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Prey

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Prey

By: Michael Crichton
Narrated by: Robert Sean Leonard
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About this listen

From the Number One international bestselling author of Jurassic Park comes this classic Crichton page-turner, weaving together heart-pounding thrills with cutting-edge technology.

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.

As fresh as today’s headlines, Michael Crichton’s most compelling novel yet tells the story of a mechanical plague, and the desperate efforts of a handful of scientists to stop it. Drawing on up-to-the-minute science fact, PREY takes us into the emerging realms of nanotechnology and artificial distributed intelligence – in a story of breathtaking suspense.

©2002 Michael Crichton (P)2002 HarperCollins UK Action & Adventure Adventure Espionage Fantasy Genetic Engineering Hard Science Fiction Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Science Fiction Spies & Politics Suspense Technothrillers Thriller & Suspense Scary

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Critic reviews

"Crichton is the master of the sci-tech thriller, and nowhere is that more evident than in his latest page-turner, a scary, wild ride that is, without a doubt, his best in years." (Booklist)
"From the opening pages of Crichton's electrifying new thriller...readers will know they are in the hands of a master storyteller." (Publishers Weekly)
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I enjoyed the story but it was very irritating that a loud 80s style horror refrain played at the start and end of every chapter.

Annoying music at chapter start and end.

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The silly music is annoying and it would be good if it was unabridged the narrator was fine
It’s a good story

Good but

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This is a fantastic story. I read the book years ago and wanted to relive the story on Audible. This is an interesting story and Crichton at his best.
The performance of this audio book is great.

Crichton at his best.

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another great michael crichton book bit short but excellent gripping and with lots of suspense leading up to the climax

Great

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Some interesting ideas, but bored sounding narration and abridged version isn't too exciting. An average Crichton thriller.

Average Crichton. The dull narration doesn't help.

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The reader was really good, although the overall story is a bit bit anticlimactic. Nevertheless this is an enjoyable listen for its brief runtime.

Brief and brisk, not Crichton’s best but still gripping.

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A fine, if predictable, sci-fi technothriller spin on the classic B-movie creature feature as a group of scientist trapped in a remote lab find themselves being hunted by a rapidly evolving swarm of nanobots.

The narration is good, and the story is pretty exciting and fast paced, but the awful musical stings at the end of each chapter makes this feel like a low budget made-for-TV horror from the early '90s.

The themes of corporations rushing ahead with new technology without care or precaution is still as relevant today with rapidly advancing AI, although the constant pausing of the story for expositions of technobabble did get a little tiring in an otherwise fairly short and fast-paced tale.

Overall, it's not bad, but definitely not one of Crichton's best, and probably not a story I'll find myself revisiting any time soon. To be honest, I'm glad I got this as part of a 2-for-1 deal because I'd probably be a bit disappointed if I brought this as a standalone.

an OK sci-fi thriller

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Sorry but the narrator ruins this story with dull boring tones. The intense and dark periods of the book sound no different to the happy times in the book.

Very dull

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Promising concept, but the story itself was poor, failing to keep me engaged This was not helped by the narration, which was very wooden, making it hard to become engaged, let alone feel any suspense or excitement. Often I felt the narrator was bored by the whole experience, with little feeling or passion for the story he was telling.

I would suggest this is better read as a book than listened to.

Interesting concept, poorly delivered.

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I am moving through Chrichton’s books chronologically and this was … not good, to say the least. It took me weeks to complete (and I completed his previous works in days) because it was just boring and went wilder and wilder but truthfully just dumber and dumber. It had potential but just came off as a cheesy hollywood horror that - at the end - throws everything in there and abandons logic. I never felt for the characters or was invested, and believe me - I tried!

Fell flat

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