chaz21's review
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
mike_word's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
levisamjuno's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fun, quick read. I was excited to read another Crichton book from his pseudonymous days. There were a few points through the story that seemed a bit contrived, but the action throughout and the resolution were pretty well paced. I reread it today (having read it 2 years ago for the previous review) and I enjoyed it much more the second time.
lah_reads's review
2.0
I don't think I've ever said this about a Crichton novel before, but this one just didn't match my expectations.
It was pretty fast paced, and it had some exciting moments, but it actually felt a bit too rushed. The main hero has way too much of an ego, which makes him hard to like, and the plot is lacking in that special something that every other Crichton novel I've read contains.
Now, I understand that this is one of his earlier works, and hard case mysteries are pretty boiled down, but I feel as though Crichton could have done so much more with this one. It just wasn't up to his normal caliber.
It was pretty fast paced, and it had some exciting moments, but it actually felt a bit too rushed. The main hero has way too much of an ego, which makes him hard to like, and the plot is lacking in that special something that every other Crichton novel I've read contains.
Now, I understand that this is one of his earlier works, and hard case mysteries are pretty boiled down, but I feel as though Crichton could have done so much more with this one. It just wasn't up to his normal caliber.
fanboyriot's review against another edition
5.0
Now this was a good thriller. There was so much that happened in such a short time. While this book lacked some depth in areas, it made up for it in the overall story. It was well paced and easily drew me in, wanting to know what was going to happen next.
msand3's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 stars. My first experience reading Crichton’s early John Lange work was underwheming. The characters were stock, with zero development beyond a vague, one sentence description of their physical features and their classically Anglo-sounding names. The names of the two main characters -- Graves and Phelps -- most certainly had to be a reference to the (then) contemporary television series Mission Impossible: Peter Graves as Jim Phelps. We get a psychological profile of Graves (an important element in the plot), but no further attempt to integrate his life or past/personal experiences into the narrative.
This was meant to be a quick, breezy thriller. And there’s nothing wrong with that kind of novel. But if that’s the aim, then it needs to be gripping to make up for the lack of any other type of character/setting/subplot development. The first half of Binary just doesn’t deliver. Perhaps the chapters discussing computers and early techno-jargon may have been more interesting to readers in the early-70s, but in 2019 it feels dated and dull. The first third of the novel (maybe more) is devoted to the “set-up” -- much like the early station-briefing scenes of a police procedural that should really only take a short time to unfold. The middle section is largely predictable. Only in the final couple chapters does Lange deliver action, some surprises, and a bit of suspense, although not without some impossible-to-believe moments and twists.
In short, it wasn’t bad for a quick, entertaining read, but nothing very memorable. There are certainly better places to start with Crichton (I haven’t read any more of his Lange novels, so I can’t compare this one to others), and there are also better spy/terrorist novels of the era to consider before this one, including the early work of Frederick Forsyth (especially [b:The Day of the Jackal|540020|The Day of the Jackal|Frederick Forsyth|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1405364996s/540020.jpg|1792180], John le Carré, Thomas Harris’ [b:Black Sunday|32417|Black Sunday|Thomas Harris|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442372592s/32417.jpg|1582603], or even [b:the pulp procedurals of Ed McBain|647594|Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here! (87th Precinct, #25)|Ed McBain|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1176728364s/647594.jpg|633738].
This was meant to be a quick, breezy thriller. And there’s nothing wrong with that kind of novel. But if that’s the aim, then it needs to be gripping to make up for the lack of any other type of character/setting/subplot development. The first half of Binary just doesn’t deliver. Perhaps the chapters discussing computers and early techno-jargon may have been more interesting to readers in the early-70s, but in 2019 it feels dated and dull. The first third of the novel (maybe more) is devoted to the “set-up” -- much like the early station-briefing scenes of a police procedural that should really only take a short time to unfold. The middle section is largely predictable. Only in the final couple chapters does Lange deliver action, some surprises, and a bit of suspense, although not without some impossible-to-believe moments and twists.
In short, it wasn’t bad for a quick, entertaining read, but nothing very memorable. There are certainly better places to start with Crichton (I haven’t read any more of his Lange novels, so I can’t compare this one to others), and there are also better spy/terrorist novels of the era to consider before this one, including the early work of Frederick Forsyth (especially [b:The Day of the Jackal|540020|The Day of the Jackal|Frederick Forsyth|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1405364996s/540020.jpg|1792180], John le Carré, Thomas Harris’ [b:Black Sunday|32417|Black Sunday|Thomas Harris|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442372592s/32417.jpg|1582603], or even [b:the pulp procedurals of Ed McBain|647594|Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here! (87th Precinct, #25)|Ed McBain|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1176728364s/647594.jpg|633738].
birdmanseven's review against another edition
3.0
I like these early Crichton books. This one was odd in that the stakes were very high (presidential assassination), but it felt like only about 5 people were involved. I think it would have worked better if the threat had been on a more reasonable level.
Listen in to our Crichton spotlight: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-2-thanks-nostradamus
Listen in to our Crichton spotlight: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-2-thanks-nostradamus
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.
Binary 1972: read* it in September 2019
A nerve gas bomb is set to explode in 12 hours in central Los Angeles. Federal Agent John Graves and his team are racing against time to find out exactly where the bomb is and turn it off in time before it kills millions of people.
* second time
More in Greek at βιβλιοαλχημείες
ajlewis2's review against another edition
5.0
Fast-paced, gripping tale. This is a pseudonym for early Michael Crichton.
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