Rating: 
Summary: Nano-bore
Review: I read one review that PREY should have been longer. I wanted it to be shorter. About 200 pages shorter. The "NEST" chapter would have made an excellent short story. In PREY, what precedes the "NEST" is dull, and what follows is ridiculous. Crichtons evolutionary factoids are as welcome as always. However, the idea that nano-particles will actually be visible to the human eye ("black cloud") or can be simply blown off with up/down bursts of air severely stretches his scientific credibility, and hampers the already-flawed plot. PREY could have been a taught, logical thriller like Crichtons previous works, but ended up reminding me of those silly radiation-monster movies of the 50s.
Rating:
Summary: Wait for the Movie
Review: I have read two reviews of this novel. Apart from some mild criticism, both were favorable. These reviewers have been too kind. Prey is one of the most poorly written novels I've ever read. The only reason I gave it two stars is because it offers some interesting ideas as well as some fascinating information about the burgeoning new science of nanotechnology. Michael Crichton didn't try to write a readable, engaging novel here. All the characters are one-dimensional with virtually no character development, and much of the dialogue is inane--in one chapter, two of the main characters spend a half a page discussing the virtues of various disposable diapers! Prey isn't a novel--it's just a sloppy treatment of the film (complete with some interesting ideas for cool special effects courtesy of the author) that will undoubtedly be forthcoming in the next year or so. In this case, the movie is sure to be better than the book.
Rating: 
Summary: I could hardly put it down
Review: My review title says it all -- I could hardly put it down. Rarely do I read a book that so intrigues me, so captures my imagination that my life is literally put on hold until I've finished it. That is exactly what happened with Prey. I knew nothing about nanotechnology going in, and although I still doubt the feasbility of many of Crichton's assertions in the story, I was fascinated nevertheless.
Rating: 
Summary: Good movie, bad book
Review: The story starts out only describing one character in detail and ends the same way. This thin book reads the same, no depth. I do think that can be produced into a great movie, if they take the Crichton name and the book title, add some action and great special effects. But, as a book it was lacking in all important aspects, plot, character development and flow.
Rating:
Summary: Hole-y plot, Batman!
Review: OK, I've read the book--it's very short and should have MORE detail and MORE plot and MORE character development--and read some of the reviews here. What I want to add to the criticism is that there are a lot of OBVIOUS gaffes in the plot. Let's take a simple example. A guy heads to a clean-room lab where nanobugs have gotten loose. He argues with the lab boss and leads a team out to where the bugs are. The lab has lots of high-tech wizardry to eliminate particles from one's clothing on the way in and out of the lab. The team finds itself outside and being chased by bugs. What's wrong with this picture? Well, I kept screaming at the book the same thing anyone who has ever watched an Intel commercial might scream: WHERE ARE THE BUNNY SUITS? A lab like that always has protective suits and gas masks available. For that matter, later on they reveal that the garage (where this team headed) had a stash of of gas masks tucked in a cabinet. Why didn't they grab the gas masks BEFORE half the team gets attacked? And on and on it went. Practically every scene had holes like that. It really did read like a movie script, where the writer can get away with omissions like that in the interest of moving the plot along. But Crichton's built his previous reputation by paying close attention and making sure the whole plot is consistent. Sorry, this one needed at least another 100 pages of actual text (not the blank filler pages between "chapters" which were as short as a page or two) to make it hang together, and some real editing. He took three years to write this? He needed at least another three months of editing to get it right.
Rating: 
Summary: Good until the end
Review: Crichton does a good job laying out the future of nanotechnology and the good and bad it might bring. This is the second nanotech book I have read (see Chasing the Dime) and Prey offers more insight into what can and might happen.
The story is an interesting suspense novel with science and scientist gone wild. What is developed as a potential military aid spins out of control and someone has to be brought in to get it under wraps. Oddly enough, husband and wife are battling each other in good versus evil.
The story is intriguing until the last few chapters where it ends very predictably. All in all, it is a fun read if you enjoy exploring what the future can bring us.
Rating:
Summary: Not one of his better books
Review: This would have been a decent short story. First half is almost boring, and I almost quit three quarters of the way thru. He stretches the book with a lot of non-essential househusband whining which the feminists will love. Science is too farfetched and his descriptions of the mechanics of the factory are difficult to follow. You keep wishing a decent sized dinosaur would show up and give the book some energy.
Rating:
Summary: Overall, it's a good book!
Review: Although he does not explain some of the processes in more detail, the book is still worth reading. Its also a warning against the misuse of powerful technologies.I liked it verrry
much.
Rating:
Summary: dull
Review: its long and boring. Crichton has the Tom Clancy problem - too little story for the number of pages.
Rating:
Summary: HELP!! I can't stop reading..
Review: this book and I finished it in 2-3 days! After the stinker "Timeline" I wasn't going to buy anymore of Crichton's books but Prey is a refreshing and riveting change from that. At times the plot is inconsistent but overall Chrichton has written another excellent and spooky thriller. One of the hallmarks of Crichton's writing is taking a complex subject and explaining it in layman's terms and by writing about nanotechnology he takes on a difficult one. He describes nanotechnology as a merging of biotechnology, computer technology, and miniaturization. Machines that are "1000 times smaller than the diameter of a hair" is mind boggling but what the researchers do with them is the subject of a very scary book. And probably a really creepy movie. In 'Jurrasic Park' I found so many interesting passages, I read that book twice but in 'Prey' I found a few notable gems. An example: "we live in an evolutionary everything--evolutionary biology, evolutionary medicine,evolutionary ecology, evolutionary economics... but it is surprising how rarely people think in evolutionary terms." "It is a human blind spot that we look at our world around us as a snapshot when it is really a movie, constantly changing." A compelling book, I stopped reading it and got ready to go to bed; it was late and I was tired. I put it down for 5 minutes, then inexplicaby picked it up again and read into the night!! I only wish it was longer. Cody
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