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Rating: CRICHTON BEFORE HE WAS CRICHTON
Somewhere a successful writer must have begun, and this "In Case of Need" is still a Michael Crichton in his formative phase, writing under the pseudonym Jeffrey Hudson.
It is a mystery, but not a detective story (the investigation is conducted by a doctor who turns into a detective to help a friend-colleague) and as he would later offer us in his “adult” works, Crichton unfolds the story around a moral question, in this case the legitimacy of voluntary abortion without profit. To his credit, he does not try to impose his point of view on the reader, but leaves them somewhat “free” to form their own judgment, which is a not insignificant merit.
As for the novel itself, starting from the premise that it is still a youthful work, as well as a medical thriller, it is not exactly free from flaws: the development of the plot is somewhat cumbersome, some of the medico-legal reporting is overly detailed, and the conclusion is a bit too hasty. On the other hand, at this point Jeffrey Hudson has not yet become Michael Crichton, he is 26 years old and only a medical student: so it is better to settle for the good that is given by an overall well-conceived plot with the right twists, supported by consistently sharp dialogues. Considering that the accused is a doctor of Chinese origin, alongside the reflection on the main ethical theme, there is an additional though not irrelevant thread of criticism towards the well-meaning and racist upper class, which obviously goes beyond its Bostonian setting. In short, while waiting for Jurassic Park, here is already the mark of a great popular writer.
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