Prey

Rating:
Summary: Could NOT put it down!
Review: The bad reviews all surprise me: most of them have all read a lot of Crichton and yet critizice the lack of characters, excessive tech, etc.

This is WHY we read Crichton: he makes no bones about it,he likes plot. If it's "techno," we're not gonna worry about the character development. It may not be literature but it sure is fun...just like Grisham's legal thillers.

I couldn't put this book down...it was everything we've come to expect from Crichton and I hope we get more.

C'mon people! Don't be so serious..this guy is great!

Rating:
Summary: Jurassic Nanoparticles
Review: Michael Crichton has a pretty good schtick. Research a current scientific or sociological trend to death, then regurgitate it in an easily-readable novel format palatable to the lowest common denominator. He does it often and he does it well. Perhaps too well. Because it's beginning to appear as though he's doing the same thing over and over again ...

"Prey" is an interesting concept, concerning the efforts to develop nanotechnology. Of course, in Crichton's world, science refuses to behave; arrogant scientists push limits and the scientific subjects break loose, causing a big mess and hijinx ensue. One right-thinking scientist warns against using the new technology before it is properly tested, then saves the day with his superior knowledge and skill.

In "Prey", the hero is stay-at-home dad Jack Forman, a former programmer who loses his job because he finds out the CEO is morally-corrupt and tries to blow the whistle. Crichton spends pages and pages describing how Jack takes to being a house husband, changing diapers, fixing dinner, refereeing squabbles. We get the point: Jack's a Good Guy, with Capital Letters.

Jack's wife, Julia, works for a company that has developed a medical imaging system that uses nanotechnology to take pictures of the inside of the body. This is the company for which things go Terribly Wrong. A cloud of nanoparticles breaks loose and is terroroizing the fabrication facility deep in the Nevada desert.

Because Jack worked on the code that runs the particles, he's called in to save the day and this is where the book becomes "Jurassic Nanoparticles". At the facility, we are introduced to a group of people who are working on the project. Their names are not important, for they are barely-sketched characters to be used as nano-fodder for the remainder of the novel.

The first third of the novel was almost unreadable. Crichton attempts to get us into the head of Joe Average, having conversations about diapers and managing a household where the kids slap each other and call one another "Monkey Butt". But it appears Crichton himself is a long, long way from being an average guy. I doubt he ever shopped for diapers or picked up his own dry-cleaning, so he instead seems to have cribbed all his knowledge of family life from "Mr. Mom" and "E.T."

Things DO heat up a bit when he gets to the facility in the desert. This is where Crichton shows his chops as a master story teller. His writing is still a little sloppy and choppy, but he keeps things going by building and releasing tension at a steady rate. Many questions are answered, only to raise more questions. This is what Crichton does best and it is why I still read him.

Plotting is a little sloppy, as well, as there are many inconsistencies throughout. People behave in odd ways, contact with the nanoparticles kills some but not others and has different affects on those it doesn't kill. But this is par for the course in a Crichton novel.

..."Prey" is fun, even though you've seen it all before.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling read, though not his best work.
Review: I give this one 4 of 5 because I think MC is getting a bit too formulaic. That is not to say I did not enjoy this book. I found it to be a little like Jurrasic Park mixed with a spatter of Airframe. Many of Crichton's recent novels seem to be written with a movie deal in mind, and this is one of those. The pace seemed overly hasty at times and distracted from the action. I long for the Andromeda Strain/Sphere days sometimes.

All in all a good read with interesting characters. The last third of the book was quite difficult to follow and made me go back to make sure who was doing what since not very many of the supporting players are fleshed out and much as I would have liked. I did appreciate it being told in the first person by one narrator. If you like Crichton you will like this book. If you don't like him this is a good thriller that will keep you interested.

The subject matter is interesting and makes me fearful for what may come in our society. Kudos to Crichton for taking on an emerging scientific topic and running with it.

Rating:
Summary: Crichton's a lightning rod....
Review: All Michael Crichton has to do is produce a new book every 3 years or so to start the great debates. Does he preach too much? Does he really entertain? Is he a novelist, or just getting rich from publishing because he knows he doesn't have to write, just package the same thrills over and over, and the public will buy?


You either enjoy the ride with Crichton, or you hate it. I personally was overwhelmed and much in favor of "Timeline", but
I know many people thought it atrocious. With Crichton, I'm really on board for the ride, just to see what he has up his sleeve this time....in Prey, he's done his job - given the reader a different slant on his entertaining premise, that corporate villains will subvert science and technology for their own gains, oblivious to the effect on the human race. His story holds your interest until the end, and he's done at least some homework in the field of nanotechnology...and only 1 out of 100 readers will be able to catch the flaws.


Like as not, when you are reading thrillers, most readers don't expect sound characterization and dialogue, and Crichton tries hard in this arena, and does an adequate job. But his hero is worth rooting for, and his plot sufficiently engrossing enough to make you stay awake reading far into the night.

I buy and read Crichton for what his books are, and not for what they are not. I thought "Prey" was an able attempt to make the public aware of the perils of nanotechnology, while entertaining us all. I fall short of wanting to see this made into a movie, after the horrendous treatment of "Congo", but I guess you can't have everything. And I'm sure that Crichton's next book will be about corporate baddies who risk human lives by perverting science in a nonethical way...and I'll probably buy and enjoy that as well!

Formulaic? Yes...Entertaining? Most certainly! Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: A list of descriptors
Review: + Easy to read
+ Page turner
+ Formulaic plot
+ Good backdrop of real science
+ Cautionary tale

Rating:
Summary: Not his best
Review: The story's okay; not bad, not great either, definitely not his best. It starts slowly, graduates in the second third, and then it keeps the pace till the end, which doesn't bring any big surprises though; not for an observant reader anyway. The author made several mistakes when explaining software related topics. For example, the passage about recursive algorithms is not exactly correct, and the one code example he used is so bad it made me think Crichton's software advisor had to work for Apple, part-time at least.
The book reads more like a movie script than a novel. I think there's a great movie potential in this book. Actually, this could be the first movie based on a Crichton's novel that could be better then the original. I hope so.
Don't let these negative comments of mine to dissuade you from reading this novel. It's still a Michael Crichton, after all. Chances are if you liked his other novels you will probably enjoy Prey as well.

Rating:
Summary: A little confusing, but still good.
Review: An imaginative leap in Crichton's work. After reading Jurrasic Park, I became a dedicated fan of his work. This book, although confusing at times, show's how dedicated he is to providing accurate information in his science-fiction novels.
With an origional storyline,it's nonstop action after passing the rather dragged out beggining. At times it can be hard to follow (mostly when a discussion of nano-technology is happening), but altogether it is a well thought out and well written book.
I would definently recomend you purchase it.

Rating:
Summary: Techno-Thriller
Review: Michael Crichton has again succeded in getting the combination of technical and thrilling moments in the book. Like all his books he is very much bothered about consequence of a new technology that can have unpredicatble results unforseen. Characters in the book were mostly one dimensional but Crichton anyway focuses more on plot than on characterization. Must read for all Crichton fans.

Rating:
Summary: One of his best
Review: Crichton returns to top form with "Prey". This time out his protagonist must deal with an apparent crisis at a fabrication plant in Nevada. Jack Forman is a programmer, and presumably the underlying difficulty is a code glitch, but events seems to implicate the plant's use of nanotechnology, and some mysterious behavior by Jack's wife, a top executive at the fabrication plant.

None of these elements would distinguish this book from a hundred other thrillers, but Crichton brings some special ingredients to the mix: fewer cliches than most of his peers, though more than I would have liked; a plausible technology well backed by information; a slick writing style that goes down like ice cream; more attention to character development than usual.

As compared with some recent Crichton efforts, notably "Timeline" and "Airframe" this book is taut and quite brief. The characters are better written, the situations much less implausible. This book marks a return to the form of "Andromeda Strain" and "Jurassic Park" Most of the action occurs within a forty-eight hour period, and Crichton does a good job of showing how the limits of time and the characters' knowledge of the situation restrict their choices. I believe that some other reviewers considered these "holes" in the plot, but I cannot agree. Jack would have done things differently had he known what he was getting into, but he plausibly does not know these things.

The technology under discussion here, nanotechnology, has been a fixture of science fiction and science speculation for over fifteen years. Experienced SciFi readers might approach this book with a certain amount of reserve, wondering why it took Crichton so long to follow Drexler, "Blood Music", "Gryphon", "Nanotech Chronicles", "Assemblers of Infinity" and "Aristoi", among others.But Crichton writes thrillers, rather than pure Science Fiction, and his take on nanotechnology owes as much to population biology, artificial life, emergent behavior, and microbial behavior as it does to K. Eric Drexler. He has clearly read a good deal, his bibliography was lovely, and he only fell into the didactic mode about 5 times during the novel-- not much for Crichton.

"Prey" is told in the first person, and the character of Jack Forman dominates the novel. Crichton invests far more effort than usual in giving Jack depth, and the results are quite pleasing. Much of the early section of the book takes place against the backdrop of Jack's career as a stay-at-home Dad, buying place mats and picking kids up from soccer practice. Some readers, seeking escape from a similar life, will not find this part entertaining. But it does ground Jack's character in a reality different from the technocrisis, a new twist for Crichton.

As stated above, the book is quite brief, and seems shorter than it is. The climax and ending come with the speed of a short story, and the resolution seems to make far too little emotional impact on the protagonist. The emphasis on Jack also drains most of the life out of the other characters--- they are mere acquaintances of Jack's, and it shows. None of this really detracts from the book, and the refusal to milk the ending may simply show restraint by a seasoned writer.

I confess that I am writing this review because I find too many of the other posted reviews unjustly harsh. Comparing "Prey" with recent work by Clancy, Preston and Child, and other work by Crichton himself makes this book look even better. It has definite limitations, to be sure, but within those it has a richness the competition can only envy.

Rating:
Summary: Drama plus accurate science
Review: Crichton did a very good job in drawing drama out of science. Some readers may have a problem with the depth of characters other than Jack Forman, but for me and most other geeks and nerds, the plot plus accurate science is the priority. I've been reading about genetic algorithms, complex adaptive systems, predator-prey processes and emergence phenomena for years and this book brings those ideas together in a great science fiction suspense-horror story, complete with monsters, slime and grotesque dead bodies.

I see a problem with the death scene of the infected characters. Given that the E. coli simply give feedstock molecules to manufacture of future nanostructures, if all the E. coli in a swarm die, the swarm wouldn't die instantly. So, the people infected with virus wouldn't die immediately. This is about the only glaring mistake that I could find, given my limited knowledge. However, I may be missing some other clue.