Synopses & Reviews
The year is A.D. 922. A refined Arab courtier, representative of the powerful Caliph of Bagdad, encounters a party of Viking warriors who are journeying to the barbaric North. He is appalled by their Viking customs -- the wanton sexuality of their pale, angular women, their disregard for cleanliness . . .
their cold-blooded human sacrifices. But it is not until they reach the depths of the Northland that the courtier learns the horrifying and inescapable truth: He has been enlisted by these savage, inscrutable warriors to help combat a terror that plagues them -- a monstrosity that emerges under cover of night to slaughter the Vikings and devour their flesh . . .
Review
“Crichton knows how to craft a tale, one that keeps the reader turning the pages.” < i=""> Houston Chronicle <>
Review
“Michael Crichton is one of our most gifted popular novelists. A true son of Jules Verne and H.G. Wells…. A master of plausible and frightening scenarios…. He is a connoisseur of catastrophe.” < i=""> Los Angeles Times <>
Review
Praise for PREY:“Crichton is a master storyteller.” < i=""> Detroit News <>
Review
“Crichton writes superbly…the excitement rises with each page.” < i=""> Chicago Tribune <>
Review
“One of the great storytellers of our age…What an amazing imagination.” < i=""> New York Newsday <>
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“Readers turn to Michael Crichtons novels for entertainment with relentless drive.” < i=""> San Antonio Express-News <>
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“Crichtons books [are]…hugely entertaining.” < i=""> New York Times Book Review <>
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“Like Stephen King, like Robert Ludlum, Crichton knows how to keep a story moving. He writes with an undeniable narrative energy.” < i=""> Chicago Sun-Times <>
Synopsis
From the bestselling author of Jurassic Park, an epic tale of unspeakable horror
The year is A.D. 922. A refined Arab courtier, representative of the powerful Caliph of Baghdad, encounters a party of Viking warriors who are journeying to the barbaric North. He is appalled by their Viking customs the wanton sexuality of their pale, angular women, their disregard for cleanliness . . . their cold-blooded human sacrifices. But it is not until they reach the depths of the Northland that the courtier learns the horrifying and inescapable truth: he has been enlisted by these savage, inscrutable warriors to help combat a terror that plagues them a monstrosity that emerges under cover of night to slaughter the Vikings and devour their flesh . . .
Crichton knows how to craft a tale, one that keeps the reader turning the pages. Houston Chronicle
Michael Crichton is one of our most gifted popular novelists. A true son of Jules Verne and H. G. Wells. . . . A master of plausible and frightening scenarios. . . . He is a connoisseur of catastrophe. Los Angeles Times
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About the Author
Michael Crichton, who died in Los Angeles on November 4, 2008, was a writer and filmmaker, best known as the author of
Jurassic Park and the creator of
ER. His most recent novel,
Next, about genetics and law, was published in December 2006.
Crichton graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College, received his MD from Harvard Medical School, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, researching public policy with Jacob Bronowski. He taught courses in anthropology at Cambridge University and writing at MIT. Crichton's 2004 bestseller, State of Fear, acknowledged the world was growing warmer, but challenged extreme anthropogenic warming scenarios. He predicted future warming at 0.8 degrees C. (His conclusions have been widely misstated.)
Crichton's interest in computer modeling went back forty years. His multiple-discriminant analysis of Egyptian crania, carried out on an IBM 7090 computer at Harvard, was published in the Papers of the Peabody Museum in 1966. His technical publications included a study of host factors in pituitary chromophobe adenoma, in Metabolism, and an essay on medical obfuscation in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Crichton's first bestseller, The Andromeda Strain, was published while he was still a medical student. He later worked full time on film and writing. One of the most popular writers in the world, his books have been translated into thirty-six languages, and thirteen have been made into films.
He had a lifelong interest in computers. His feature film Westworld was the first to employ computer-generated special effects back in 1973. Crichton's pioneering use of computer programs for film production earned him a Technical Achievement Academy Award in 1995.
Crichton won an Emmy Award, a Peabody Award, and a Writers Guild of America Award for ER. In 2002, a newly discovered ankylosaur was named for him: Crichtonsaurus bohlini. He had a daughter, Taylor, and lived in Los Angeles. Crichton remarried in 2005.