Prey

Rating:
Summary: Good book, too quick a finish
Review: I felt like this book was well written, almost scary in its plotting. Then Crichton looked at his watch and decided the book was over and ended it. Still, I'll pick up a Crichton book anytime for a good read!!

Rating:
Summary: This guy knows how to write
Review: I have read most of Michael Crichton's books and this one does not fail to live up to my standards. When you read one of his books and then go back and read a normal book by a different author, you recognize how good his writing really is. He pulls you in with his primary character, Jack Forman, and the book moves along at a great pace. I finished it in one sitting and the only bad thing about it was that it had to end. I recommend this to anyone as long as they are able to assimilate new ideas and technology.

Rating:
Summary: Prey: A Novel
Review: I first heard of this book when I was on the internet. I was searching Michael Crichton's webpage and entered a contest. If you win you get a free signed copy of Michael Crichton's newest novel: Prey. Well, I won. Yay, and so on. But any way, the book was terrific, filled with action, but still with educated lectures that Crichton is famous for(Or at least this is what I think.) The book starts out slow while giving details of a man and his family. Jack is a man that is turned into a "Mr. Mom" and so forth, etc. Then after you get to triple digits(that means three numbers, moron.) it shoots with action. I can't tell you in detail, about how this is because you need to read it for yourself. I realy loved this book because how much you learn(about nanotech, predator and prey, group of animal's "social lifes" if you will.) and how fun you have reading it. I highly recomend this book to anyone. *****stars.

Rating:
Summary: Not A Bad Read
Review: Not Crichton's best, but okay. A bit repetitive in some place. C+

Rating:
Summary: Good, Not Great Escapist Fictuion
Review: This is good, not great escapist fiction, although from all the hype surrounding the release of PREY, its premise is not that far from reality. Scientists in the fields of computer technology, genetic engineering, and nanotechnology are developing the ability to produce molecular sized robots that will be able to manipulate matter at the atomic level. In PREY, these robots swarm together and develop emergent behavior (effective new behaviors developed when old behaviors are ineffective) which is life-threatenning to the scientists who have created them.

PREY has some very exciting and thrilling moments and offers some intriguing information about biology and animal behavior that elevates it above the typical story of "science runs amok'. The problems with it however, are found in the missing literary elements that, when present, make excellent and satisfying reading. There is minimal character development and the dialogue is simple-minded and at times ludicrous. For example, Jack, after witnessing his wife, who is filled with deadly particles, attempt to murder another scientist, describes his experience to her: "I felt tremendously uneasy". I guess!

Nonetheless, if readers are looking for a fast-paced, entertaining thriller that provides enough science and new information to speculate about the world's future, then they should enjoy PREY.

Rating:
Summary: Dissappointing story
Review: I am a big fan of Mr. Crichton, but he failed in this novel to provide the nail biting tension typical of his earlier works. He seemed to be more interested in explaining and promoting nanotechnology and impressing the reader with his expertise in computer progamming techniques than telling a good story. This was more like a textbook set in a fictional novel. It is a good read, but wait for the paperback version.

Rating:
Summary: Pray you don't buy this book
Review: I have loved Crichton's books since the Andromeda Strain but Prey isn't indicative of his previous work. The premise is ridiculous, the plot moves at an uneven pace and relies on anonbtuse belief in technology. The whole book rushes along and then ends with a literary can of Raid. If you like his techno thrillers, read Jurassic Park again.

Rating:
Summary: Just couldn't get into it.
Review: I really enjoy most of M.C.'s works, but I just couldn't get into this book. It definately presents some interesting theories but I found myself disconnected from the story.

Rating:
Summary: In Keeping With the One Word Title: Ugh
Review: Michael Crichton tells us in the bibliography for this book that this novel is entirely fictious but the underlying research programs are real. Well, that might be true, but after reading this novel about adventures in nanotetchnology gone awry, anyone who is expecting a revisit to Crichton's classic "The Andromeda Strain" is on the road to a big disappointment. Sure the science is there, but the story is weak and the characters are worse.

Jack Forman is an out of work software specialist functioning, for the first third of the book, as a modern day Silicon Valley Mr. Mom. His wife, Julia, however, is at the forefront of Xymos Technology, and is working on a nanotechnology project for the military at a lab in the Nevada desert. Just that sentence alone should clue you in to what is going to happen as nanotechonological "critters" are introduced into the ecosystem with a full fledged dose of predator-prey relationships. Though Crichton tries to set the table for what is to come with an introduction to artificial eveolution in the 21st century, the early part of the novel spends way too much time on how stereotypical Jack kids are and entirely too much time on just what he is preparing for dinner that night. When Jack is called into the Nevada desert to serve as a consultant for Xymos, things pick up, but just barely.

Where is the in-depth consequences of "Timeline" or the excitement of "Jurassic Park"? Still, I just couldn't give a Crichton book just one star, but I have to admit that I kept saying to myself "Didn't I just see this on the Sci Fi Channel?" My goal in finishing the book was the knowledge that I had the new Dean Koontz novel sitting on my bookshelf once I was through with this one. A friend of mine also read this book and he said that "Prey" would make a great Made for TV Movie. That should be condemnation enough, right there.

Rating:
Summary: Nano no-no
Review: Books like this make you appreciate Stephen King, especially when it comes to little details like plot, characters and motivations; for instance, why does the swarm of artifical whatever designed to function as a camera suddenly start murdering anything that steps outdoors? Crichton has obviously done his homework, but the setting is pure "Andromeda Strain," the plot is recycled "Jurrasic Park," the text reads like a first draft with myriad inconsistences, and the dialogue makes Ken Follett sound like David Mamet. And ya gotta love the yuppie scum that's more worried about what the CEO and venture capitalists are going to think versus the carnage and moral implications of man-munching microbes. All in all, a great idea poorly executed. PS nice high school graduation photo on the back cover.