Books

Is a loved one MISSING some BODY PARTS? Are BLONDES becoming EXTINCT? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why a CHIMP FETUS resembles a human being? And should that worry us? There's a NEW GENETIC CURE FOR DRUG ADDICTION -- is it worse than the disease?

We live in a time of MOMENTOUS SCIENTIFIC LEAPS, a time when it's possible to SELL OUR EGGS AND SPERM online for thousands of dollars and to test our spouses for genetic maladies.

We live in a time when one fifth of all OUR GENES ARE OWNED by someone else, and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain VALUABLE genes within their chromosomes...

Devilishly clever, Next blends fact and fiction into a breathless tale of a new world where NOTHING IS WHAT IT SEEMS and a set of new possibilities can open at every turn.

Next challenges our sense of REALITY and notions of MORALITY. Balancing the COMIC and the BIZARRE with the genuinely FRIGHTENING and DISTURBING, Next shatters our assumptions and reveals shocking new choices were we least expect.

THE FUTURE IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK.

Michael Crichton has been my favorite author for many years. It was his science fiction that has led me to the close-knit relationship I have with books today. He has written some of the most engaging fiction I have ever read. His stories have always interested me and I have become a devoted follower of his work. That means that even when a book comes out that I am afraid will be too much social commentary on an arguably growing global concern, I buy it anyway. And I read it with fingers crossed.

Next was the first Crichton book for which I had this ugly premonition. With the book he released before Next (State of Fear) the author delved more deeply into creating awareness in a "current event" as he taught the opposing view to global warming theory. In Next, Crichton teaches again; one thing he does so well is include a strong fact-base to his fictional story. The depth of his research is apparent even without flipping to the extensive bibliography at the end of the book.

Unfortunately I was disappointed with Next. The points that he made relative to the shocking ways in which large firms dealing in genetic research are able to exploit ordinary people were eye opening. As stated previously, his level of research was dazzling. It was only the fictional packaging in which he wrapped these nuggets of truth that fell short. I had hoped for a little more cohesion to the multiple stories he maintained concurrently in Next. There were many people in many different situations whose lives revolved around genetic research as characters in the book, but I felt that was too broad of a common element to unite these men and women in one story. It was more creative than handing out a stack of pamphlets alerting people to the growing concerns around genetics, but it was not very entertaining. This was just not the level of quality one should expect from Michael Crichton.

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