ending with the protagonist, after 400 pages of dogged investigation, seeming to just walk away from the final reveal.

      Essentially, it’s the story of a doctor who is falsely accused of performing an illegal abortion that results in the death of a young woman from a prominent family. The protagonist, a friend of the accused, sets out to determine what really happened, and uncovers a coiling nest of prominent people with dirty secrets. It’s not a bad story, but it’s certainly the first novel I’ve ever read with footnotes. Somebody apparently thought it would be a good idea to footnote virtually every medical term used in the text – a disruptive and largely unnecessary step.

      It’s a compelling read until the last quarter of the book, when the cast of characters reaches critical mass and the reader really has trouble remembering who was what and how they all tie together.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      Dr. John Berry, a pathologist, is interrupted at work by a call from his wife: Dr. Arthur Lee, an obstetrician friend of theirs, is in jail. John goes to see him and finds out what happened. Karen Randall, the daughter of a wealthy family, was brought into a hospital by her mother after an illegal abortion, bleeding profusely. She died, and Karen's mother claimed that Dr. Lee had done the abortion. Although he tells John that he did indeed speak to Karen, he hadn't performed the abortion - in fact, he'd turned her away, telling her that, at four months, she was too far along and he couldn't do it. She'd seemed to accept this and left, but clearly she'd gone to someone else instead.Unfortunately, Dr. Lee makes a good scapegoat. He's half Chinese, so racism is a factor, and it won't take much work to uncover that he does, in fact, perform abortions (and people like John and other doctors helped him hide it). It won't matter to anyone but John and Dr. Lee's wife that he didn't perform this particular abortion. John figures that if he doesn't try to find out the truth, no one will.This is one of the works on Rep. Matt Krause's list of books he wanted banned from Texas schools. It caught my eye for several reasons - the author, how old it was, and overall how odd it was to see it on the list. From what I can tell, it isn't YA fiction and was never marketed as such, although that's not to say it wouldn't appeal to teens. Still, if a school library has this in their collection, I'm guessing it's a pretty good indicator that they're sorely in need of funds for new books.Anyway, it's pretty obvious that it ended up on the list because of its frank discussion of abortion. It even includes an appendix that lays out the arguments for and against abortion, at the time this book was written, and it's clear that Crichton considered the former to be stronger and more convincing than the latter. However, it's also clear that Rep. Krause didn't read all the books he included in his list, because one could argue that the text itself had anti-abortion aspects in the way Karen was written and John's surprising inability to explain the word "abortionist" to Dr. Lee's young son in a way that didn't make it sound like a terrible thing.The story had a very noir feel to it. It was written in first person, from John's POV, and I often found myself thinking that he read like an old school detective who happened to know a lot of medical jargon. There was even a scene in which he followed a guy around for a bit, like some kind of private investigator. And a surprising number of people talked to him and told him everything he needed to know, even though literally no one was required to tell him anything.The mystery was extremely convoluted and confusing - I kept forgetting who everyone was, since the primary identifying characteristic of most of them was that they were male doctors. While it kept my attention, it didn't come together in a satisfying way in the end. I was left with a bunch of questions about details that were never fully addressed. I'm still not sure if I missed something, or if Crichton really did just opt not to explain the various odd details that John kept coming across and puzzling over. I finished this feeling like I'd read maybe 95% of a book, as though the chapter that was supposed to tie everything together was left out.This wasn't necessarily a horrible reading experience, but it did come across as extremely dated. The casual racism grated on my nerves, and it was amazing how few women had speaking roles considering this was a book dealing with an issue that primarily affects women. I did appreciate that it dealt with abortion almost entirely from a medical perspective, although the revelations about Karen possibly undermined that somewhat. Characters' opinions on abortion weren't always clear, but one thing the book never wavered on was the safety factor: abortions performed by trained doctors in medical facilities are safer than both amateur abortions and giving birth.In case this wasn't already clear: This book is absolutely not for anyone who has phobias about going to the doctor, and not just because of the graphic descriptions of what happened to Karen. Pretty much all of the doctors were horrible in some way - arrogant, misogynistic, sleazy, etc. It's one thing to know intellectually that doctors are imperfect and human like everyone else, and another thing entirely to have all the ugliness on-page.Extras:Various footnotes throughout explaining some of the medical jargon. Also, six appendices: "Delicatessen Pathologists" (explains why some pathologists describe diseased organs as though they were food), "Cops and Doctors" (why doctors don't trust police), "Battlefields and Barberpoles" (the link between surgery and war), "Abbreviations," "Whites" (medical uniforms), "Arguments on Abortion," and "Medical Morals."(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
    • 2/5
      Early Critchton that does not sizzle with the energy a few of his others do (_Rising Sun_ still top on my list of his work). Not one of Crichton's best novels - I consider him overrated most of the time.
    • 3/5
      This book was first published in 1968 under the pen name of Jeffrey Hudson. It is a medical mystery written while Crichton was attending Harvard Medical School. I found it interesting to read one of his early novels. These novels were written under various pen names, and until recently, I had not known they existed. I could see the beginnings of his fast paced, very readable writing style. I could also see the beginnings of "ER", the television show he created which I watched faithfully. Crichton weaved many technical medical details into the storyline of this book, and I could see the beginnings of his techno thrillers. I enjoyed the medical references and didn't expect to learn so much from a novel written fifty years ago.The plot left a lot to be desired - especially in the last third of the book where it became very far fetched. Another thing that bothered me was his blatant sexism. For example, there were over a dozen doctors mentioned in the book and not one was a woman. Most of the women in the novel were referred to as "girls". Although the woman's movement was well under way by the time this novel was written, there were plenty of male chauvinists around and Crichton was clearly one of them. While this was not a great novel, I did enjoy it and would recommend it for Michael Crichton fans.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      This was one of the few Michael Crichton novels I hadn't read yet, so I figured that my month of reading suspense & thrillers would be the perfect time to dive in. It's also worth mentioning that I haven't read many medical thrillers either, so I killed two birds with one stone on this one.The story follows John Berry, a pathologist at a Boston hospital, who gets drawn into a medical and legal investigation when the daughter of a prominent Boston family dies in the emergency room after undergoing what appears to be an illegal abortion. (Note: the story was written before Roe v. Wade, when all abortions were still considered illegal and taboo.) Berry's colleague, Art Lee, has been accused of performing the abortion and is awaiting trial. While Berry knows that Lee occasionally performs abortions on the side, he doesn't believe Lee would have let a patient die while under the knife, and he begins his own investigation on the side. But because of the prominence of the victim's family, Berry encounters a lot of resistance to his investigation and quickly discovers that there was more to the story than meets the eye.While no one would argue that this is an accomplished work of literature, it still bears a strong resemblance to Crichton's later novels, particularly in terms of the scientific detail, the fast pace, and the incorporation of social issues to drive the plot, making this a very fast and entertaining read. A small thing I noticed: in this story, Crichton doesn't use many dialogue identifiers (eg. "he said," "she said"). This helped move the story along at a breakneck speed, but it also became a little difficult to follow the thread of the conversation, particularly if you read it as quickly as I did. Characters are hard to differentiate between, but then again, character development was never meant to be one of the story's strong points.Another note: While Crichton uses a lot of scientific terminology, don't let that deter you from trying this book. Crichton excels at making high-tech concepts accessible for the lay person.Recommended for: readers who like breakneck thrillers, medical thrillers, stories that incorporate major social issues into the plot.Readalikes: Anything else that Michael Crichton has written. Andromeda Strain was his first novel written under his actual name and also features much scientific & medical jargon as well as breakneck pacing, although The Andromeda Strain is usually classified more as science fiction as opposed to straight-up thriller. State of Fear is another good choice if you enjoyed the presence of social & political issues within the main story - in this case, global warming is the topic du jour.Robin Cook, a certified master of the medical thriller. Cook's prose is less scientific and straightforward than Crichton's, but he still offers an exciting glimpse into the dramatic and thrilling world of the medical community.Mark Alpert combines action with scientific theory & explanation, creating high-octane and fascinating thrillers that are still accessible for the average reader.
    • 4/5
      1968. I was in college near Boston. One of my housemates, a girl I didn't know well, was pregnant. Her roommate learned that the ex-boyfriend and father, a pre-med student, was planning to perform an amateur abortion. This was 5 years before Roe v. Wade. My housemates, all urban people, were galvanized into action, calling friends and even their mothers to locate a safe abortionist. I really had nothing to contribute except hand-wringing. The girl eventually decided to have the baby, and I think it was given up for adoption as I seem to recall she was back in school during my senior year.
      The following year, in summer, I found a room in an off-campus house. One of my flatmates had taken some time off from school the previous year. It turned out she had had a legal abortion at one of the best hospitals in Boston. You could get one if a panel of three doctors agreed that it was necessary for your health, and mental health counted. Unfortunately something had gone wrong, and she would now be unable to bear children. Since the abortion took place in a hospital, she didn't die.

      For these reasons and a few other stories from women I've known, I was interested immediately in A CASE OF NEED when, looking it up in the library catalog, I saw the tracing "Abortion - Fiction." (I was going to read it anyway as part of my Edgar-winners project.) I brought the book home and started reading it right away. I'm going to give it a rating four stars, because the story certainly pulled me along. But for my tired old eyes, I would have finished it in one sitting.

      Why not five stars -- which was evidently the consensus of the Edgar committee? One reason is that there were some definite plot holes. I can't really describe them for fear of spoilers, but since the story centers around doctors and others performing illegal abortions, I will point out that the three-doctor panel option existed at the time of the book, and is not mentioned. There are several more, which I'm sure any of you who read the book will spot.

      Another reason is Hudson/Crichton's annoying practice of using medical jargon and abbreviations and then FOOTNOTING them! Yes, footnotes in a mystery thriller! I realize that this book preceded /Chicago Hope/ and /ER/, which made us all so conversant with hospital talk, but after all, it did follow /Dr. Kildare /and /Ben Casey/! I haven't read any of Crichton's other books, so I trust this was just a matter of youthful inexperience. I've read many books set in milieus unfamiliar to me, and nearly all the authors have been able to explain unfamiliar terms without resorting to footnotes. Talk about taking the reader out of the story!

      The third reason I have for withholding the fifth star is the evident misogyny of the narrator/protagonist and, I fear, of the author himself. Maybe it's just me, but the way the protagonist interacts with his wife, the nurses, and the other women who come into the story suggested to me that he really didn't believe women were people. Perhaps I'm being unduly harsh and perhaps my view is skewed by having read that Crichton has been married 5 times. I will accept correction if someone believes differently. The character of the narrator is problematic in some other ways as well, again, I can't really explain that without spoilers.

      To be fair, I'm still impressed that Crichton wrote a book this good while studying at Harvard Medical School. In spite of some very dated attitudes, it's still worth reading.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      As with all Michael Crichton's works, you learn a lot of medical terminology as it surrounded the abortion issue. When this was written, abortion protests pro and con were leading to violent confrontations. The subject has been put onm the back burfner today, along with miscegnation and other social issues, doesn't cause such violence in most areas. The book is solid and could best be described as a quiet page-turner.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      A very good medical thriller. Caught me a little off guard I had not realized it was a reprint of a 1968 story Crichton had written under the name Jeffery Hudson I thought it was a little newer and some of the actions of people were definitely not 90's ish. It seems a little sad that in 1968 there were the same problems with abortion as we still have today 40 years later.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      A very early Michael Crichton, written under the name of Jeffrey Hudson, while he was 26 years old. A weak plot, dragged down by his use of footnotes to explain medical terms. Written in '68 and very dated.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      Michael Crichton , a favorite author of mine`s , first book. I have read some favorable amazon reviews but must differ from them. I gave it a 3 rating so I liked it as the book kept my interest and I enjoyed the medical knowledge (or future knowledge when I look up a half-dozen items) it contained. But , the drama of his later books are clearly superior , and I think it is obvious that this is a weaker precursor of greater things to come. Some touted the plot twists , or the writing , or the conclusion as wonderful writing. I didn`t think the plots twisted enough , I thought too many threads were left dangling in the end , and the writing was just solid , not engrossing. That being said , it is still a worthy quick read , that does pose the moral questions of abortion and a glimpse of the social mind 40 yrs ago.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      A good look at the writer that Crichton would grow up to be. Since I was born in 1973 I never knew what it was like before Roe v. Wade, but I am sure that at that time this book was pretty edgy, just as his books today are. I enjoyed this one.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 2/5
      for sure one of his earlier books and not so action packed. interesting but the end leaves you wish for more substance.
    • 2/5
      Prey is a novel that talks about how nano-technology is used by a company to create tiny cameras for the military. On the outset this is harmless except that these cameras are programmed to learn from their past mistakes. This makes them dangerous and imperative to the scientists and programmers to finish them off as soon as possible. But there are more hassles than anyone bargained for.An excellent read for anyone who like science fiction and has dabbled in science sometime at school.
    • 2/5
      So this is apparently Michael Crichton's first book, written back in the late 1960s under a pen name. It wasn't the best written book, I think you could tell it was by a first-time author, but it wasn't too bad. It is basically about some doctors involved in doing abortions before Roe v. Wade, and was mostly interesting to me as a historical piece. It was crazy to see how much scandal and legal problems were caused by these doctors doing abortions in some cases, but also how much the medical community kind of accepted it as well. It was kind of like watching an old movie, in which it is hard to judge a lot of the characters as they live in a world so different from our own (all the doctors had wives who stayed home with the kids, and did whatever their husbands said. LOTS of smoking.) So it was interesting, but I don't say rush out and read it.
    • 2/5
      I had to struggle through this novel. It is an early oeuvre and it shows. In the introduction Crichton virtually apologises for the novel. He explains he “didn’t agonize over whether I was expressing myself; I didn’t worry about art’ I was writing under a pseudonym, at very high speed”. The subject matter was all there as usual, it was the characterisation that was missing. This is a 400 page book that should be 600 pages. I couldn’t empathise with the characters because they were just names. I couldn’t even remember who was who because they were that unmemorable! No really worth seeking out.