The death of a doctor's daughter may be malpractice--or murder--in this novel by a #1 New York Times-bestselling author: "I loved it" (Stephen King).

In the tightly knit world of Boston medicine, the Randall family reigns supreme. When heart surgeon J. D. Randall's teenage daughter dies during a botched abortion, the medical community threatens to explode. Was it malpractice? A violation of the Hippocratic Oath? Or was Karen Randall murdered in cold blood?

The natural suspect is Arthur Lee, a brilliant surgeon and known abortionist, who has been carrying out the illegal procedure with the help of pathologist John Berry. After Karen dies, Lee is thrown in jail on a murder charge, and only Berry can prove his friend wasn't the one who wielded the scalpel. Behind this gruesome death, Berry will uncover a secret that would shock even the most hardened pathologist.

An Edgar Award-winning novel by the author of such blockbusters as The Andromeda Strain and Jurassic Park--and creator of the long-running NBC drama ER--A Case of Need is a "superb" medical-thriller mystery (Los Angeles Times).