Prey - Softcover

Crichton, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007229739 ISBN 13: 9780007229734

Publisher: HarperFiction, 2006

Synopsis

Title: Prey <>Binding: Paperback <>Author: Michael Crichton <>Publisher: Harper Collins Paperbacks

About this title

Review

In Prey, bestselling author Michael Crichton introduces bad guys that are too small to be seen with the naked eye but who are no less deadly or intriguing than the runaway dinosaurs that made 1990's Jurassic Park such a blockbuster success. High-tech whistle-blower Jack Forman used to specialise in programming computers to solve problems by mimicking the behaviour of efficient wild animals--swarming bees or hunting hyena packs, for example. Now he's unemployed and is finally starting to enjoy his new role as stay-at-home dad. All would be domestic bliss if it were not for Jack's suspicions that his wife, who's been behaving strangely and working long hours at the top-secret research labs of Xymos Technology, is having an affair.

When he's called in to help with her hush-hush project, it seems like the perfect opportunity to see what she's been doing, but Jack quickly finds there's a lot more going on in the lab than an illicit affair. Within hours of his arrival at the remote testing centre, Jack discovers his wife's firm has created self-replicating nanotechnology--a literal swarm of microscopic machines. Originally meant to serve as a military eye in the sky, the swarm has now escaped into the environment and is seemingly intent on killing the scientists trapped in the facility. The reader realises early, however, that Jack, his wife and their fellow scientists have more to fear from the hidden dangers within the lab than from the predators without.

The monsters may be smaller in this book, but Crichton's skill for suspense has grown, making Prey a scary read that's hard to set aside. It's not without minor flaws: the science in this novel requires more explanation than did the cloning of dinosaurs, leading to lengthy and sometimes dry academic lessons. And while the coincidence of Xymos's new technology running on the same program that Jack created keeps the plot moving, it may be more than some readers can swallow. But thanks in part to a sobering foreword in which Crichton warns of the real dangers of technology that continues to evolve more quickly than common sense, Prey succeeds in gripping readers with a tense and frightening tale of scientific suspense. --Benjamin Reese

Review

‘One of the most ingenious, inventive thriller writers around ... ‘Prey’ sees him doing what he does best – taking the very latest scientific advances and showing us their potentially terrifying underbelly. Another high-concept treat ... written in consummate page-turning style ... fascinating.’ Observer

‘This is Crichton on top form, preying on our fears about new technology and convincing us that we aren’t half as afraid as we should be.’ The Times

‘Mixing cutting-edge science with thrills and spills, this is classic Crichton.’ Daily Mirror

‘Reading Crichton is like taking a speed-reading course, your eyes flying across the page because you're completely gripped and desperate to know what’s going to happen next.’ Time Out

'Having written about dinosaurs in “Jurassic Park”, Crichton has gone to the other extreme by casting micro-robots as his latest villains...the race to combat the deadly swarm, which reminded me strongly of his first novel “The Andromeda Strain”, is as gripping as anything he's ever done'
Mail on Sunday

'Riveting, masterly entertainment' Evening Standard

'Very good' Daily Telegraph

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperFiction
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0007229739
• ISBN 13: 9780007229734
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 544