Nightstrike's Reviews: Prey

And once more, a novel by Michael Crichton!

I checked out several of these from the library, and by far, Prey proved to be the most . . . how do I put it? Disturbing. I don't mean that in a crude sense, either. Simply put, I haven't read something that's put me on edge this much since Michael Grant's first section of the Gone series. Something about malicious swarms, I suppose. Anyways, onto the book itself.

For reference, here's the synopsis on the inside jacket:

"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's most 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."

Okay, I'm going to be honest here. I was hesitant to read this. The synopsis is vague, the reviews vary vastly, but I decided to take a chance, and frankly, I don't regret it. I went into this, fairly unsure, and even considered putting it down, as the main character did not seem to have direct involvement in any sort of crisis as of yet. However, I had read Micro and Next, so I was going to 'endure' this one as well.

Warning: Spoiler-Heavy Ahead! (Somewhat)

(Ah, it's so nice to see those four words...)

The book starts off with something of a "flash-forward," with the main character, Jack, effectively fighting for his life, having seemingly infected himself and his children with something. Then, rewind, he's apparently jobless, and not quite sure what's going on with his wife. At first he thinks she's having an affair, but he couldn't be any more wrong. The company his wife was working for is experimenting with nanotechnology, and it has a plethora of applications. However, it would seem that things are going in a similar direction to Crichton's Jurassic Park, and the scientists do in fact have no clue what they're doing. Soon it becomes apparent that it's the nanotech that's in control, rather than the creators, but amusingly enough, Jack doesn't seem able to put two and two together until much later in the book, as he witnesses the swarms evolve.

Overall Rating: 9/10