A Case of Need

Doctor turns detective in a compelling novel that centers upon one of the most imperative and publicly discussed issues of the day.

Pathologist John Berry strips away the secrecy and hypocrisy that surround abortion when his best friend, Dr. Arthur Lee, is accused of performing the "scrape" that led to the death of Karen Randall, teen-age daughter of a prominent Boston surgeon.

Art Lee, iconoclastic, troubled gynecologist, performs abortions because he feels a moral obligation to do so, and the entire medical community is aware of this. Dr. John Berry is certain that Lee is not responsible for Karen's death, and he is determined to prove it.

His search for the truth leads him through hospital labs, mansions, college dorms, addicts' pads. He rattles skeletons and high-class closets as he uncovers tawdry sexual secrets among the medical elite. He incurs the enmity of Boston society, the wrath of the police, and the revenge of the underworld-all of whom are interested in obscuring the facts that surround Karen Randall's tragic death.

This tautly strung novel leads inevitably to a climax of violence and to a sobering revelation that goes to the heart of a sick society. Here, in language peppered with the irreverent abbreviations doctors use to reduce their life-and-death responsibilities to manageable dimensions, the author deals with the American attitude toward abortion and its effect on all of society. The story covers six suspenseful days that expose far more than the short, unhappy life of Karen Randall.