A Case of Need
- 348
- Pages
- about 6 h
- Reading time
- Film 1972
- On screen
Affiliate link: buying through it supports BookRank at no extra cost to you.
Our view
“A Case of Need” is an early Michael Crichton medical thriller that still holds up as a sharp, quick-moving mystery. Crichton published it in 1968 as Jeffery Hudson, his only book under that name, and it won an Edgar Award a year later. Some readers note how dated its world now feels, starting with abortion still being illegal, yet enjoy it as a solid thriller all the same.
The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.
About the book
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 and won an Edgar Award in 1969.
On screen
This book has been adapted for the screen once.
- FilmThe Carey TreatmentIMDb
Adaptation data: Wikidata · On screen →
Where the score comes from
The sources average 6.5 across 64 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 30% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Thriller average of 7.6. That is how 7.3 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 6.3 | 7 | 11% |
| Hardcover | 6.5 | 57 | 89% |
Frequently asked
How long is A Case of Need?
It has 348 pages — shorter than 74% of the ranked books in Thriller.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Thriller — with scores between 7.3 and 7.4, closest to this book.
