Author | Michael Crichton (writing as Jeffery Hudson) |
---|---|
Language | English |
Genre | Mystery novel, Medical thriller |
Published | 1968 |
Publisher | World Publishing Co. |
Publication place | United States |
Media type | Print (Hardcover) |
Pages | 243 |
LC Class | PS3553.R48 |
Preceded by | Easy Go |
Followed by | Zero Cool |
A Case of Need is a medical thriller/mystery novel written by Michael Crichton, his fourth novel and the only under the pseudonym Jeffery Hudson. It was first published in 1968 by The World Publishing Company (New York) and won an Edgar Award in 1969. [1]
The novel was adapted into the 1972 film The Carey Treatment , and the book was re-released in 1993 under Crichton's own name. The novel tackles the issues of abortion and racism as they were in late 1960s America.
Dr. John Berry, the protagonist, is a pathologist working in Boston during the 1960s, a time when abortion was illegal in the United States. The story opens with an introduction of the various requirements and challenges of the medical profession during the era. Subsequently, Dr. Berry is notified that his friend, an obstetrician named Arthur Lee, has been arrested and accused of performing an illegal abortion that led to the death of Karen Randall, a member of a prominent Boston medical dynasty. Berry does not believe the allegations, but the situation is further complicated by the fact that Lee is already well-known within the medical community as an abortion provider and that Berry has in the past helped Lee disguise medical samples to hide the fact that Lee's dilation and curettage patients were pregnant.
After visiting his friend in jail, Berry sets out to prove Lee's innocence. He investigates the personal life of the dead woman, creating an accurate portrait of her past, psychology, and character. During his search, which lasts several days, vandals attack Lee's home. The protagonist's knowledge of medicine and law are helpful in overcoming various barriers in his search, including a hostile police captain and bribes from the scion of the Randall family itself: Karen's father, a well-established (though mediocre) doctor.
Eventually, with the aid of an unscrupulous lawyer named Wilson, Berry is able to obtain solid evidence showing Karen Randall's uncle (who had already performed three previous abortions for her) to be the culprit. Nonetheless, Berry is troubled by this conclusion and continues his investigation despite Wilson's displeasure. Eventually, he discovers that Karen's drug-dealing friends, Roman and Angela, performed the botched abortion, but Berry is attacked and sent to the hospital before he can reveal his discovery. Subsequently, Berry's attacker, who turns out to be Karen's African-American boyfriend, is also brought in an ambulance, dead after a fatal fall. The actual abortion care provider attempts to commit suicide. Berry forces her to confess in the hospital by threatening her with what she believes is an excruciatingly painful dose of Nalorphine (but is actually water).
Berry continues to be suspicious about Karen's boyfriend's death, and ultimately forces one of his old friends and colleagues (the uncle of the woman who did Karen's abortion) to admit to his involvement before turning him in to the police. However, despite being proven innocent, Lee's reputation has been ruined, and he decides to move to California. The novel ends with several appendices describing some lesser-known aspects of the medical profession and a postscript discussing current problems in medicine, including abortion.
Crichton had published several novels under the pseudonym John Lange but felt since this one was more serious than the Lange books it needed to come out under a different name. He planned to write further Jeffrey Hudson books about medical fiction, but this did not come about. [2] The pen name Jeffrey Hudson came from the name of a dwarf in the time of King Charles I of England, who was served to the monarch in a pie and later captured by Barbary Pirates. [3]
The novel was republished in hardcover under Crichton's name in 1993. Crichton was furious at this, called the action "despicable", and said it misled the public into thinking it was a new novel. [4]
Dr. John Michael Crichton was an American author, screenwriter and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavily feature technology and are usually within the science fiction, techno-thriller, and medical fiction genres. Crichton's novels often explore human technological advancement and attempted dominance over nature, both with frequently catastrophic results; many of his works are cautionary tales, especially regarding themes of biotechnology. Several of his stories center specifically around themes of genetic modification, hybridization, paleontology and/or zoology. Many feature medical or scientific underpinnings, reflective of his own medical training and scientific background.
Abortion in Canada is legal throughout pregnancy and is publicly funded as a medical procedure under the combined effects of the federal Canada Health Act and provincial health-care systems. However, access to services and resources varies by region. While some restrictions exist, Canada is one of the few nations with no criminal restrictions on abortion. Abortion is subject to provincial healthcare regulatory rules and guidelines for physicians. No province offers abortion on request at 24 weeks and beyond, although there are exceptions for certain medical complications.
Congo is a 1980 science fiction novel by Michael Crichton, the fifth under his own name and the fifteenth overall. The novel centers on an expedition searching for diamonds and investigating the mysterious deaths of a previous expedition in the dense tropical rainforest of the Congo. Crichton calls Congo a lost world novel in the tradition founded by Henry Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines, featuring the mines of that work's title.
Congo is a 1995 American science fiction action-adventure film based on the 1980 novel by Michael Crichton. It was directed by Frank Marshall and stars Laura Linney, Dylan Walsh, Ernie Hudson, Grant Heslov, Joe Don Baker and Tim Curry. The film was released on June 9, 1995, by Paramount Pictures and tells the story of an expedition team and a mountain gorilla owned by one of its members who go to the Congo jungles to find a missing expedition and the ruins of an ancient civilization where diamonds might be located while encountering the gray gorillas that lurk near there.
An abortion clinic or abortion provider is a medical facility that provides abortions. Such clinics may be public medical centers, private medical practices or nonprofit organizations such as Planned Parenthood.
Anti-abortion violence is violence committed against individuals and organizations that perform abortions or provide abortion counseling. Incidents of violence have included destruction of property, including vandalism; crimes against people, including kidnapping, stalking, assault, attempted murder, and murder; and crimes affecting both people and property, as well as arson and terrorism, such as bombings.
Illegal operation was a widely understood euphemism for induced abortion used in the 19th and 20th centuries in Anglophone countries including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. "Performing an illegal operation" could also be a criminal charge and/or the listed cause for the revocation of the medical license of an abortion provider. The term was one of a number of euphemisms pertaining to sex, pregnancy, and childbirth.
Ann Trow Lohman , better known as Madame Restell, was a British-born American abortion provider and midwife who practiced in New York City.
The Funhouse is a 1980 novelization by American author Dean Koontz, based on a Larry Block screenplay, which was made into the 1981 film The Funhouse, directed by Tobe Hooper. As the film production took longer than expected, the book was released before the film.
George Richard Tiller was an American physician and abortion provider from Wichita, Kansas. He gained national attention as the medical director of Women's Health Care Services, which, at the time, was one of only three abortion clinics nationwide that provided late-term abortions.
The Carey Treatment is a 1972 American crime thriller film directed by Blake Edwards and starring James Coburn, Jennifer O'Neill, Dan O'Herlihy and Pat Hingle. The film was based on the 1968 novel A Case of Need credited to Jeffery Hudson, a pseudonym for Michael Crichton. Like Darling Lili and Wild Rovers before this, The Carey Treatment was heavily edited without help from Edwards by the studio into a running time of one hour and 41 minutes; these edits were later satirized in his 1981 black comedy S.O.B..
Odds On is Michael Crichton's first published novel. It was released in 1966 under the pseudonym of John Lange. It is a short 215-page paperback novel. Hard Case Crime republished the novel under Crichton's name on November 19, 2013. Prior to the reissue, copies were rare and hard to find. Since then even the reissue is becoming scarce, with few copies available on sources such as bookfinder or ebay.
Scratch One is Michael Crichton's second novel to be published, as well as the second novel to be under his pseudonym John Lange. It was released in 1967 under the pseudonym of John Lange. It is a short 192-page paperback novel. Hard Case Crime republished the novel under Crichton's name on October 29, 2013.
Easy Go is Michael Crichton's third published novel, as well as the third to feature his pen name John Lange. It was released in 1968 under the pseudonym of John Lange. Re-released in 1974 by Bantam Books as The Last Tomb. Hard Case Crime republished the novel under Crichton's name on October 29, 2013.
The Venom Business is Michael Crichton's seventh published novel, and the fifth under his pseudonym John Lange. It was released in 1969 by The World Publishing Company under the pseudonym of John Lange. It was the first hard cover book from Lange.
Abortion in Russia is legal as an elective procedure up to the 12th week of pregnancy, and in special circumstances at later stages. In 2009, Russia reported 1.2 million abortions, out of a population of 143 million people. In 2020, Russia had decreased its number of abortions to 450 thousand.
Grave Descend is a novel written by Michael Crichton, his tenth published novel, and the seventh featuring the pseudonym John Lange. It was originally published in 1970, and later re-released in 2006 as part of the Hard Case Crime series. For this release, Michael Crichton did an overall revision of the text. The novel was nominated for the Edgar Award in 1971. Hard Case Crime republished the novel under Crichton's name on October 29, 2013.
Drug of Choice is a novel written by Michael Crichton, as his eighth published novel, and the sixth to feature his pseudonym John Lange. It was originally published in 1970. Hard Case Crime republished the novel under Crichton's name in November 2013.
Pursuit is a 1972 American made-for-television drama film that screened on the ABC network as an ABC Movie of the Week. It was Michael Crichton's first work as a director, though his theatrical directorial debut would not premiere until the following year. It is based on Crichton's 1972 novel Binary, which he published under the pseudonym John Lange.
Zero Cool is Michael Crichton's fifth published novel, and the fourth to feature his pseudonym John Lange. It was released in 1969.