Prey by Michael Crichton

Prey by Michael Crichton is one of those novels that I borrowed from an enthusiastic family member, read in two nights, and went out to buy immediately after returning the borrowed copy. This page-turner takes place in the middle of the Nevada desert, where an experimental form of nanoscience goes awry during its trial testing. The main character, a recently laid off engineer from said research company and stay at home husband of one of their lead scientific minds, is brought into the literally air-tight facility as a consultant on this mysterious project, but before he realizes what he's involving himself in, he is struggling to survive against the cloud of nanoparticles – micro-robots – that have escaped and evolved into a self-sustaining and self-reproducing swarm. For all intents, what was intended to be a break though for medical and tactical sciences, became alive and ready to take on it's new prey: us.

This novel is incredible, because from the first page, I believed it! This science fiction mystery book defies both given genres in the ways his most famous book Jurassic Park, successfully pulls from sci-fi, mystery, and horror. This author does his homework, employing scientists and researchers to make his fiction so realistic and so plausible that it is nearly impossible NOT to believe in it!

Like I mentioned above, this book is well-known and well-loved through my family – my mystery loving Nanny, my scientific brother, my boyfriend, and myself – and it is one of those stories that we all recommend to anyone who shows the slightest interest.