Rating: 
Summary: great suspense thriller, a little over the top though
Review: I have read all of Crichton's book and this one is definitely one of his best. The theme as always is technology going out of control and creating havoc, this time it is about swarms of nano computers given to runaway evolution and ultimately becoming a menace to its creators. The technical details are well thought out (until the very end) and it makes the reader believe that such technology would indeed become feasible in the future. I think that the ideas Mr.Crichton present are themselves worth reading about.Then there is the whole suspense thriller edge to it. Jack Forman the narrator is brought into the Xymos Lab to sort things out. He used to be an ace programmer, now a stay-at-home daddy to 3 and married to a Xymos executive. He is frustrated, he is slightly tired of dealing with his kids at home and picking them up from their soccer practice, and he suspects that his wife is having an affair.Jack's character is more compelling than most of Crichton's other creations. Some other reviewers have noted that the narration style is much like a screenplay, I agree, but this makes the novel more riveting than anything else. Prey is unputdownable, at least after the first 50 or so pages. My only gripe is a certain ability given to the nano swarms towards the end, which is not well explained and was rather surprising, granted that this made a suitable climax for this excellent thriller. Of course I cannot tell you what it was, that would be a spoiler, read it to judge for yourself. You might hallucinate fuzzy black smoke for a few days if you are that type.
Rating: 
Summary: Scary What The Future May Hold
Review: This was another awesome book from Micheal Crichton. I love the way Crichton writes because he takes a concept that is very complex and hard to understand and is able to make me understand all while telling a great story. Fans of Crichton will not be let down but the thrilling story that deals with nanotechnology. I like what this book has to say about not putting regulations on technology and the ramifications it can have on society. I read this book in about three days I could not put it down and neither will you.
Rating: 
Summary: A complete waste of your time
Review: This ranks as one of the worst books I've ever purchased. It ramples with shallow characters. The writing is just terrible. At one point a group of characters runs around acting like birds (they're seriously attempting to avoid getting killed) in an attempt to fool the Prey. Don't buy it!
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable
Review: I am still amazed that this ludicrous story would be published. Definitely feel if it did not bear his name it would have never seen daylight. I have read all of his books but this one sounds like it came from a very disturbed brain. Skimmed through most of it and felt sorry for the 3 children and husband. Impossible to believe a mother would subject her family to sure death.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but hard to "swallow"
Review: Well, Michael Crichton makes another interesting technical story that only seems plausible because of his exausting explanations that seem to appear in every chapter. It always seems his explanations are meant to convince himself as well as the audience. Like Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, Sphere and most Crichton works, he likes to deal with small group dynamics and avoids the global effects of the crisis at hand. Still, it made for an interesting 13 hours. I "read" the audio version, which infuses a little of the reader's acting into the read, but it seems the only way I can read these days.
Rating:
Summary: Great Insight into the future of Nanotechnology
Review: I don't know about the rest of you out there, but I think that this book was incredible. Yes it's hard to understand and grasp the concept of hundreds of billions of nanoparticles forming clouds and even being able to form complex shapes (such as human form), but is it really? I mean 50 years ago, no one would believe that in 2000, we would have computers the size of our palm. Also, 20 years ago, who would've thought that soon there would be cellular phones that weighed as much 3 ounces and could fit in any pocket. So now that we've evolved that much, is it really hard to believe that in say, 25 years, we could manufacture nano-machines that could perform tasks nothing else could? The answer is no, it's not hard to believe, because in this brave world, anything is possible. So in my opinion, this book is a great insight into the near-future of an obscure technology that could result in major improvements in medical imagery, etc. This is nanotechnology...
Rating:
Summary: this was scary
Review: This book was one of the best he's ever written!! It was really scary. I love books about when science invents something and it goes horribly awry. I wish that he had included dinosaurs in this book....but it was scary enough without dinosaurs, but it would have been ood.l. I can't wait until his next book. I bought this one at the mall near my house and can't believe that it wasn't sold out!!!
Rating:
Summary: Nano-Wordprocessors
Review: I think Michael Crichton would like to have swarms of Nano-Wordprocessors churn out his books for him. They could search the world's encyclopedia's and randomly pick subjects for books, much the way he does now, except faster. Note to aspiring writers - before you sit down and write that novel you've dreamed of, check with the Crichton Book Factory, he's probably beat you to it.
Rating: 
Summary: Big Fan, Big Disappointment
Review: I absolutely love Michael Crichton books, and have read almost all of them. He is smart and technical and creative; what's not to like?? While Prey was very entertaining, its premise has such a severe disconnect that it took some of the fun out of it for me. We are taught in Prey, that a man-made molecule (1 single molecule!) would take the brightest scientists in the world 3 trillion years to assemble, assuming they could assemble 1 million nanoparticles per second. Statistically impossible. Then we have a parallel story telling us that these nanoparticles themselves have figured out a way to do this, to assemble, reproduce, learn and develop. Not just to do it, but to do it at alarmingly quick rates, like a few hours. So the nanoparticle is smarter than the human. No wait, they are WAY smarter than humans. And we are supposed to not only accept this but to be amazed and terrified by the possibilities of nanoparticles evolving and taking over. This is simply the logical conclusion to a faulty premise, the premise of evolution. Evolution as a description of why we are on this planet, or as a world view, is scientifically bankrupt. Primarily due to the fact Crichton mentions above, the time it would take the best scientists to build one molecule. With the theory of evolution, we are supposed to believe this molecule generation has happened on an infinitely larger scale (the earth and universe), and in a very imperfect non-lab environment with no intelligent direction. Just by chance out in the dirt and water. Science itself proves that evolution is not science, but a belief system. A belief system that with today's technology requires absolutely blind faith to believe, in spite of the laws of science. It still was a fun read. Just not as fun as it could have been if it was remotely possible.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping Thriller
Review: I could not put this book down (As much as I hate saying that hackney phrase). It was a thriller from beginning to end. Much like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Crichton's Prey details the problems associated with man myopically creating a technology with reckless abandon for its current or future consequences. When man finally does realize what he has created it is unfortunately too late, and he cannot bring it back under control. In this case, the technology has to do with nano-technology and the protagonist is Jack Forman.
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