Prey

Rating:
Summary: Not great, but Pretty good
Review: I've read several of MC's books and enjoyed all of them to various degrees. Prey introduces us to a very likable main character and gives us another one of Crichton's famed runaway science experiments. As usual, the technogy described is cutting-edge and well explained. I was able to easily follow how it developed and evolved.

Everything was great up until about page 300 (out of 360).

It felt as the last part of the book was a Hollywood movie and the two hour flick was nearing its end. The book went from being intelligent and scary in a very real sense, to being an over-the-top popcorn movie with generic action. Maybe it would have been better if the ending came more as a surprise. I had pretty much figured out the twist ealier in the book, so the ending wasn't that exciting to me. My wife on the other hand was blown away by those events and enjoyed it more than I did.

All in all, this is one of Mr. Crichton's better books but definitely not his best. I consider it a good read and look forward to the movie that I'm sure will follow.

Rating:
Summary: Buy it to learn, but don't expect to be entertained.
Review: I read this book in 2 days. I REALLY enjoy Michael Crichton's writing because you become so immersed in learning something new every time he writes a book... but this particular plot felt flatter than most.

Maybe its because of the tired story of a couple coming apart at the seams, maybe its because of the very rough chapter endings ala "Goosebumps" style... Maybe he was writing in the style of a new movie script?? Seems a lot of authors are doing that these days, <sadly>.

In any case, I LOVED learning about nanotechnology and artificial life... but that was about it. Yeah, I'd buy it - wait till the paperback comes out or buy a used one just to learn something new. Don't expect to be brought in with your mind in the plot though, the way previous Crichton novels have seduced you.

Rating:
Summary: Neutral
Review: A rather disappointing effort on the part of otherwise outstanding author. The topic has an enormous potential, which in this book didn't get the full measure of Mr. Crichton's talent. Good analogy would be a 007 movie, where you relish the realism until it occasionally devolves into ridiculous and unlikely spectacle.
The use of too many clichés and simplistic language along with inferior chracter development further diminishes reading experience.

On a positive note, Mr. Crichton, as usual, delivers an exciting dose of engrossing technical detail and intellectual insight. Fast and exciting pace (after a slow beginning) keeps the reader glued. But don't put it down, as you may not be drawn to pick it back up.

Verdict: An utterly interesting topic and accompanying insight, diminished by a disappointing treatment and execution.

Rating:
Summary: Very Good
Review: Prey by Michael Crichton is very suspensful and interesting read. Crichton's explaination of nano-technology was fascinating. Discard all negative reviews,it's worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: Not quite 3 stars!
Review: I have really enjoyed some of Mr. Crichton's books and then there is this one. Admittedly it has suspense and it was a quick read indicating a desire to find what happened next but it does get far-fetched and goes beyond realistic. Also, on one page there was a distorted sentence which really bothers me. What ever happened to proofreading. Mr. Crichton can and has done much better than Prey.

Rating:
Summary: Another Heart-Pounder
Review: Don't read this book if you are a compulsive neat-freak or finicky eater. Crichton takes us into the world of science in 'nano' terms for a pag-turning novel - I read it in one day! I love his diversity of subjects and always keeps up thinking about the future of technology and where it is taking us! Give it a read!

Rating:
Summary: A very disappointing novel
Review: I read Prey filled with the expectation that this would be an excellent book... I have learned in life that if you expect something great you will get something great. However this did not hold true when applied to this stinker of a novel.

Unsurprisingly this novel was "hi-tech" and required many many descriptions of what exactly was happening with the science. That was ok, I expected that. However I didn't expect to have the answers to the problems to be so obvious. I guessed what was wrong with Julia long before it was actually explained. The characters were dry and one dimensional. By the end of the novel I didn't care what happened to them. The only reason I gave it one star is because of the original idea, nano-technology gone out of control. This could have been a much better book. God forbid Chrichton creates a sequal to this one.

Rating:
Summary: A great state of Nano Tech update, a story dissapointment.
Review: This refers to the unabridged Audio book. The premise is great. The research and tech updates are first rate, thorough and easy to follow. The story dissapoints with literally too much action packed into too few days for any believability. One hair raising escape after another. The lead character, a middle aged, Mr Mom, out of work programmer with three small children who doesn't exercise has no less than 6 death defying escapes from the nano's and their henchmen in one day - each causing wounds, bruising, etc... he just keeps on going. The reader's style is slow and tired - I guess because he's dictating all this first person the night of the final day. The tapes have way too many 10-15 second pauses that are irritating. I've read or listened to everything Crichton has published. This is not his best work... it could have been.

Rating:
Summary: just another screenplay
Review: First half was good -- premise was excellent. Second half was nothing more than a screenplay. I could hear the soundtrack in my head as I read. Disappointing.

Rating:
Summary: Crichtonian Formula
Review: I have been onboard with Crichton since Sphere came out many moons ago, but, sadly I am jumping off his bandwagon. I trudged through Airframe, Disclosure and Rising Sun to see if he would return to his own created genre. However, what original ideas he used to have are now becoming formulaic non-sense. Here is Crichton's formula - Research Obscure Technology + Find Worst Case Scenario + Have Technology Act Out Worst Case Scenario + Isolated Location (underwater, desert, medieval Europe, whatever)+ Ignorant Character and Children = brilliant novel, plus a script Spielburg will look at (crosses fingers). Can't wait to see him tackle the time-travel issue, oh he already did. It was enjoyable in a mindless way, plus you get to feel smarter about yourself afterward. Anyway, I'm not expecting much from him next time and I'll wait for the paperback.