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3.48 AVERAGE
3.48 AVERAGE
"You might get off," I said, "with self-defense."
"Yes," he said, very slowly, "I might."
I didn't realize this was one of Michael Crichton's first books, his first medical thriller. I first thought it was a film noire style book not just an old book from 1969!
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
I read this book years and years ago and it was definitely four stars for me then. I think I connected a lot with how this novel was a turning point for Crichton, who had written it under a pseudonym because he was still practicing medicine at the time. It was the novel that made him decide to leave medicine (which he had hated) and become a writer full time. And as a young woman I think the story of illegal abortions really impacted me, but rereading it now I realize I've been remembering the ending very differently. Still, an excellent early novel.
I did like this book. Not the best, but it had a lot to do with the medical profession and I enjoyed that. Crichton is a doctor himself, so he knows what he's talking about.
This book was free on Amazon Prime and I was waiting for my hold books to come into the library, so I gave it a try. Turns out it is Crichton's first book! Pretty good for a first book, although definitely not perfect. It was a good fast read though.
This was Michael Crichton's first published work, at the age of 26, written shortly after his graduation from Harvard Medical School. I found it to be a fairly straight forward and fairly tame medical thriller by today's standards but at the time of its publication, it might well have been more cutting edge.
The protagonist is a pathologist working in a large Boston hospital who comes to the defense of a friend who has been accused of murder via a failed abortion procedure. It's one man against the establishment, so to speak, and Crichton uses the setting and the plot to show off his medical knowledge. Almost too much at times for it seemed to get in the way of the story occassionally. There are even footnotes throughout as well as a multi-subject appendix that further explains the terms and the history of medical practice. It is, however, dated; the medical landscape and state of technology has obviously changed a lot in the last 43 years. But I found the plot to be interesting and a harbinger of the "scientific thriller" style that the author would come to perfect in later novels.
The novel also attempts to deal with some controversial medical topics such as abortion and euthanasia although Crichton is careful to maintain a sort of neutrality and allow his characters to have divergent opinions. All in all, a reasonably good medical thriller that probably won't set your world on fire but should serve to provide some light escapist entertainment.
The protagonist is a pathologist working in a large Boston hospital who comes to the defense of a friend who has been accused of murder via a failed abortion procedure. It's one man against the establishment, so to speak, and Crichton uses the setting and the plot to show off his medical knowledge. Almost too much at times for it seemed to get in the way of the story occassionally. There are even footnotes throughout as well as a multi-subject appendix that further explains the terms and the history of medical practice. It is, however, dated; the medical landscape and state of technology has obviously changed a lot in the last 43 years. But I found the plot to be interesting and a harbinger of the "scientific thriller" style that the author would come to perfect in later novels.
The novel also attempts to deal with some controversial medical topics such as abortion and euthanasia although Crichton is careful to maintain a sort of neutrality and allow his characters to have divergent opinions. All in all, a reasonably good medical thriller that probably won't set your world on fire but should serve to provide some light escapist entertainment.
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No