A Case of Need was Michael Crichton's first novel and it showed. The book was decent, but it lacked the polish of his later work. I was interested, but not engrossed and could have put it down and never missed finishing it. Forgettable. ( )

Typical Michael Crichtom; tecnical with a dense of danger. Story about abortion and doctors in Boston. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )

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. ( )

This was published in the late 60's under a pen name, and is a treatise and investigation into abortion and the times as well as being one hell of a good read. My favorite line comes from one of the appendices (and yes, it has footnotes and appendices, but don't let that put you off -- they are witty as well as informative).

Immersion into a compelling and interesting story. ( )

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. ( )

The only one of his I remotely liked. ( )

Thought-provoking story, full of suspense... ( )

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. ( )

#14, 2005

Read this book today, almost in one sitting. Not Crichton's best, but it was a nicely paced little murder mystery. A young woman (who happens to have a powerful and well-respected father) dies of complications from an illegal abortion, and a doctor (who is known to be an abortionist) is blamed. When that doctor swears he didn't perform the procedure, a pathologist friend of his decides to sleuth around and uncover the truth. I did have a moment of "huh?" at first, because of the "illegal" abortion issue. Is this some weird alternate reality story? Then I checked the original publication date - 1968. Five years before Roe vs. Wade. ::nods:: That explains that. I was so young when that happened, in my memory abortion has always been legal. Interesting to consider the question from this angle. This book didn't keep me on the edge of my seat, but it did keep me turning the pages. Not bad. ( )

This ranks # 11 of 17 in my list of favorite Michael Crichton books that I own.