There's something about Michael Crichton's novels that makes you feel more intelligent as you read them. It must be the subject matter the novels are based on and the ease of description and explanation that Crichton weaves into the story. Crichton writes of things most people wouldn't think of. And yet they're not so far-fetched as though the ideas sprang from Mars. His novels are usually based on some type of scientific fact. Take, for instance, his novel Prey. In this novel we learn a little bit about nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is the science wherein small devices or structures are formed by using atoms and molecules on the scale of nanometres.

The entire story spans only the length of seven days. Jack Forman is the protagonist and tells the story in the first person as events unfold. Jack's work background is with computers. At the start of the book we learn he used to manage a team of programmers before he lost his job. The programs they write are very specific. They write what are called "distributed parallel processing or agent-based programs."

"These programs model biological processes by creating virtual agents inside the computer and then letting the agents interact to solve real-world problems...For example, one of our programs imitated ant foraging-how ants find the shortest path to food-to route traffic through a big telephone network. Other programs mimicked the behavior of termites, swarming bees, and stalking lions."

Now that Jack is no longer working, he stays at home and watches his and his wife Julia's three children.

Julia Forman is the vice president of a company called "Xymos Tech" where she is overseeing a project involving nanotechnology in a medical sphere. Small nano cameras are injected into the bloodstream where they can transmit pictures of the inside of the body. It is at this point that all semblance of normalcy between these two characters comes to a mysterious end. Julia's behavior becomes very erratic and uncharacteristic. She works constantly and fails to return home at a decent hour. She leaves too early in the mornings. Her mood becomes defensive and volatile. Even her physical appearance starts to take on a leaner and edgier look.

Thinking his wife is having an affair with someone from her work, Jack accepts a job offer to work at the same location as Julia. The facility is located in the desert in Nevada. There he finds that some strange events have occurred at the facility. A swarm of nano cameras has escaped the building and is now malfunctioning outside in the desert. It did not respond to the electrical summons to return back to the facility when it first went missing and it has begun a self-sustaining existence on its own. It is also murderous. For all of its behavioral traits and actions, the swarm is "alive" and bloodthirsty. It can kill anything and anyone within a minute. And it continues to come back to the facility to try to find a way inside. Everyone inside the facility is essentially trapped. It's up to Jack to figure out how to disable and kill the swarm since the nano cameras were built according to one of his computer programs.

There is one man, Ricky, who seems somewhat opposed to the swarm's demise. Why would he be so opposed to the one thing that could save all of their lives? And Julia's still acing strangely too. There must be something deeper and darker going on...

Prey is true to Crichton's style and usual gripping performance. It is suspensefully thrilling! Often a chapter will end with a one-liner that pulls you out of your seat in surprise and compels you to continue reading. There is also a mystery in the characters' behavior that is very enjoyable. Just when you feel you've figured out the mystery, you reach the end and realize it wasn't exactly what you may have thought. The only drawback to the novel is Crichton's use of some unsavory expletives peppered throughout the dialogue. Apart from that, the novel was extremely interesting and engaging.
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There's something about Michael Crichton's novels that makes you feel more intelligent as you read them. It must be the subject matter the novels are based on and the ease of description and explanation that Crichton weaves into the story. Crichton writes of things most people wouldn't think of. And yet they're not so far-fetched as though the ideas sprang from Mars. His novels are usually based on some type of scientific fact. Take, for instance, his novel Prey. In this novel we learn a little bit about nanotechnology. Nanotechnology is the science wherein small devices or structures are formed by using atoms and molecules on the scale of nanometres. The entire story spans only the length of seven days. Jack Forman is the protagonist and tells the story in the first person as events unfold. Jack's work background is with computers. At the start of the book we learn he used to manage a team of programmers before he lost his job. The programs they write are very specific. They write what are called "distributed parallel processing or agent-based programs. "

"These programs model biological processes by creating virtual agents inside the computer and then letting the agents interact to solve real-world problems... For example, one of our programs imitated ant foraging-how ants find the shortest path to food-to route traffic through a big telephone network. Other programs mimicked the behavior of termites, swarming bees, and stalking lions. "

Now that Jack is no longer working, he stays at home and watches his and his wife Julia's three children. Julia Forman is the vice president of a company called "Xymos Tech" where she is overseeing a project involving nanotechnology in a medical sphere. Small nano cameras are injected into the bloodstream where they can transmit pictures of the inside of the body. It is at this point that all semblance of normalcy between these two characters comes to a mysterious end. Julia's behavior becomes very erratic and uncharacteristic. She works constantly and fails to return home at a decent hour. She leaves too early in the mornings. Her mood becomes defensive and volatile. Even her physical appearance starts to take on a leaner and edgier look. Thinking his wife is having an affair with someone from her work, Jack accepts a job offer to work at the same location as Julia. The facility is located in the desert in Nevada. There he finds that some strange events have occurred at the facility. A swarm of nano cameras has escaped the building and is now malfunctioning outside in the desert. It did not respond to the electrical summons to return back to the facility when it first went missing and it has begun a self-sustaining existence on its own. It is also murderous. For all of its behavioral traits and actions, the swarm is "alive" and bloodthirsty. It can kill anything and anyone within a minute. And it continues to come back to the facility to try to find a way inside. Everyone inside the facility is essentially trapped. It's up to Jack to figure out how to disable and kill the swarm since the nano cameras were built according to one of his computer programs. There is one man, Ricky, who seems somewhat opposed to the swarm's demise. Why would he be so opposed to the one thing that could save all of their lives? And Julia's still acing strangely too. There must be something deeper and darker going on... Prey is true to Crichton's style and usual gripping performance. It is suspensefully thrilling! Often a chapter will end with a one-liner that pulls you out of your seat in surprise and compels you to continue reading. There is also a mystery in the characters' behavior that is very enjoyable. Just when you feel you've figured out the mystery, you reach the end and realize it wasn't exactly what you may have thought. The only drawback to the novel is Crichton's use of some unsavory expletives peppered throughout the dialogue. Apart from that, the novel was extremely interesting and engaging. [... ]