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 scientific fact, Prey takes us into the emerging realms of nanotechnology and artificial distributed intelligence in a story of breathtaking suspense.

Prey is a novel you can't pause.

Because time is running out.

Listening Length

12 hours and 50 minutes
Author

Michael Crichton
Narrator

George Wilson
Audible release date

November 7, 2003
Language

English
Publisher

HarperAudio
ASIN

B0000YSH3I
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	12 hours and 50 minutes
Author	Michael Crichton
Narrator	George Wilson
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	November 07, 2003
Publisher	HarperAudio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B0000YSH3I
Best Sellers Rank	#7,722 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #44 in Technothrillers (Audible Books & Originals) #268 in Technothrillers (Books) #300 in Adventure Science Fiction

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

2,282 global ratings

5 star		64%
4 star		21%
3 star		9%
2 star		3%
1 star		2%

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B.A.S

Good story, unfulfilling ending

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 11, 2022

Verified Purchase

Thought the beginning of the story was well developed, but the ending felt rushed and unsatisfactory.

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Kindle Customer

Excellent story of technology gone rogue.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 8, 2022

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A scary story of nanotechnology that goes rogue, because the creators try to solve a problem without thinking though the consequences.

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Merle Miller

Prey

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 22, 2022

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Interesting book. It starts with a love story and continues with a sci-fi book and a lot of magical reasoning! It was a good book.

One person found this helpful

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Bentley's Folks

Spellbinding yet easy read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 6, 2022

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It's been a long time since a novel has caught and held my attention, and then I purchased, "Prey." It may be 'far out there' in terms of subject matter, but Crichton made it seem believable. I read the book (and did not much else) in two days. Sorry it's over, but it was great while it lasted.

2 people found this helpful

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John Tilelli MD

Serve my nanobots with saccharine, please ....

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 24, 2002

Verified Purchase

Mr. Crichton has developed a habit of taking current technologic challenges and submitting them to flights of fancy. Such is the case with his latest novel. Here is the thesis: increasingly complex systems become increasingly uncontrolable, and at some point may develop behaviors beyond those intended or anticipated by the designers. In a sense these behaviors may mimic evolution, at some point the creatures imitating if not in fact becoming sentient creatures. Of course these creatures would not be worth a novel if they didn't do Really Bad Things, and couldn't be contained or controlled in a conventional way. The creatures in this case are microscopic machines manufactured (bred?) to act as collectively as a camera, that take on the characterists of a predatory algorithm conveniently built into its programming by its designers. They attack things, multiply, threaten to take over the earth; well, you get the idea. The subplot concerns the marital relationship between an unemployed programmer who just happened to design the algorithm, and his wife, who just happens to be an executive in the company who inadvisedly included his algorithm into the microbots. Did she cheat on him or not? Does the world end? What unswered questions will we have at the last page? Sticky sweet melodrama to be sure, but worth an afternoon to read.
The thought came to me as I read another of Mr. Crichton's books (Airframe) that he had written it with the movie rights in mind. No deep character development, thank you, and evenly paced, if not contrived, action. The same happened as I read this book. Now that is not necessarily a bad thing. If you want a little more meat with your starch, maybe try Stephen King. A lot more energy could have been given to what the principals felt and though along the whole way. Narrated by a man who on the one hand is troubled by his wife's (possibly unfaithful) behavior, and on the other by the technology he spawned that threatens mankind, I would have liked a better image of what made him tick, and a little less stereotype. Being part geek by nature I didn't mind all the techno stuff, but it may be off-putting to some. These reservations aside, Prey is worth the time to read it, or as in this case, to hear while on the way to work. Keep your literary expecations in check, though, and try not to lose any sleep over the thought that there may be nanobots in your soup.

23 people found this helpful

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Brian

Scary, engaging, informative. DEFINITELY GET THIS AUDIO BOOK!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 31, 2015

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This is by far, my favourite book by the late Michael Crichton. Genius work! Absolutely perfect balance between "edutainment", intrigue, mystery, science, action, and even some humor thrown in. This is astoundingly good!

I listen to it again & again, and i very often hear stuff I missed the first time. Nuances related to other things in the book. GENIUS!

I'd say my wife & I listen to this two or three times every year, whenever the mood strikes us, and the story never gets old.

Good ol' Amazon just gave me a multiple choice survey on this book.
"Which of these words best describes the mood?" Several options: "Hopeful", "Dark", "Nostalgic", "Light-Hearted", "Suspenseful", and "Thoughtful". While ALL these moods are present at one point or another - I had a tough time choosing between "Dark" and "Suspenseful".

Anything but "slow" - the story takes its time developing characters at a pleasant, but gradually building pace.

Oh! as with many of his stories, there's a helicopter trip - because Michael Crichton so enjoyed his helicopters, God bless him.

Fast steady pace, with believable, very "true-to-life" characters. Just like the real world, these characters are organic, slightly flawed; their perspectives are independent though not necessarily "unique". In short - these are very realistic people.

For parents of small children - this is a perfect example for the rating of "PG-13". In short - "all things being equal", societal standards, and yadda yadda yadda - 13 years old is a good "cut-off age" (give or take a few years, wherever your kid fits on such a scale). There's "some" violence, and mostly innocuous references to sexuality.

I won't spoil the ending, but i will say it does actually "END" (lol / not all do) - and at the same time - in a way that allows for sequels.

Finally; the skillful narration of GEORGE WILSON gets points for his even modulation, and steady volume. the

Personable voices for the various characters - concise descriptions and explanations are flavoured with the appropriate tones of intrigue, humor, worry, affection, sarcasm, etc.

His annunciation is clear, and. Not only is this one of the best "books" but also one of the best audio books too.

Definitely experience PREY. I'm confident you'll enjoy it almost as much as much as we do. :-)

13 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Rufus

Loved it!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 7, 2017

Verified Purchase

I cannot possibly do this book justice. I just have to say it is one of my favourite books of all time. And it's not because it's better than Harry Potter or wisked me away to a far away land. It's because I couldn't put the book down. It was a thriller that surprised me how much I enjoyed it. My favourite Micheal Crichton book. It's about a man who basically misses his wife who's a big shot at a tech company that does secret things and when he hasn't heard from her in a while he goes out to the company building to find her only to discover that the tech she has been working on has gotten loose. Won't say anymore but so worth a read.

3 people found this helpful

Christian

Beyond the realm of reality?

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 3, 2009

Verified Purchase

I think that the title is very fitting. Not as a definition of the way that the protagonists in the story mercilessly target their prey; but more in the way that it does prey on ones mind that this is possible.

Written in Crichton's inimitable style, the story blends research into the subject matter with an interpretation of how human behaviour might ultimately affect it. In an area of science where the majority of people are not really up to speed on it, it does give an albeit fictictious view of what it is capable of.

Read it and you should not be disappointed.

Lynette

Great novel

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 29, 2021

Verified Purchase

Read this a few years ago but lost the copy

J Gilbert

So-so

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 5, 2010

Verified Purchase

It's Jurassic Park, but with microscopic robots. And for three-quarters of the novel it more-or-less follows JP's plot: hero's discovery of a new technology, a small team marooned, facing increasingly violent attacks, and then discovery of the "nest"... And up to the first "ending", it's as gripping as Jurassic Park. The final quarter, however, is daft and feels like an entirely different book.

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Computer geek would enjoy it.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 24, 2018

Verified Purchase

It was bulked up with technical mumbo jumbo a computer geek would enjoy, and page 207 & 208 were missing but quite frankly I didn't miss them at all.

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