Prey

Rating:
Summary: The good and the bad.
Review: The good is that this book kept me on the edge of my seat. If nothing else, Crichton is the master of cliffhangers and you just keep reading and reading until you finish and realize that you just pulled an all-nighter.

The bad is that the science behind this book isn't as believable as some of his other ones. One of the selling points of a Crichton book is that you're sure to be wowed by the science/technology/inventiveness of the concepts he discusses. Like Jurassic Park was really astounding with it's genetic ideas and Timeline with it's physics. This one fell a bit short with it's nanotechnology and evolving swarms.

In a nut shell, Jack (The protagonist) suspects his wife of cheating on him. She's constantly at work and would even go for days without coming home to her husband and children. A job opportunity comes up for him to work at her laboratories as a consultant and he immediately takes it to see what exactly is going on. Not surpisingly, he finds that everything is different from what he thinks.

Rating:
Summary: INCREDIBLE
Review: While reading Prey, I honestly thought it was the best book I have ever read. It is truely awesome. I couldn't put it down. I thought about it when I wasn't reading it and couldn't wait for loved ones to read it so we could talk about it. I highly recommend reading this book.

Rating:
Summary: An exciting story with an intersting twist
Review: I enjoyed this novel from beginning to end. Crichton's ability to merge nature and technology together was definitely the highlight of this book. I enjoyed learning about the potential for nano-technology and the power of distributed computing. From a technical standpoint this book was great. However, the story took a long time to reach a climax (Which was very exciting) and I felt almost bored for the first few chapters. I recommend this book to those of you who are interested in a twist on Artificial Intelligence and who have a healthy imagination.

Rating:
Summary: Crichton's Finally Back!
Review: Michael Crichton's career started with high-tech novels that were thought-provoking and very suspenseful. Then he moved into the Jurassic Park field, where he terrorized us with a nature-runs-amock plot. But ever since he tangled with corporate law in Disclosure, Crichton's efforts have been less than stellar. Airframe was lame and boring, and Timeline was long-winded and not very exciting. But I'm happy to say that the real Crichton, the Jurrasic Park and Andromeda Strain Crichton is back. And boy is this a great welcome party!

Of course, he does not let go of his favorite theme; nature vs. mankind. In Prey, a family man named Jack (can you have a more average-joe name?) is thrown into a virtual nightmare when he is brought to the Nevada desert to help a research group with a problematic new technology.

This group, led by Jack's wife (who is now in the hospital after a serious car accident), has developped small camera-like atom particles that can run in minuscule places (like the human body for example) to take pictures. Only, they have come to realize that their strain has begun evolving on its own and that one of them has escape. And soon enough, they find themselves faced with something much more dangerous: a computerized plague that kills remorselessly everything that comes on its path.

Crichton is great at writing high-adrenalyn suspense scenes. Prey does not disappoints. The moment Jack steps foot in the desert, the tension starts building. And building. And building. The levels of suspense are so great at times that it's just impossible to put the book down. This is a littke like John Carpenter's The Thing, set in the desert with a lot of technological mumbo-jumbo talk. But fortunately, Crichton's technological writing is done in a way that almost everyone will be able to follow without getting lost in all the high-tech talk.

If you can get passed Crichton's simplistic writing (sometimes, much too simplisitc) and corny dialogue, what you'll find is a thrill ride that'll make you bite your nails to the bone. Prey isn't a great novel. It's fun, action-packed and highly entertaining. Everything you've come to expect from a good Crichton yarn, and more.

Rating:
Summary: Pushing it.
Review: There is no Crichton fan who will be able to say this is his best, because it is not. I am a a lawyer with a pre-med degree so obviously Chrichton and other physicians in writing draw me. I love the way Dr C. sets up a possibility and brings it to life for his readers.
This time he dreamt up a possibility, asked us to believe him, we tried, then he made us feel foolish. Still love the guy though.

Rating:
Summary: Crichton's cutting-edge-hi-tech, yet lucid SF novel
Review: Crichton's Prey was great - though I felt somewhat let down after finishing the book. The concepts, a cutting-edge-hi-tech amalgam of distributed computing, nanotech and genetic engineering (emergent self optimizing behaviour + triumphs of molecular manufacturing i.e. using e-coli bacteria to create nanoassemblers which inturn assemble molecular machines like cameras etc, which have memory, solar cell particles to sustain themselves and organize using goal-seeking PREDPREY distributed algorithms to mimick vivid shapes and forms, which as usual go out of control or do they. . . never mind; and have to be exterminated, else will take over the human race) are great, but the ending is not very inspiring and actually a bit disappointing. Killing the villain bacteria instantly with bacteriophages/viruses ? The content handling at times is dry and clumsy. Of course the story is fast paced and chilling too at times - he has focussed a lot on character development, which he was criticised of not doing in his earlier novels. The entire book is a first person narrative. All in all a score of 3.5/5 would suffice. His lucid style of writing though is prevalent here too, through which he seems to have developed a knack of scaring us ; readers will immediately vouch for the negative implications of molecular manufacturing . . .

Shamit

Rating:
Summary: Not nearly his best, Written Like a movie
Review: This book is such a quick read, it's apparent it was put together with cinema in mind. The characters are so thinly developed, they have no substance or impact on the story.

As a reader of just about all his novels, this is the most disappointing of all. However, as a reader of just about all his novels, he still got my $$$!

Rating:
Summary: Inaccuracies in the text.
Review: Michael Crichton's book contains two errors. On page 42 in the large print edition it is stated: "We entered a vein, so the red cells are not oxygenated." The pulmonary veins contain oxygenated blood. Not all veins are low in oxygen. Also, on the same page it is written: "We're coming to the right atrium, and we should see the mitral valve." Correction: The mitral valve is located between the Left Atrium and the Left Ventricle.

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding and SPOOKY
Review: I read at least a book a week, so it takes a bit to surprise me anymore....This was all I'd hoped it would be--and likely an amazing insight into some scientific fields that don't get as much media time as they should. A truly scary scenario, backed up with great characters, plotline, and twists. A VERY enjoyable read.

Rating:
Summary: Just Plain awful and stupid
Review: If this book had any other author's name on it, it never would have been published. This was so terrible I found myself cringing over certain parts. None of the characters were believable. The plot was just plain stupid and unbelievable. Don't waste your money on this best seller.