- Mass Market Paperback
- Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Ltd; 1st mmpb edition (Nov 11 2003)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0006392970
- ISBN-13: 978-0006392972
- Product Dimensions: 16.8 x 10.9 x 3.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 272 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #245,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
In Prey, bestselling author Michael Crichton introduces bad guys that are too small to be seen with the naked eye but 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 specialize in programming computers to solve problems by mimicking the behavior 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 his wife'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 center, 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 realizes early, however, that Jack, his wife, and 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, though not without its 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 Jack created at his previous job 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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
From the opening pages of Crichton's electrifying new thriller, his first in three years, readers will know they are in the hands of a master storyteller (Timeline, Jurassic Park, etc.). The book begins with a brief intro noting the concerns of Crichton (and others) with the nascent field of nanotechnology, "the quest to build manmade machinery of extremely small size, on the order of... a hundred billionths of a meter"-for this is a cautionary novel, one with a compelling message, as well as a first-rate entertainment.Rare for Crichton, the novel is told in the first person, by Jack Forman, a stay-at-home dad since he was fired from his job as a head programmer for a Silicon Valley firm. In the novel's first third, Crichton, shades of his Disclosure, smartly explores sexual politics as Jack struggles with self-image and his growing suspicion that his dynamic wife, Julia, a v-p for the technology firm Xymos, is having an affair. But here, via several disturbing incidents, such as Jack's infant daughter developing a mysterious and painful rash, Crichton also seeds the intense drama that follows after Julia is hospitalized for an auto accident, and Jack is hired by Xymos to deal with trouble at the company's desert plant. There, he learns that Xymos is manufacturing nanoparticles that, working together via predator/prey software developed by Jack, are intended to serve as a camera for the military. The problem, as Crichton explains in several of the myriad (and not always seamlessly integrated) science lessons that bolster the narrative, is that groups of simple agents acting on simple instructions, without a central control, will evolve unpredictable, complex behaviors (e.g., termites building a termite mound). To meet deadlines imposed by financial pressures, Xymos has taken considerable risks. One swarm of nanoparticles has escaped the lab and is now evolving quickly-adapting to desert conditions, feeding off mammalian flesh (including human), reproducing and learning mimicry-leading to the novel's shocking, downbeat ending.Crichton is at the top of his considerable game here, dealing with a host of important themes (runaway technology, the deleterious influence of money on science) in a novel that's his most gripping since Jurassic Park. In the long run, this new book won't prove as popular as that cultural touchstone (dinos, nanoparticles aren't), but it'll be a smash hit and justifiably so. Film rights sold to 20th Century Fox; simultaneous abridged and unabridged audiotape and CD editions; large-print edition. (One-day laydown Nov. 25)
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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First Sentence
Things never turn out the way you think they will. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
Things never turn out the way you think they will. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
A great state of Nano Tech update, a story dissapointment.,
By Antone Ferreira (Somers, Ct USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Prey (unabridged) (Audio Cassette)
This refers to the unabridged Audio book. The premise is great. The research and tech updates are first rate, thorough and easy to follow. The story dissapoints with literally too much action packed into too few days for any believability. One hair raising escape after another. The lead character, a middle aged, Mr Mom, out of work programmer with three small children who doesn't exercise has no less than 6 death defying escapes from the nano's and their henchmen in one day - each causing wounds, bruising, etc... he just keeps on going. The reader's style is slow and tired - I guess because he's dictating all this first person the night of the final day. The tapes have way too many 10-15 second pauses that are irritating. I've read or listened to everything Crichton has published. This is not his best work... it could have been.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Long time since you read a breathtaking novel? Read this.,
By indru (madison, wi usa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Prey (Hardcover)
Why dont most people like sci-Fi novels? especially Greg Bear and Arthur.C.Clarke, because they concentrate more on science rather than entertainment. Michael Crichton is the only author who is not handicapped by this habit. One thing that is really good about crichton's novels is that you will never keep the book down in the middle. This time too, MC has not let us down. The book guarantees 100% entertainment. For those who fel that reading novels is a waste of time. I would advice you to read any MCs books as you will learn a lot about the subject than by reading a couple of scientific journals. "Prey" concentrates on AI, genetics and Nanotechnology. After 1/3rd of the novel, the pace picks up a speed that you would never have imagined. This is definitely not one of MC's best novels, but definitely he gives you more than you would have expected from the book. My advice is, get the hard back and have a nice time.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable and Interesting - but a rehashed plot device,
This review is from: Prey Cd (unabridged) (Audio CD)
The story goes as follows: Jack, a computer programmer who worked on grouped processing is out of a job. His wife Julia has an executive position with a company that is using Jack's programs to develop nanotechnology spy tools for the government. The technology comes to life, goes berserk, and Jack is called in to figure it out because he understands the program. With a few interesting but highly implausible twists (as if the whole thing isn't somewhat implausible) Jack ends up saving the day, but in doing so kills his wife who has in part caused the mess.I enjoy reading Michael Crichton novels because he usually teaches you something about science. What I find more interesting about Crichton is that he seems stuck on certain notions, namely Chaos Theory. Perhaps it is true that nature is uncontrollable (to a degree at least) and that, try as we might, we cannot predict what life will do, but how many times can you use this as a plot device? This was the entire story to Jurassic Park I, and II, and III. He does make an interesting point about psychology and how individuals may be very insightful of the problems facing other people but are usually pretty bad at understanding their own psychological problems. Overall the book was interesting to read but not my favorite Crichton novel.
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