Certainly not Crichton at his best, but a suspenseful (albeit a tad boring) read nonetheless.

Listened to on CD. One of Crichton's earliest works. It is dated for the 21st century, but his style and formula is fairly clear as far back as the early 1970's. The only difference is that there is a little more character development than in his later novels. BUT ONLY a LITTLE! The possible relationship with the detective and female doctor wants to go somewhere but doesn't quite catch. The book ends very abruptly. I think Crichton finished it like that in order to generate talk and discussion about the subject at hand.

I would have loved to have heard an interview with Crichton in the 21st century regarding the subject matter. I have a brother with epilepsy and he has a Va-gal nerve stimulator that does what Harry Benson's electrodes did. The only difference is that it actually helps my brother to arrest seizure activity and he is hardly more machine for it.

REgardless, it is a fairly good book and worth checking out if you are a fan. I started the movie, but haven't finished it yet. It seems to follow the book quite well so far.

This Crichton book didn’t age as well as some others. All the discussion of computing was obviously cutting edge in 1971, but feels pretty dated now. But of course Crichton is a master of using technology as the backdrop for telling incredibly engaging, incredibly *human* stories. Still a solid read even if you find yourself skimming a couple of chapters that deep-dive into the technology.

Enjoyed this one.. Nice to read something a bit older sometimes.. interesting technological thriller