Michael Crichton has a pretty good schtick. Research a current scientific or sociological trend to death, then regurgitate it in an easily-readable novel format palatable to the lowest common denominator. He does it often and he does it well. Perhaps too well. Because it's beginning to appear as though he's doing the same thing over and over again ...

"Prey" is an interesting concept, concerning the efforts to develop nanotechnology. Of course, in Crichton's world, science refuses to behave; arrogant scientists push limits and the scientific subjects break loose, causing a big mess and hijinx ensue. One right-thinking scientist warns against using the new technology before it is properly tested, then saves the day with his superior knowledge and skill.

In "Prey", the hero is stay-at-home dad Jack Forman, a former programmer who loses his job because he finds out the CEO is morally-corrupt and tries to blow the whistle. Crichton spends pages and pages describing how Jack takes to being a house husband, changing diapers, fixing dinner, refereeing squabbles. We get the point: Jack's a Good Guy, with Capital Letters.

Jack's wife, Julia, works for a company that has developed a medical imaging system that uses nanotechnology to take pictures of the inside of the body. This is the company for which things go Terribly Wrong. A cloud of nanoparticles breaks loose and is terroroizing the fabrication facility deep in the Nevada desert.

Because Jack worked on the code that runs the particles, he's called in to save the day and this is where the book becomes "Jurassic Nanoparticles". At the facility, we are introduced to a group of people who are working on the project. Their names are not important, for they are barely-sketched characters to be used as nano-fodder for the remainder of the novel.

The first third of the novel was almost unreadable. Crichton attempts to get us into the head of Joe Average, having conversations about diapers and managing a household where the kids slap each other and call one another "Monkey Butt". But it appears Crichton himself is a long, long way from being an average guy. I doubt he ever shopped for diapers or picked up his own dry-cleaning, so he instead seems to have cribbed all his knowledge of family life from "Mr. Mom" and "E.T."

Things DO heat up a bit when he gets to the facility in the desert. This is where Crichton shows his chops as a master story teller. His writing is still a little sloppy and choppy, but he keeps things going by building and releasing tension at a steady rate. Many questions are answered, only to raise more questions. This is what Crichton does best and it is why I still read him.

Plotting is a little sloppy, as well, as there are many inconsistencies throughout. People behave in odd ways, contact with the nanoparticles kills some but not others and has different effects on those it doesn't kill. But this is par for the course in a Crichton novel.

..."Prey" is fun, even though you've seen it all before.

Released on Monday, January 06, 2003 at Woodland Road in Palo Alto, California USA.