Rating: 
Summary: A Thriller Impossible to Put Down...
Review: ...or maybe the second time around is the charm.A recently laid-off engineer becomes a Mr. Mom to his family as his wife becomes head of a biomedical sub division. It seems that this engineer didn't know that he had to play the game a certain way and ultimately was in line to be blamed for the demise of the firm. Take the severence, lay low, do the domestic thing for a while and we'll keep in touch, he's been told. Meanwhile his wife and her firm is doing something so hush-hushed in the desert that even the feds aren't fully aware of...but the engineer has the clues when his wife comes home acting strange, and she shows him a DVD of the goings on at her firm...also, a few nights later the baby has a strange reaction after the 'lady of the house' cuddles him, causing an emergency trip to the hospital and the development of an important clue to how to deal with the dangerous swarms being produced in the desert. The 'lady of the house' is acting so strange, she's got to be having an affair, the engineer surmises. And then, the engineer is hired to consult with the firm in the desert. And this is where the real terror starts. And, as the saying goes, all hell turns loose. A superb page turner with more twists than a DNA strand. It will stand the hairs on your neck on end, as well as allow you form a loving relationship with your home vacuum cleaner...also, when you finally find out what *really* is going on, it will give a scarier subtext to the earlier parts of the novel...
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but Very Flawed
Review: Crichton's "Prey" explores the possibilities and the potential catastrophies that might occur with nanotechnology. One reading a Chrichton novel expects a consistent dose of science, yet despite the interesting theme of this novel, the first 130 pages or so of the novel is devoted entirely to the main character's family problems. I am amazed that I continued reading about such boring and ultimately inconsequential situations. Although Crichton's characters in "Prey" are more "real" and human than Chrichton's characters usually are, the dialogue is ridiculous. The main characters children speak to each other (and their parents) like brats. The adults rarely sound much better. The novel has many positive points and the middle portions of the novel are interesting and the pages turn quickly. The ending is poorly written and did not satisfy me. Although Chrichton attempts to tie the ending to the beginning, this technique, while usually effective, did not work well here. Without a doubt, Crichton is a brilliant mind and a great writer, but "Prey" needed a team of editors. He certainly could have done better.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling !
Review: I could not put this book down . I found the story very fascinating and scary all at the same time . Which, keep me compelled to read the book to the very last word . Good job Michael !
Rating: 
Summary: Fun, but more of the same...from a master of a dying genre?
Review: Michael Crichton has made a name for himself writing techno/sci-fi-ish thrillers such as this one. While some of his past books are truly original and have opened up new fields of interest to the general public (Jurassic Park is an example of this) this one does not quite make it that far. Don't get me wrong, the man is a master of the genre and leads the reader on a fast-paced, somewhat twisty path through the story. The book is interesting in that it is written in the first person--something Crichton does not normally do. But this deos exactly what is intended--breathe new life into a story and storytelling model that is somewhat old. In classic Crichton fashion the book begins slowly, introducing the ideas, the characters, the villains, and then speeds up and speeds up until it crahses to an end. This sort of pacing is what makes his books hard to put down, and also what makes them into fun films, but it is also formulaic and getting a bit tired. The idea this book centers around--a nanotechnology swarm--is certainly new to my eyes. And it is an interesting one. But unlike some of his past novels, this one does not make me want to know more about nanotechnology, or bacterial growth, or any of the idea in it. And furthermore, the science, while somewhat strong, really tends more towards science-fiction here. The merging of biology and technology especially is far beyond anything scientists have accomplished and, while Crichton presents it as an emerging danger, I wonder how much of that is a marketing ploy. Overall, a fun book, but not worth buying in hardcover--a perfect summer paperback if you ask me. Fun, exciting, and even a bit thoughtful, but beyond that nothing too fantastic. It ekes out considerably more than I thought possible from a style and genre that Mr. Crichton seems to have worked to death, but it is getting sick to be sure, and eventual death, while delayed, is certainly a strong possibility.
Rating:
Summary: One of Crichton's best...and that's saying something.
Review: I was a bit unsure of this book when I first got it. It seemed very much like Crichton's early work Jurrasic Park. Was Crichton simply repackaging an old formula in a new wrapper? In truth there are a lot of elements in Prey that are similar to Jurrasic Park as well as his book Sphere towards the end of the book. Technology gone wrong and the suspense that there is something out there wanting to get at the people inside. These elements are present in both books. Don't let that worry you because it doesn't matter. This is a first rate thriller that stands on it's own and will please any Crichton fan. What makes this book much different however from his previous books is it's downright creepy. Creepy like no other Crichton book that I can recall. It's almost as if Crichton had worked with Stephen King. It's almost like a old fashion ghost story but with technology rather than supernatural explinations. Hard to write a review without giving much away and I don't want to spoil anything but needless to say Crichton has shown once again that he's one of the top writers of today.
Rating:
Summary: Ernestos espanol review
Review: Prey by Michael Crichton, is a novel about micro oraganisms and how they rebel against mankind, and how the once predators become the prey. The setting of Prey is in a desert outside of the city where a micro organism is being bred. The main character is named Jack and he goes out into the desert to try and cure the situation. This book is excellent and I recommend it to anyone who has or has not read Michael Crichton before. It is science fiction and nonfiction blended into one. It holds your attention and you won't be able to put it down.
Rating:
Summary: A Disappointment
Review: Mr. Crichton's Introduction is almost worth the price of admission. The book starts out well, working against the premise of the Introduction. About 3/4 through, the author seriously falls into a "screenplay" mentality. The final fight sequence (it had to be there) bears little resemblance to reality. But in the last three pages, Michael Crichton seems to remember what he was there for. His bibliography is very complete, and unusual for a novel. If you can put aside the almost irrelevant chase scenes, the book is an excellent discussion of nanotechnology.
Rating: 
Summary: Son Of Your Gardner
Review: Prey is such an oustanding book. It's told in first person which is really cool. It's about a guy who finds out that the program he designed went into the making of a nanoswarm which is self productive and self reproducing. There were a lot of plot twists and the characters were really well thought out.
Rating:
Summary: ...if biotech can be Gothic...
Review: In Michael Crighton's "Prey", we may have a new genre that could be called "Gothic Biotech." Using his masterful skills, honed over thirty years of writing best selling suspense novels, Crighton presents us with a riveting tale of a bio-engineered organism that rises up with a will and a vengeance, aiming to control its creators. From the labs of the Silicon Valley, scientists pressured by ever-increasing market competitions enter a dangerous realm. A secret facility "outside Reno", Crighton tells us, is the scene for the nonstop plot. (As a northern Nevada, I must object that Crighton seems to have confused our climate with that of southern Nevada outside Vegas. Our "high-mountain" desert just isn't as fierce as the one he describes!) Crighton does the domestic scenes well, as "house-husband" Jack Forman, between jobs as a hightech computer programmer, struggles with family routines and unruly children in his new role. He writes in the voice of one who has been there, and women will appreciate the authenticity. The pace is trademark-fast, the suspense is intriguing, and there are surprises throughout. "Prey" is another good one from
Crighton's ever-fertile imagination. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: I suppose it could have been worse
Review: I was extemely impressed with Michael Chriton when I read this novel. Not at the quality of the writing, the plot, or the science though; rather I was impressed that he could make nanobots act just like dinosaurs. The writing is still just as gripping as in his other books, and the inconsistencies in the plot aren't too obvious, but none of the characters are really well developed, and they often act in ways that add drama to the story, rather than as a consiquece of their personalities or logic. The science is perhaps the worst thing about the book. In Jurassic Park the only strange thing seemed to be Chriton's belief that Zoos couldn't possbily work. In Prey, though, we see numerous examples of confusion about the sizes of things, over and misuse of buzzwords, and downright magical evolution. The creatures in Prey seem to evolve new abilities in just one or two generations, evolve without selective pressure, and evolve as a group rather than as individuals-all without exchanging genes. If you want something fun to read, adn don't have too much background in science, this book could be quite fun. Just don't believe the science.
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