Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Crichton's Last Novel

A couple of Fridays ago I went to our local library to get an audio book to listen to on my trip to Indianapolis. 

I chose a 12-CD audio edition of author Michael Crichton's last book, Micro. 


The book was published in November 2011; Three years after Crichton's death.

The book's manuscript was found among the author's computer files. It was just a third of the way complete. "The Hot Zone" author, Richard Preston was chosen to finish it. 

The story has elements of Jurassic Park and the 1968 Irwin Allen TV show, Land of the Giants; with a bit of the dark side of "Honey I Shrunk The Kids" thrown in.

A group of 8 biology graduate students from Cambridge, Massachusetts are invited to Hawaii on an employment recruiting excursion by, the executives of Nanogen. The company is developing very secret ground-breaking discoveries in the bio technology field. 

The mysterious death's of one of Nanogen's executive officers who is also the brother of one of the recruits, sparks a series of events that results in students being forced into a world that is normally unseen by human beings. 

Add into that a mysterious triple homicide being investigated by the Hawaiian police and a shady CEO and you've got a compelling story that goes beyond today's technology but remains in the realm of the "what if" possibilities.

I enjoyed listening to this audio book but about halfway into it something happens that disappointed me to the point of distraction. My enthusiasm for the protagonists waned a bit after the turn in the story. I don't want to give any spoilers. But the plot twist is one of the elements in storytelling that upsets me the most. 

Again, without giving away any details, if you are the least bit squeamish about spiders or bugs this book just might make your skin crawl.  

Overall I would recommend listening or reading "Micro" if for no other reason than to be part of the world of Michael Crichton one more time. 

   

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