Probably the worst book I have ever read (and believe me, that's saying something!). Michael Crichton (who used to write so well!) offends every branch of the sciences in this book. Suspending disbelief is one thing, but to buy this book would require a frontal lobotomy. Unless you want to have your intelligence offended, don't bother.

Part sci-fi, part potential pre-apocalypse. If that is even possible.I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the stay at home dad vs. stay at home mom. Actually, I enjoyed the first part of the book, much better than the last part. I think it touched something I could relate to. I enjoyed the harried housedad immensely. I thought, I have seen that guy. I may not understand the techno babble so much, but I get the idea of nano technology. It could go really good, or really bad. Maybe there are just some things we should not do. Maybe there should be some required ethics class for all these kinds of things. But I have a soft place in my heart for all things plague. I find them immensely interesting and terrifying all at once. And that is why I gave this 4 stars. The last part of the story fell a bit flat, even if was "the climax". It felt wrapped up a little to quickly. And a little Hollywood. None the less, I could not put the book down.

Hated this book! I am convinced that this was done by a ghost writer as it was not up to Crichton's normal detailed story telling. I was bored, I didn't believe the story, and the characters were flat for me. Gag.

This started off so promising! If it was 100 pages shorter, I'd be happier, but things started to get weird and it felt, like the nanoparticles, Crichton lost his goal.

While I have been compared to Michael Crichton in a few big reviews, he is still the master of the science-based monster story. Jurassic Park should probably also be on this list (the movie had a profound influence on me...back when I wasn’t reading novels), but for me, Prey is the most readable of his books, and the first of his I read that was in first person. That stuck with me, and over the years, I’ve shifted most of my writing from third person to first.

Like all Chrichton books, I really enjoyed this blend of modern technology, science, and fiction. It's an entertaining way to learn something new while enjoying a decent story. Yeah, it can be a slower read at times while you work thru the descriptive science, but I never felt that it distracted from the experience. Not as good as Jurassic Park, but a tad better than Sphere and much better than Congo, Timeline, & Eaters of the Dead.

Ein grandioses Buch, absolut spannend und erschreckend aktuell nicht nur wegen der angesprochene Nanotechnologie, sondern eher der Rücksichtslosigkeit, mit der Forschung voran getrieben wird. Das darüber die Büchse der Pandora geöffnet wird ist belanglos.
Wirtschaftsinteressen haben absoluten Vorrang oder wurden hier die Wissenschaftler bereits von ganz anderer Seite korrumpiert?

This was a book I had to read for a class and I hated every second of it. I hardly even know where to start.

First off, our protagonist is a boring, unendearing, Standard White Man. He is Always Right. Period. The novel opens with him buying placemats -- an AGONIZING SCENE, which requires him to decide on the color yellow, talk to the store clerks to find enough mats in the color he needs, wax poetic about how him nobly standing up to a corrupt boss has left him as a House Husband. This scene is all a setup to a joke where his wife tells him to not get yellow, whatever he does. This SEEMS to be the usual "oh, men don't know how to decorate; isn't this wacky!" joke, but we're quickly made aware that he is, in fact, actually right. He's right about his wife having an affair -- whom he KNOWS is having an affair because she's wearing heels and a tight skirt. He's right about the goings-on in the household. He was right in his crusade against the corrupt boss. And he is especially right when it comes to the women in his life.

This brings us to SWM's conclusion that his wife is having an affair because in losing his job and becoming a House Husband, he's lost his masculinity, and so Julia must be wandering. While this could possibly be explored by a better writer, just a few pages later Julia BEATS HER BABY in frustration. After this, nothing Julia does can be right in the eyes of the reader. She has committed child abuse. She is Everything Wrong to SWM's Everything Right.

But the sexism isn't just limited to Julia. The women in this novel are either evil -- Julia -- fodder for the SWM to use to flex his Big Brain -- his daughter, a coworker's underage girlfriend -- or there for the express purpose of benefiting SWM -- his sister, a coworker described breasts-first, and his Final Girl. SWM is powerful, rational where his female opposites are weak, emotional, and volatile. I could write an essay on how this book touts a perceived loss of masculinity as simply a new outlet for power, while demonizing the loss of subservience and femininity. Someday I might.

Second off, much of this book is BORING. For a thriller, I was very rarely thrilled. There were some tense moments, and some horrifying imagery, but there was so much time spent just explaining things--much of which DIDN'T need to be explained. Our SWM spews just about every thought he has in his head, and it makes the slow moments feel bloated and the fast moments feel sluggish. I started listening to the abridged audiobook by mistake, and was at first amazed they'd been able to condense a 500-page book into a five-hour audiobook. After hearing all of the overlong explanations, mind-numbing thoughts and day-to-day descriptions of SWM's life, I completely understand. There is no shortage of fat to be trimmed.

I would never recommend this book to anyone. I don't think I could ever recommend Crichton himself again, after what I've learned about him as a person.

To sum up, as I've been telling any of my friends who would listen: this was a Garbage Book by a Garbage Man and I'm happy to never have anything to do with it again.

Highly enjoyable !

It’s been a wile sense I have read a book that has kept me as engaged as this one did. Crichton was far ahead of his time with this one. When I was reading it I assumed this was another one of his post death releases but it actually came out in 2002. Although like “ Airframe” and “ Congo” if you don’t already have an interest in this book’s subject matter you may not enjoy it.

An entertaining enough read but not up to Crichton's usual standards.

Dnf