Rating: 
Summary: Could Be Worse
Review: Since you can read about characters, themes and storylines elsewhere let me go right to the point: what kind of reading experience does this book provide? Crichton is always best read for the way he handles plot, he is a master of the cliff-hanger. At the end of chapters, and, in this novel, even in the small subsections of the chapters, Crichton manages some real zingers that propel the reader to turn page after page. However be cautioned, nearly a third of the novel is a waist of time. For example, the opening chapters while providing some set up, drag due to trite humor about the central character's life as a stay-at-home dad. But the real flaw is a final section that stretches credulity beyond the limits, falling to the level of C grade sci-fi horror. There's even goo involved! The other two thirds crackle along at a very entertaining pace, amusing the reader in the best Crichton fashion. Not a total loss, but not his best.
Rating:
Summary: A Nano Scale Version of Jursassic Park
Review: A nice travel book, nothing more, nothing less.
Having read all of Michael Chrichton's novels, I can say with high degree of certainty that he has become very predictable.
At times I wasn't sure whether I was reading Prey or Jursassic Park (or the Nano scale version of it).
Be that as it may, one simply cannot ignore Crichton's remarkable ability to introduce very complex subjects to the layperson without taking out the fun of reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Great read
Review: Another great read by the master! I have read everything mr. criegton has published and never been disapointed. This time the protagonists are man made microbes instead of man made Dino's. the suspense and horror will keep you on the edge of the seat and the science is fascinating.
Rating: 
Summary: Good start with rapid decline and too much tech talk!
Review: This begins in dramatic fashion and immediately hooked me on suspicion alone: What was happening to this family!? To this man's wife!? As the tale unfolded, it did keep its grip until the husband takes on a consulting job with his wife's employer. The job was taken reluctantly (past bad-blood), but allowed the husband an attempt to get to the bottom of his wife's strange behavior at home. What follows is a decline into nano-talk and technical babble that severely overshadowed what could have been a gripping drama to the last page. Some of the reasoning/explanation of the swarm behavior and other science-induced narrative made my mind wander off the story,with a hope that a reasonable, believable drama would return in the latter chapters. It didn't happen.
Too many books, too little time. When is the next Nelson DeMille novel arriving?
Rating:
Summary: Good
Review: Enjoyed it. It's probably the best thriller since Craig Furrnas' THE SHAPE. And I love all the scientific detail Crichton backs his plot with.
Rating: 
Summary: A fun book
Review: This book follows the same 30+ year-old Crichton formula as _The Andromeda Strain_, _Jurassic Park_, _Sphere_, _Timeline_, etc.: a cautionary tale of science and technology involving an insolated location, ending in disaster. The characters are clichés (our introduction to the adolescent daughter includes her yelling "I hate you!" to one of her parents) and some of the plot twists are clumsy. But hey, I bet you already knew that without reading the book. Why? This is a Michael Crichton novel, and you've probably read him before. Some of the other reviewers seemed to expect something different, and I'm not sure why. I guess it's this kind of thinking that keeps the lottery in business.So you know what you're getting. And with that expectation, I found this to be a fun, page-turning book. This time, Crichton writes in 1st person so that he can stop the story and have the viewpoint character explain points of technology. I found this mildly annoying, but the alternatives would probably have been more awkward. Overall, it was worth my time. I was entertained, and that's worth four stars. Honestly, though, you've read this book before. If you're interested in reading about emergent systems without the fiction, I enjoyed _Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software_ by Stephen Johnson. Or, you could do worse than discovering a new author for your reading time; there are plenty of great writers out there that would love to have you as a reader.
Rating:
Summary: What could have been, but wasn't...
Review: The title "Prey" is, presumably, derived from the "predatorprey" programming used to create swarms of predatory particles on behalf of the United States Military. In short, things get out of hand and the particles esacpe into the surrounding desert [bad subcontractors] only to adapt to - and take advantage of - the surrounding environment as they kill everything in sight. The problem is, the action takes place in such a limited area, involving so few people that the novel loses its punch. Granted, the concept worked well for a very similarly themed screenplay, "The Thing," but swarms of collectively intelligent - and malicious - nanoparticles just screams FULL SCALE ATTACK ON MAJOR URBAN CENTER. I can see the U.S. Special Forces playing cat-and-mouse with an elusive enemy that contines to outmanuever them...and so on. Unfortunately, I wasn't in on the plot-making process. My suggestion: Wait until the book comes out in paperback.
Rating:
Summary: Starts With Promise Settles For Less
Review: I've been an avid fan of Crichton since the start. His style of writing combines technical details with a sense of adventure I've rarely found with other writers. In Prey the premise made me purchase his book as soon as I saw it. The first half was great, building suspense for the next chapter. However, the second half fell short, and I thought I was reading a screen play for the movie of the week. I expected more. As books go I would recommend it as a good technothriller, but not up to Crichton's usual par. I tend to reread his work again and again. This one I'll save for a lazy day at the beach after I've read everything else.
Rating: 
Summary: A terrible excuse for a book
Review: Not only is this book writen with all the literary finese of a 7th grader, the entire plot is unbelievable, even as science fiction. It reads like a horrible movie, with completely unsympathetic characters and just bad science all around. If you want a good sci-fi book on nanotechnology, try The Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson.
Rating:
Summary: Anne-Marie dumped him because he can no longer write!!
Review: This book is just a poorly recycled version of Sphere set in the desert. It does start out pretty well in the prologue, but then just yadda yadda yadda!
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