Prey: A Novel

Prey: A Novel

by
Michael Crichton

Synopsis of Prey: A Novel

In the Nevada desert, an experiment has gone horribly wrong. A cloud of nanoparticles -- micro-robots -- has escaped from the laboratory. This cloud is self-sustaining and self-reproducing. It is intelligent and learns from experience. For all practical purposes, it is alive. It has been programmed as a predator. It is evolving swiftly, becoming more deadly with each passing hour. Every attempt to destroy it has failed. And we are the prey.

As fresh as today's headlines, Michael Crichton'smost compelling novel yet tells the story of a mechanical plague and the desperate efforts of a handful of scientists to stop it. Drawing on up-to-the-minute scientific fact, Prey takes us into the emerging realms of nanotechnology and artificial distributed intelligence -- in a story of breathtaking suspense. Prey is a novel you can't put down. Because time is running out.

Reviews of Prey: A Novel

47%

a well-researched and gripping novel, with plenty of references for those who are interested in further reading on the subject of nanotechnology and its implications. -- Nigel, Booklore

Crichton does with PREY what he does so well, which is to take what's happening right now and extrapolate it to take a peek at what might happen tomorrow -- Joe Hartlaub, BookReporter.com

Crichton gets credit for trying, but the subject matter is way too complicated for commercial fiction. -- Carol Memmott, USA Today

There's less complexity, and the story is less richly imagined than usual. -- Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times

Funny how this Book reads like it's been written in a big hurry. -- Susan Larson, New Orleans Times-Picayune

Crichton, a graduate of Harvard Medical School and the Author of a string of best-selling suspense novels, manages to jangle our nerves once again with this new tale of science gone awry. -- Lynn Coulter, Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Despite its absurd moments, ''Prey'' is irresistibly suspenseful. -- Jim Holt, New York Times

Like most of Crichton's novels, this one is thin on characterization, rich in technical detail. -- David Walton, St. Petersburg Times

Well, this is how to write a thriller. -- Marta Salij, Detroit Free Press

Sadly, "Prey" turns out almost exactly the way we think it will, with "breakaway robotic nanoswarms" infecting everyone around Jack and turning them into homicidal, edgy maniacs. -- David Kipen, San Francisco Chronicle

Crichton knows how to keep his pot boiling merrily, although his tried-and-true formula is getting stale. -- Henry Kisor, Chicago Sun-Times

Is Prey his best novel? No. (My own nominee for that honor: Airframe. And I don't care what anyone else says.) But it is a lot of fun and, despite its way-out-there premise, entirely believable. -- David Pitt, Bookloons

As much as I enjoyed it, this novel is not perfect. -- Judi Clark, Mostlyfiction.com

The story line is standard Crichton lamenting runaway science conducting experiments in areas in which consequences are ignored as funding only is considered. -- Harriet Klausner, Under The Covers

Crichton falls for the current Hollywood vogue for multiple climaxes; the Book's final pages are so cluttered with events they feel like a runaway theme-park ride. -- Justin Cronin, The Boston Globe

...in my opinion, its formulaic plot, the holes in the science and the clich...d characters all make for an somewhat unrecommendable read. -- Andy, The Alien Online

Are you going to like this Book? You are. -- Barbara Liss, Houston Chronicle

We have met the source of small things that can do tremendous damage, and they are the ideas and images crafted and spawned by Master of Ceremonies Michael Crichton and his fellow cash-in-advance Cassandras to cause terror of technology. -- Alex Lightman, SFRevu

The cracking-adventure part of the Book is competently enough handled that one is never positively bored, and certainly it contains more than a sufficiency of filmic set pieces, some designed to take advantage of the very latest CGI special effects. -- John Grant, Infinity Plus