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chaz21's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
jillianreadsalot's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
fil_san's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
dommasc's review against another edition
2.0
Started off Interesting enough but devolved into a pretty ridiculous third act. A lot of the plot felt like things were happening because the author wanted them to and weren’t in the natural flow of the story. Not the best book to end my year on but at least it was short.
embay15's review against another edition
4.0
Easy read, quick read.
It was a fun and captivating story line, but there was one story arc, and the ending was disappointing.
It was a fun and captivating story line, but there was one story arc, and the ending was disappointing.
risky_oak's review against another edition
«I began writing as a medical student, and felt that I would continue as a doctor and ought to protect my patients from the fear that they might pop up in the pages of a thriller. The best protection would not be to disguise them, but to disguise me. Once I decided not to practice medicine, I dropped the pseudonyms expect for convenience. I wrote too much, so I decided to publish some books under false names, and in that way, could publish more books.»
And that's how Michael Crichton began his writing career. One of my favourite and most read authors. The creator of Jurassic Park, Westworld and ER, among many others.
From the summer of 2011 until November 2018, I read 19 of the 32 books he published. November 2018 was the 10th anniversary of his death. That's when I decided to do a project dedicated to Crichton. One book per month for the next 32 months.
The thrillers he wrote as a medical student between 1966 and 1972 under the pseudonym John Lange were eight, and with the exception of the last one he wrote in 1972 (the year he decided to publish under his own name something that lasted until his death,) were a large part of his bibliography that I had not read. So I ordered them all in one go.
Every time I need to review one of these I'll repeat this general introduction about his early writings rather than extensive reviews on each individual book.
Because beyond the interest of reading early works of your favourite author, reading what he wrote and seeing his writing slowly evolving, they are not masterpieces and you cannot dedicate more than five lines for their sake. It's like Schwarzenegger movies. You are having a good time and that's it. And I also didn't want to confuse you every second day with a new book by Crichton.
They were written quickly and, as he said, he wrote them to gain money to pay for utilities and groceries while he was a student.
They are not masterpieces as I mentioned above, but their writing was something like writing exercises, a writing with which in the medical thriller [b:A Case of Need|35385796|A Case of Need|Jeffery Hudson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1496874074l/35385796._SY75_.jpg|2651727] (that he wrote in 1968 under another pseudonym (Jeffery Hudson)) gained the Edgar Award in 1969.
A year in which he published for the first time under his own name one of his best novels, the science fiction thriller [b:The Andromeda Strain|7670|The Andromeda Strain (Andromeda, #1)|Michael Crichton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1587497243l/7670._SY75_.jpg|997271], which was made into a film in 1971.
In 1970 he and his brother Douglas Crichton co-wrote another hippie thriller under a common pseudonym Michael Douglas ([b:Dealing, or The Berkeley-To-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues|147780|Dealing, or The Berkeley-To-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues|Michael Douglas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1350488267l/147780._SX50_.jpg|142616]). This would be his third and final nickname.
In 1972, with [b:The Terminal Man|7679|The Terminal Man|Michael Crichton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1461056182l/7679._SY75_.jpg|2651704] under his own name, he realised that his career was now a writer, not a doctor, so he put the pseudonym in the bottom drawer.
The eight books he wrote as John Lange remained out of stock since the late 1970s until the publishing house Hard Case Crime began publishing out of stock and hard-to-find books in the noir, thriller, detective, and generally pulp fiction categories.
Among them are books published for the first time such as [b:Joyland|13596166|Joyland|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348154483l/13596166._SY75_.jpg|19185026] and [b:The Colorado Kid|10574|The Colorado Kid|Stephen King|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1422099676l/10574._SY75_.jpg|856005] by Stephen King.
While Crichton was still alive, two of his books, [b:Grave Descend|652837|Grave Descend|John Lange|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1348433385l/652837._SY75_.jpg|638947] and [b:Zero Cool|2767617|Zero Cool|John Lange|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390275543l/2767617._SY75_.jpg|2793340], were edited by him.
In November 2008, unfortunately, Crichton passed away, so in 2013 the remaining 6 books were released.
Because I don't want to tire you out anymore and give you acute Crichtoniasis, I'll talk briefly about this one.
Drug of Choice 1970: read June 2019
On a secret island in the Caribbean there is the perfect luxury resort. Dr. Roger Clark, who want to learn more, discovers that behind the luxury and entertainment lies a shadowy company that produces experimental drugs. Influences from H. G. Wells (The Island of Dr. Moreau)
More in Greek at βιβλιοαλχημείες
erikashmerika's review against another edition
4.0
Early Michael Crichton books always have sort of a Mad Men vibe for me. This ranges on the cheesy side ...like a made for TV movie that ends up being kind of good.
angielisle's review
3.0
A quick read with fast-paced action based on a fear still prevalent today - doctors, and the conglomerations they hide behind, who care more about money and power than the humans they treat.
Crichton was one of those authors/screenwriters who had the ability to scare the bah-jeezus out of me which made it interesting to see his early work and how he evolved as a writer. I thought the story held up well in the decades that have passed since this book was first written. The one downside is that the book has become a pot-boiler in today's time and it's easy to guess what happens next. That statement probably wouldn't have held up back in the seventies, when this book was initially released.
I received a free copy of this book from Goodreads First Reads in exchange for a review.
Crichton was one of those authors/screenwriters who had the ability to scare the bah-jeezus out of me which made it interesting to see his early work and how he evolved as a writer. I thought the story held up well in the decades that have passed since this book was first written. The one downside is that the book has become a pot-boiler in today's time and it's easy to guess what happens next. That statement probably wouldn't have held up back in the seventies, when this book was initially released.
I received a free copy of this book from Goodreads First Reads in exchange for a review.