Prey

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Summary: Predator on Prey by: Karl the Pencil Monkey
Review: This technological thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat till the very end. Jack the main character is a newly fired program writer who manages three children , a house , and a newly released swarm of nano-technological terrors.He battles nanos , day-to-day life , and the threat of constant death.I would reccomend this book to any one that is able to read!
Over all this was a very good book. My friend $ketch didn't like this book. But I would highly reccomend it.

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Summary: badly written
Review: Michael Crichton must have spent at least a few days reading some rudimentary a-life papers or introductory books before writing this book (if he properly understood those in the bibliography, then his ability to grasp the nature of scientific development must have been the problem).

He shows a rudimentary grasp of the ideas behind the technology, but is inept at creating believable and relevant projections of the implications of it. I have no beef with the danger of rogue a-life nanobots, but the manner of development and premises presented in this book are pretty shaky. This smells like sci-fi, but at best is science fantasy.

The language register is chatty and in part inane, with many cliche`s thrown in for good measure. Generally his attempts to flesh out or make his characters more life-like fall pretty flat.

Note to authors: don't include source code in your writing unless you know what you're doing (or find some clued-up teenager who does) - the 2 examples in this novelette are a joke.

This is a fascinating area of research, pity about the way the topic was handled, though.

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Summary: Great read
Review: Very good book. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is into computer science. It gets a bit technical, and knowing the what hes talking about makes the book all the more fun to read.

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Summary: good, but repetitive
Review: i read this book, and thought that it was fairly dectn. my problem with it was that it kept on repeting itself. the same scenes seemed to happen again and again. now, if you have never read any of mr. crichtons books before, then you would most likely give it 4-5 stars, but it would be confused out of your mind. all those who are familiar with crichtons writing style would give this an average rating. in order to understand this book more, then read some of his other works such as "The Andromeda Strain", because this is one of his most comple pieces. also, "Prey" contains very strong language, and some disturbing scenes. my advice: get it from the library, its not worth $...

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Summary: Finney you should mention that ....
Review: In _Prey_, as typically, Michael Crichton trusts studiedly cinematic storytelling to mimic the model medium's ability to oblige, even in readers a-swell with relevant expertise, and however commingled be what's possible, predictable, and preposterous, enough of volitional credulity to keep the pages turning at speeds approaching flicker frequency. Short chapters switch rapidly and irregularly among perspectives to at once impart a juggernautish immediacy to the action's unfolding and maintain that pace by repeatedly coaxing the reader just a few pages further, while palpably precisely detailed descriptions of characters' intuitions and eurekas augment the filmic effect. This narrative strategy is far from uncommon, and, pending one's purchase of premise, breeds a "read" whose feel is either exciting or contrived and manipulative. It is Crichton's habit, and has in his hand begat an oeuvre that sawtooths steeply between instances of the former impression (e. g., _The_ Andromeda_Strain_) and of the latter (e. g., the ludicrous, lamentable, and hopefully authorially-lamented _Congo_).

_Prey_, for me, proved passably palatable if not necessarily wholly swallowable. Read in a single sitting during a snowbound afternoon and evening, I found it at least as entertaining as any competing TV fare, and its tangents with what I know of current or foreseeable technological reality certainly tempted further exploration via the bibliography Crichton here, as to his several most recent novels, so welcomely appends.

I'm unsure how or even whether I should express my one real complaint about _Prey_, as it could well be a spoiler for its potential readers whom this review's titular pun does not elude. On the other hand, any such reader will almost certainly remark, as did I, from the books's very first page, an inescapably prophetic similarity to a twice-filmed short story Jack Finney wrote nearly 50 years ago. One might call Crichton's story and Finney's perfect podmates, differing mainly in a few mechanical details ... or ought I to say "particulars"? In any case, don't fall asleep reading this book. ;-)

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Summary: Crichton has another blockbuster on his hands. Poor guy!
Review: Michael Crichton's Prey. 2002 by Harper Collins. Hardcover 1st edition, 1st impression. Signed. Well, Crichton has another blockbuster on his hands. Poor guy! Action packed, science packed, with the now-to-be-expected biological terror. Extrapolating on organic molecular-level manufacturing, swarm behavior, and computer modeling of swarm behavior, Crichton takes off on a non-stop roller coaster ride of deceit, greed, conceit, and other common human strengths. The science, to my thinking, was more complicated than the genetic engineering of Jurassic Park, but that may be because I studied life science and did not fare well with organic chemistry! Molecular sized organic machines with enough memory to store simple swarm programming are developed for scientific and medical use. In steps Uncle Sam. More memory, more complicated programming, more power more, more, more. The little buggers escape, evolve extremely rapidly and kill anything in their 'sight' to use as food for reproduction. Yes, reproduction and the lab staff become the Prey. To keep things from extrapolating out of control, Crichton contains the story in a remote desert laboratory and the immediate surrounding area. As with the remote island of Jurassic Park, the barren sea floor of Sphere, Andromeda Strain, et cetera, this has become standard stock for the author, helping him focus more on the story rather than the environs. This is a good, fast read. Entertaining, and classically Crichton. Thanks for reading. Enjoy the book. RDKedd at ABNormalBooks.

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Summary: Boring and Predictable
Review: I had trouble getting through thi book, and I would agree that it seems to be written more like a screenplay than a typical Crichton novel. I was very disappointed with this book, both because it was clearly written to be a movie, and it seemed to be Jurassic Park in a new environment - evil genetically enhanced creatures attacking humans who (shock) are trapped in an isolated compound. The story was all too predictable and familiar to be entertaining.

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Summary: Vintage Crichton but.......
Review: Prey overall was a good read. I definitely didn't regret spending the time. It's just that I was so taken by his work in "Timeline" that I may have hyped myself silly waiting for his next novel.

But hype notwithstanding, Prey is average compared to "Jurassic Park", the aforementioned "Timeline" and "The Andromeda Strain" (still my favorite)

I felt that Crichton makes you go on a limb one two many times throughout the book. Plus there is a certain awkwardness about the characters that kept me from submitting to them completely. The result for me was a break in the suspension of disbelief which was an annoyance because he almost always does a great job at keeping your head in the game.

Nonetheless, Crichton doesn't scrimp on the research here. (as with any of his previous works) He is still the master of the fusion thriller and can get your blood pumping even if you're reading a tuna casserole recipe. His knack for blending fact with fiction continues to be flawless.

The message of the book is unmistakable and much like the one in "Jurassic Park" : Man is intelligent enough to cross the frontiers of science but is a virtual fool to ask it if it should.

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Summary: Absolutely thrilling his Best since Jurassic Park!!
Review: Michael Chrichton has done it again with the amazing and hearpounding book prey! i could NOT put this book down. i finished it in about 3 days. i practically read nonstop. anyway i highly recommend this book. ENJOY :)

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Summary: PREY: The Movie
Review: I should start by saying that I'm not exactly a fan of Michael Crichton's work. I used to watch ER, but in most of his novels it seemed that he was trying too hard for the reader to like him. DINOASAURS! TIMETRAVEL! FLYING DISEASES! O MY!

Anyway, I just got the feeling that this book was more of a screenplay than a novel. The descriptions seemed more like stage direction than real explanations. It was fairly predictable, like a good "B" movie.

However, on the whole, it WAS mildly entertaining. It would be great for a vacation to read on the beach or plane. It does get a bit technical here and there, but if you skip the science babble the story is still VERY easy to follow.

This is my first reveiw so I hope this was helpful!