Review of A Case of Need
When everyone else accuses the innocent because they fit the needs to be a scapegoat, do you stand by and let it happen or do you stand up and demand the truth, whether it is conforms to social policies of not? Set in modern day Boston, Michael Crichton’s A Case of Need explores this question through the eyes of Doctor John Berry. When his friend Arthur Lee is accused of killing a woman even though he swears he is innocent, no one stands up for him because of his dealings. Berry however challenges society by pursuing the truth. What begins as a quest to free his friend, Berry’s journey suddenly comes in conflict with the old families of Boston, raising the question of does the apple really fall near the tree? Preconceptions will be shattered, lies will be exposed, and a whole community will be turned upside down all because of one girl. Readers will feel the desperation Berry feels as what seems like the whole world stands against him, and they will all release a cheer whenever he prevails and keeps trudging on. True to form, Crichton makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up with each interrogation of a new suspect and will have you flying through pages at the dramatic conclusion. Using the dramatic effects of mystery similar to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series, Berry explains the evidence in the same all knowing way.