This is a story about nanotechnology. An experiment in the Nevada desert goes wrong and a swarm of very small particles designed to collectively form a lens with military applications is modified with unforeseen consequences. The swarm turns on it's human inventors, learns to reproduce, and becomes more sophisticated with each successive generation - and more numerous and dangerous.

Married couple Jack and Julia work together, with others at the lab, to destroy this swarm - or so it seems. There is nothing especially unique about this theme, but when put into the skilled hands of the late, great Michael Creighton, a truly spell-binding story unravels before your eyes. Few things are as they seem as the swarm learns, and kills. ( )

This book was f***ed up! Swarms of rogue, bio-engineered nano-particle cameras, that also harbor bacteria, kill things so they can reproduce AND it's a government funded project?! That's so messed up. Grant it, the "rogue" part wasn't anything that the Army knew about when they put money towards funding it, but still. It's really screwy.

I really enjoyed this story, despite some of the moments that really were... well, like I said, f***ed up. The only think keeping this from a 4 - 5 star review was what felt like an overabundance of technical mumbo-jumbo. I don't know anything about coding or programming or anything like that, so I could have done without some of the details about some of the programs. PREDPREY is based on predator and prey interactions. We get it. You're beating a dead horse going over the programming bits of it. Now, when you are explaining WHAT interactions you used or the swarm is exhibiting, ok. I Get that you may need to explain that part because not everyone is going to be familiar with stuff like that and it's important to what is immediately going on, but the technical aspect didn't need to be brought in to the extent that it was. It didn't add to the story, just served to over-explain parts of it.

This was the first of [a:Michael Crichton|5194|Michael Crichton|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1359042651p2/5194.jpg]'s work I've had the pleasure to dive into and, overall, I'd definitely recommend this book, as long as you're not one of those crazy, conspiracy-theorists. It could give you too many ideas then.

A few questions were left unanswered for me, and it just sort of bugs me more than anything. When were Vince and Bobby infected with the nanobots and why? Were they in on Xymos' plan the whole time like Ricky and Julia or were they promised some sort of package to keep quiet and just allow themselves to be infected? They were never mentioned in the wrap up chapters when Jack was going through Julia's e-mails. I also don't understand why Julia would put her family at risk like that. I mean, I'm glad it wasn't exactly a happy ending, don't get me wrong, I just would have liked a little more closure. The final question I have is more of a morbid curiosity than anything. If Ricky and the other men were able to be infected without too many inexplicable personality changes, why was Julia so severely affected by the presence of the bots in her body? ( )

I'm feeling a bit bloated right now because I read two Michael Crichton books in a row. He's an author I love to hate. The writing is so bad, it takes my breath away. But a fascination for nanotechnology drew me into this absurd tale, and as much as I wanted to blue pencil every page, I couldn't put it down. As with his other tales, the best part is the introduction. The rest is sheer nonsense. ( )

Not one of Crichton's best, but a good page turner. ( )

Pretty good thriller about nanotechnology gone amuck. Only fair SF.

Silly book. Oh, wait…

It's Crichton's usual fare. Future tech moshed up to make a singular horror show in the wrong and stupid hands. This time it's Evolution AI x Nanotech Biological Thingamajigs = Massive chaos. And poop. That stuff was poop, right? I'm sure that his science was sound, but why did he have to subject the reader to coprophagia?

All of his references are from the 1970s through the 1990s. A couple hit 2000 and 2001, and are solid science. The concepts are wild and well explained. It's the characters that put me to sleep. Boring, two-dimensional characters. ( )

I was a little surprised at some of the lower ratings on this one! While I do love the Jurassic Park books best from Crichton, I found this to be a similarly good science fiction horror story. Something I really like about both the Jurassic Park books and this one is how even though it’s a horror science fiction novel, Crichton still makes sure to give plenty of attention to the science details. Nano tech. is given a mind of its own in this story, in order to hopefully fix some issues with a nano tech product. But of course, this experiment quickly goes wrong.

I can see that Prey is a little less action heavy though and that makes some parts a little slower. Overall I found it a cool speculative piece with a good amount of horror and science mixed in. ( )

All of Crichton's books are a combination of hard science and absolutely batshit crazy conjunction. And like all the others, PREY eventually degenerates into a weird, over-the-top adventure. It's a bit like hopping on a rollercoaster and realizing after it starts to move that the seatbelt is broken. You're not sure what you're in for, but you know it will be a wild ride.

PREY is a fast read with plenty of twists and turns. The characters aren't necessarily likeable, and the writing isn't stellar, but the premise is solid and fascinating. Give this a shot if you're looking for a book about technology going wrong in the most extreme way possible. ( )

Michael Crichton's "Prey" is scary. It is, in fact, very like the Oppenheimer-led effort at creating a nuclear weapon, an atomic bomb: The scientists didn't really know whether the igniting of such a bomb might not run loose and destroy the planet!
But they did it anyway!
In this book, scientists get involved in a project that has very deleterious results ... but they work hard to keep the project secret and to keep it going.
Michael Crichton was a heck of a good writer, and a brilliant researcher.
Probably his premise is all too plausible. So it is scary.
Crichton used to be highly praised and very welcome on all the U.S. media -- till he made a sacrilegious error: He dared to question the "Chicken Little" approach of the climate hysterics.
He appeared on NPR's "Science Friday" with his blasphemy, and the host nearly had a stroke in trying to shut Crichton down.
I had never heard on that program such rudeness, such cowardly discourtesy on that program, but the host and staff lost all perspective, and all decency, when their invited guest dared, DARED, to disagree.
Dr. Crichton is gone now, but his climate position is daily being proven correct -- though of course the former "mainstream" media still remain oblivious.
By the way, Dr. Crichton's novel on climate hysteria is footnoted as if it were a scientific dissertation -- which, in a way, it is.
"Prey" shows some of author Crichton's knowledge and probably it deserves more attention be paid its premise. I do recommend it ... for people who admire good writing and who want to be scared. ( )

3.5 stars

John is a coder, but was let go from his last job, so is now a stay-at-home dad while his wife, Julia, works. Julia seems to be working a little too much… coming home late – or not at all! John is suspicious. And he has to deal with a sick baby on top of it. Oddly sick – suddenly very sick, then just as suddenly, she gets better. When he is given a chance to work where he once worked, to see if he can help fix some code, it is also where his wife has been working. He is sent out to the desert in Nevada to see if he can figure out what’s going on, where he finds some odd swarms of something run amok.

I’m not sure that’s a great summary and it is very different from the broader summary you’ll see for the book. Anyway, I listened to the audio and it mostly held my attention. I actually found John’s home life pretty amusing, particularly the fighting siblings (that was pretty realistic – lol!). Was interesting reading now, in 2023, about Crichton’s speculation of artificial intelligence back in 2002. ( )

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This may be my favorite Crichton book, next to Jurassic Park, of course. A great technological thriller. Although unrealistic at times, the science in this book is very real. It is very descriptive and verbose, with alot of scientific background and explanations. Some may find this a bit difficult or boring to follow, but the characters and central plot keep it interesting. ( )

Yet another of the luddite delusions of Crichton (in this one, the main character programs sophisticated swarm algorithms using BASIC...) ( )

I've always enjoyed Crichton books, but Prey might rank at the bottom of that list for me. Not that the book was terrible, just not as exciting or engaging as the rest of his books. Prey was a little too heavy in techno-speak for my liking and did plod along in places before the protagonist finally got to the bottom of the story. The plot - nanotechnology run amok - is plausible, but it didn't jump off the page for this reader.
The book's last quarter picked up the pace and concluded with a satisfying ending. With that said, though, if you're new to Crichton you might want to start somewhere else in his volume of work to really appreciate his imagination and genius. ( )

An interesting suspenseful thriller that questions what would happen if humans overstepped their boundaries in an effort to create new science. ( )

Almost a little too scientisy for me, but overall a really good story and well written book! ( )

Good read and yes we could go down this path with Nano Tech. It gets you thinking. ( )

If I hadn't already read Greg Bear's "Blood Music" before I read this I wd've liked this alot more. But this just seems like a rewrite of "Blood Music" (even if it's not) w/ less interesting characters. I read in the Wikipedia entry for Crichton that most of his stories are cautionary tales of technology gone awry despite "failsafes" - w/ the additional comment that he's NOT anti-technology. I never saw him as anti-technology, I just saw him as using the usual fear tactics to drive his plots. ( )

After reading Crichton's autobiography I decided to read one of the books that was not already made into a movie.

Prey

Crichton invested a lot of intellect into the book into nano-technology. This is yet another book of man against creation ... this time man against nano-particles (mini-robots). A software architect is called in to eradicate these rogue swarms of nano-particles that are roaming the Nevada desert.

The books touches upon all kinds of technology and theory that I would think would leave most audiences befuddled. Still it gave my brain a tickle trying to grasp the programming theory.

Took a few chapters to get going for me, but like the nano-swarms, my enjoyment increased exponentially until the end. ( )

Wonderful!!! self aware nano technology. ( )

Very tense book, exciting from the first to the last page.
Well written and high technical biotech/gentech story.

One of the best books ever read. ( )

Great story, with a lot of technical detail. The detail doesn't interfere with the story though, the action is quite tight and keeps you in the story. ( )

It was okay. Certainly not Crichton's best, but worthy of finishing. ( )

Here was a very descriptive "what could go wrong" regarding nanotechnology. There were some parts of the novel that were exciting, but altogether the long descriptions couldn't hold my attention. I was, however, impressed with the character development in such a busy story. ( )

In the Nevada desert, an experiment has gone horribly wrong. A cloud of nanoparticles-micro-robots-has escaped from the laboratory. This cloud is self-sustaining and self-reproducing. It is intelligent and learns from experience. For all practical purposes, it is alive. It has been programmed as a predator. It is evolving swiftly, becoming more deadly with each passing hour. Every attempt to destroy it has failed. And we are the prey. SOFT