Rating: 
Summary: Good start, weak finish.
Review: I used to really like Michael Crichton, and I still *want* to like Michael Crichton. Unfortunately, _Prey_ isn't his comeback novel. It feels like he's in such a hurry to get the books out these days that the parts of them are just sketched into place. The idea of the nanotechnology baddie in the book is timely and clearly well-researched. The ending, chase scenes, and all the associated stuff aroudn the relationships, could all have been left out. Too bad.
Rating: 
Summary: God, please spare us PREY - The Sequel !
Review: Michael Crichton 's PREY is by far his worst book. Building on some reliable technical information, he produces a cloud of rogue nanoparticles. Just a few days in the wild are enough for them to evolve into superpowerful swarms. A few infected humans are transformed in zombies, controlled by their alien and evil intelligence. The nanoparticles also reassemble and rearrange themselves at will, to mimic with perfection any human being they choose to. They evolve so fast, so well, that a makeshift biochemical process is worked out to synthetize brand new nanoparticles, expanding the swarms (animals and a few unlucky humans, purposedly hunted and killed by the swarms, are the raw material). Luckily, swarms and zombies are no match to an heroic human couple, provided by Crichton to unveil their evil secrets and torch them. Let's pray God will spare us PREY - The Sequel !
Rating: 
Summary: Not up to par
Review: This book *should* keep you racing for the ending. But then again, you've got nothing to show for the ride. The ending is rather choppy and leaves the feeling of "Well?? And?" The use of first person was a bad idea. For example, when the narrator is in danger, you know he has to live. Because there would be no book without the narrator, he has to survive. That really cuts down on the suspense. One thing that really annoyed me about Prey was the continuous way of explaining things that ordinary people not involved in biology/nanotechnology/genetic fields wouldn't know. First, Jack (the narrator and pseudo-hero) has a little chat and speaks in indecipherable language for about a page and half. Then another page and a half explains what the heck the two characters were talking about. And so it continues: Dialogue-explain, dialouge-explain, etc. The plot itself has huge holes and is very Stephen King-esque. A mystery/horror/this-is-going-to-happen-someday-and-your-job-is-to-prevent-is prevalent throughout the novel. OK, but not the best Crichton out there.
Rating: 
Summary: Silly page-turner
Review: This one rated four stars simply because it had me staying with it late at night to get to the ending. It is about swarms of tiny robots, molecular robots, swarming around, and up to no good. I bet you think the good guys will win in the end, the bad guys will die, the children will probably be alright. The children in this book, I don't know if you root for them to be alright or to die a grisly death. They are about the most annoying children I've ever seen in fiction. You want to smack one of them, and the other one, well you want to smack that one too. One thing I don't get. The swarms of tiny robots can be blown away by a strong wind. So why not attack them with battery-powered Vornado fans? Or politicians. In any event, the story gets quite silly when the swarms of molecular robots start taking the shape of the people in the story. I guess it would get some oohs and aahs in the movies. But it is ridiculous. All in all, it is a knockoff of Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty intense, but could have been better
Review: This is a novel a lot like andromeda strain in various ways: there are really tiny creatures out to get the heroes, there is a secure environment that is the only thing stopping the tiny creatures from getting the heroes, a couple people die pretty brutally in between the first and last pages, and the book has the most retarding ending, which shouldn't even be called an 'ending.' With that said, as with all the Michael Crichton books I have read (which is almost all of them), I really enjoyed this one (minus the ending). If you want to do something kind of fun, read this book, and then read *Dean Koontz's "By the Light of the Moon". You could pretend it is a sequel to Prey with new characters and a new location, and that would make up for the ending of Prey. *You will know why after you read both books
Rating:
Summary: First 100 pages 4 stars - balance decays in a nanosecond!
Review: In the first third of the book, Crichton delivers a fun read particularly with the emerging technologies and future possibilities of combining genetic and software engineering. Overall I liked the book, but by the middle, I tired of the the same old teritory that I had just visited a chapter back. Chapters flow by all taking place with the same cast of characters in the same setting asking the same questions. The book labors in the middle to try and tie up loose ends and reveal character traits both good and bad. The ending feels as if the editior got tired too, and told Chricton to end it and move on to his next effort. Worth the read but invest in the paperback and save your dough for a more "library-worthy" hardcover. - B.C.
Rating:
Summary: One of the worst books EVER.
Review: I've never submitted an Amazon review before, but if I can stop just ONE person from reading this piece of trash, save just ONE person from suffering through the clumsy prose of this wreck of a novel, then it's worth speaking out. I used to look forward to a new Crichton novel every couple years. But I think Crichton's novels have gotten progressively worse and more unreadable as the years have passed. And just when you think he's hit rock bottom (i.e.: Timeline, Airframe, etc), along comes Prey. Prey is so awful I can't even describe its awful awfulness to you. I'm just hoping my repeated use of the word 'awful' will convey how awful this novel truly is. After finishing Prey, I decided I would never waste money on a Crichton novel again. Quite possibly one of the worst books I have ever read. I only wish that there were a '0 star' rating available.
Rating:
Summary: WORTHY ENTRY FOR CRICHTON'S WORKS
Review: I've read almost all of Crichton's novels and all have been excellent, Prey is another one of those novels. Prey unlike Airframe or Disclosure deals with alot of scientific facts concerning the new area of nano-technology (little mini-machines) It this novel our hero, Jack Foreman is a computer programmer turned house husband who is out of work do in part to the internet bubble burst. Jack is assigned a job to figure out why a large quantity of nano particles are unable to be controlled, what then happens is these nana-particles start to terrorize the lab and it's techs. It is a quick enjoyable read, but there are a few flaws in the story line that I had trouble with, like why would a programmer go out and risk his life to stop this swarm of nano particles? I also think the subject matter is pretty complicated for those who aren't too technical.
Yet, this is not O'Henry, there is no truth to be seen here, it is a fun fast read and very interesting at the same time. I thought the ending was very suspenseful and nicely done.
Just an aside, I can see how Michael Crichton's ugly divorce made it's way into this novel, by painting jack's wife as a heartless, power loving B!$@H, I think he was trying to send a message to her.
Rating:
Summary: Four nanostars
Review: Four nanostars which means three normal stars, at the beginning the book will keep you interested, but as you are reading it gets slower and slower, and as all of Crichton's books the end is to long, it could be shorter and a little bit better, another thing is that all the book could be real, but the end is just a fantasy, he could think better on how to end this book. Nevertheless Crichton is a very good writer but is very difficult to write always very good books.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to put down
Review: One of the strength of Michael Crichton's is that he writes about such a broad range of subjects, and most of them well done. This is another example. That is truly amazing to me. How does he do it?? I'm not sure exactly how likely the little creatures in the book would come to pass, but I couldn't help think back to the nanites in Star Trek. I do feel very sorry for Julia. But yes, this is another one that read like a movie script. For that matter, though, didn't a couple other of his books read that way too? But maybe he is one of the few authors I can forgive for that. Rising Sun, Jurassic Park, Disclosure all have turned out to be good movies and books. Prey has great movie potential too. But he definitely has my respect. Who else can write about Japanese companies, dinosaurs and virtual reality and space virus (Andromeda Strain), etc., with such aplomb?
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