"A Deeply Engrossing Technological Thriller"

When Jack Forman loses his job, a role reversal takes place in the Forman household - Jack becomes the homemaker while his wife Julia becomes the sole wage earner. Gradually Jack becomes an expert on the home front while Julia becomes increasingly busy at work, or so she says. There is growing friction between husband and wife as neither of them are altogether comfortable with this change -- she feels he's alienating her from the kids while he feels that she's deliberately disrupting the household routine.

Meanwhile, the company Julia works as a Vice President for, the highly aggressive Xymos Technology, is desperately in need of another round of funds as they're on the verge of commercially developing nano-technology. Is this the only reason Julia is constantly away, tense and ill-tempered? Jack certainly hopes so, as he's unable to face the likelihood that his wife might be having an affair.

While all this is taking place, there are some odd incidences happening in the Forman home, like when the baby Amanda mysteriously gets sick, and then, equally inexplicably, becomes well but turns an alarming purplish color. Jack is constantly worried and becomes apathetic...... until he himself gets called to oversee something at the Xymos lab in the middle of the Nevada desert where, unknown to him, an ambitious experiment has suddenly and horribly gone wrong. A clueless Jack sets off hoping to discover the reason behind his wife's increasingly strange behavior, but what he does find, leaves him shocked and terrified beyond his wildest imaginations!

These days, the name Michael Crichton has become synonymous with technological as well as biological thrillers and mysteries. The unique thing about all of Crichton's books, including this one, is that while a book's premise always initially appears to be outlandish and unlikely, it nevertheless always retains the terrifying possibility of becoming a reality one day. This is largely due to the meticulous research which the author does in various fields which he then weaves and translates into a shocking saga that pits man against something mind-boggling, whether it be dinosaurs or nano-molecules, like in this book. And how man overcomes them in the face of terrifying odds, makes up the whole story.

In this book PREY, Michael Crichton has used the cutting- edge nano-technology as the premise. The somewhat slow first half of the book mainly establishes the background and relationships between the characters, introduces readers to the complexities behind nano-technology, the various ways computers these days are programmed to be autonomous and other intricate technical details. This is conveyed in a sort of lecturing manner and indeed the subject, while explained in the simplest layman terms, still remains too complicated for every single reader to understand. Meanwhile, the suspense is gently and admirably built up to an explosive level from where begins the absolutely petrifying, fast-paced, action-filled and utterly terrific second half. Crichton's research is awesome and the presentation, while not flawless, is as close as it can possibly come to it. The highly intricate plot presents many mysteries to be solved, and almost everything is resolved neat and tight.

Like all of Crichton's books, even this one will make the readers think and ponder these issues -- that no matter how much progress man makes, he still is not, and will never be qualified enough to play God; that man must learn to think of the consequences first and profits second; and last but not least, that Nature always finds a way to adapt, much to man's deep chagrin.

Reviewed by Rashmi Srinivas
Posted November 23, 2003