First, Prey - great story - very engaging, thrilling.  Mr. Crichton is truly a master of suspenseful story-telling.  I found myself sitting in the car after arriving at a destination to continue listening to the CDs.  The characters are well-formed - at first some seemed a bit odd and inconsistent, but that is explained by the end.  The whole book occurs in a week -most of it in 2 days, so there is a lot of suspense and excitement packed in.  Overall, I'd recommend the book/audio book.

However, WHAT is up with Michael Crichton and the lectures?  I'm in the process of listening/reading the books I haven't already read.  I read State of Fear recently and felt like I was being beat over the head with envirnomental politics.  There was certainly less of that in Prey, but certainly the overall message was one of research ethics (or lack thereof) and the book ends with more of a lecture.  I just don't find that enjoyable, and I'm hesitant to read any new books he comes out with since there seems to be a trend toward this.  I understand, Mr. Crichton's books have always had a "when research goes bad" theme, but when reading fiction I don't want to be berated with the author's political/environmental/ethical viewpoints as much as Mr. Crichton has been doing recently.
First, Prey - great story - very engaging, thrilling. Mr. Crichton is truly a master of suspenseful story-telling. I found myself sitting in the car after arriving at a destination to continue listening to the CDs. The characters are well-formed - at first some seemed a bit odd and inconsistent, but that is explained by the end. The whole book occurs in a week -most of it in 2 days, so there is a lot of suspense and excitement packed in. Overall, I'd recommend the book/audio book. However, WHAT is up with Michael Crichton and the lectures? I'm in the process of listening/reading the books I haven't already read. I read State of Fear recently and felt like I was being beat over the head with envirnomental politics. There was certainly less of that in Prey, but certainly the overall message was one of research ethics (or lack thereof) and the book ends with more of a lecture. I just don't find that enjoyable, and I'm hesitant to read any new books he comes out with since there seems to be a trend toward this. I understand, Mr. Crichton's books have always had a "when research goes bad" theme, but when reading fiction I don't want to be berated with the author's political/environmental/ethical viewpoints as much as Mr. Crichton has been doing recently.