The Med School Years Collection

For the first time in decades, all of John Lange’s work is back in print and ebook format – and for the first time ever under Michael Crichton’s real name. The eight John Lange novels are:

Grave Descend - On Sale 6/27/23

Written as John Lange – 1970
A diver must discover the ugly truth behind a mysterious shipwreck—and keep his own head above water. Leagues below the sparkling blue water of the Caribbean Sea lies the mysterious wreckage of the Grave Descend. Protected by a wall of coral reef and blood-thirsty sharks, the corpse of the sunken yacht has been deemed unrecoverable by every diver in the world. Until James McGregor is offered a shot at it. For McGregor, a 39-year-old diver with a long history of unsavory salvage jobs, it’s his last chance at a big payday. But the more he learns about the wreck the more questions he uncovers – because none of the survivors are telling the same story. How did the ship really sink? What was its cargo? And why is this whole project starting to feel like a suicide mission?

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In His Own Words

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 except for convenience. I wrote too much, so I decided to publish some books under false names, and in that way, could publish more books.

Michael Crichton

From the Archives

“The Crichton Strain” – BinaryReview Time magazine, May 8, 1972
“A Novel of Anti-Heroes, Anti-Heroines” – The Venom Business Review The Sunday Star, July 27, 1969

In His Own Words

My feeling about the Lange books is that my competition is in-flight movies. One can read the books in an hour and a half and be more satisfactorily amused than watching Doris Day. I write them fast and the reader reads them fast and I get things off my back.

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Behind the Scenes
of Pursuit

Michael wrote an article for TV Guide magazine called: “What happened when an author became a director and found himself dealing with two old pros”. Here is an excerpt:

“At one point, E.G. had to make a maniacal political speech. Before we shot, he said, “I do a lot of speaking around the country for health-care legislation. I’ll just do this the way I normally do.” I was horrified: he’s so reasonable, so persuasive. He put his hand on my arm. “I’m just kidding,” he said. I relaxed enough to suggest he do it as if he were a well-known rabid political figure. He said fine.

The cameras rolled and E.G. Marshall turned into a madman. His eyes glowed, he pounded the podium; he was unquestionably insane, and very disturbing to watch. When the shot was finished, he stood back and chuckled. “How was that?” he said.

The next day, when I saw the film, I realized that he had in fact used all the mannerisms, the gestures and movements, of the political figure I’d mentioned.

Ben was equally astounding. He wore glasses, placing a terrible technical burden on him. Often he couldn’t move his head at all, or his glasses would catch the lights. It never impaired his performance.

At one point we were shooting in the airport. Ben was among a crowd of passengers arriving from a flight. I wanted the camera to single him out in this crowd, and follow him. We tried it, but the camera operator couldn’t find Gazzara. Afterward, I said, “Ben, the camera can’t find you.”

“Okay, I’ll take care of it.”

“Yeah, but don’t you want …”

“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”

And he did. Don’t ask me how.

“A Novel of Anti-Heroes, Anti-Heroines” – The Venom Business Review The Sunday Star, July 27, 1969

In His Own Words

Eleven months after Barry Diller at ABC gave the go-ahead, Pursuit was finished. It was planned, shot, looped, edited, scored and dubbed; it was all over. I had made a lot of mistakes and the picture showed most of them (at least to me, having seen it more than a hundred times). But I remain enthusiastic about it, grateful to the actors and crew who kept me out of trouble and eager to do it again.

Orson Wells once said that movies were the best set of electric trains a boy ever had. He was right.

Pursuit (Movie)

Release Date: December 12, 1973
Running Time: 1 hrs. 13 min.
MPAA: TV Movie – Not Rated
Director: Michael Crichton
Screenwriter: Robert Dozier
Based on the Novel Binary By: Michael Crichton
Studio: 20th Century Fox Television
Starring: Ben Gazzara, E.G. Marshall, William Windom

In His Own Words

I had never directed anything before Pursuit, a movie for television based on a book (Binary) I had written. Like all new directors, I wanted to do something a little bit different. The story was unusual enough: a race against the clock between a madman who wants to nerve-gas a political convention and the government agent who has to stop him. The film takes place over a single day, with lots of action and a certain amount of violence.

I was very nervous and fully aware of my incompetence to do what I was telling everybody I could do. On the first day of shooting, the insurance doctor took my blood pressure. It was 160/115, which is high enough to whisk you straight to a hospital bed. E.G. Marshall (playing the madman) and Ben Gazzara (playing the government agent) found this very amusing. I found nothing amusing at all. I had admired these men for years. Inside me was a tiny screaming voice: You’re going to tell these guys what to do? Are you out of your mind?

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