Book 195: A Case of Need by Michael Crichton

Last week, I mentioned this book to my boss and told him I thought it was one of Michael Crichton's last books written before he died. I was completely wrong: this was one of the first books Crichton ever wrote - and in fact, he wrote it when he was still in medical school.

The book was a quick read, but a good one. It is the story of a pathologist (someone who figures out what kind of illness or cancer or infection a patient has based on evidence) that finds out that a colleague has been arrested on charges of performing an illegal abortion... because the patient died of a hemorrhage. He knows his colleague is innocent of the charges and decides to stretch the boundaries of his job description a bit to solve a murder and clear his friend's name.

I am the Ardent Reader, and I am very fussy about the books I read. I start and put down more than I finish, just because I know life is short and my bookshelf is stuffed with books I must finish before I die. I tell you this because I don't often find books that are as intense and engaging as this one - and it hooked me from the very first page. I don't want to spoil the book for you, but I'll tell you one thing: it definitely had momentum... and a ton of twists. And, like most Michael Crichton books, A Case of Need was filled with all kinds of real science, so I learned a thing or two along the way.

There were some hints here and there that the story was not set in today's modern healthcare setting. For one, the doctors all smoked inside and stowed flasks in their desk drawers. Abortion was also illegal in this book, so I knew it had to be set sometime before Roe v. Wade. In fact, Crichton wrote this book in 1969, which I didn't find out until the end. 

A Case of Need was available on Amazon Prime Reading, so I borrowed it for nothing! I hope you'll put it on your list of books to read. I found it fascinating.

Book 188: Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton (Audiobook)

Well now that I've got my blog back, I thought I'd review one of the five or six books I've read during the month of May. 😉  I'll start with the most recent since it's fresh in my brain.

Eaters of the Dead was my first introduction to - well - anything Norse. It's part fiction, part fable, and it's a pretty entertaining book. The audio version - read by one of my favorite narrators, Simon Vance, is awesome.

It's the story of Ibn Fadlan, who was a scholar and a traveler in the tenth century. He's one of the writers that captured the state of the Norsemen and their tribes in historical accounts. He was an outsider, which made his observations on their rituals and behavior all the more poignant.

Ibn Fadlan was sent by the caliph of Baghdad to deliver a message to king in a faraway land. During his travels he was united with the Vikings and kept a firsthand account of his interactions with them. He discussed the way they ate to the way they copulated and everything in between. Anyone who is fussy about their own cleanliness will enjoy this book, as Ibn Fadlan is truly disgusted many times over in this book. I laughed a few times at his reaction to certain standard Viking practices. He also emerges from the experience a different, more resilient person.

The Eaters of the Dead contains a theory that the "monsters" discussed in Ibn Fedlan's account could actually be the last remaining Neanderthals. I hadn't heard of this theory before. Since we don't know for sure, I sort of feel like, "Well, why not?"

I really liked this book and I'd listen to it again in an instant.