Paperback. 369 pages. Published 2004. Extensive bibliograhy.


In "Prey", bestselling author Michael Crichton introduces villains 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.

RELEASE NOTES:

Posted this book (together with 9 others) to sarahbear for her new OBCZ in St Helens Tasmania, so as to aid the spread of bookcrossing in that State...

Mailed at the Post Office, Shop 36, "Totem Shopping Centre", 197 Condamine Street Balgowlah Sydney New South Wales Australia at 5pm Wednesday 07 March 2007.

Received today. Thanks heaps Cackleberry for helping to stock my new OBCZ.

RELEASE NOTES: