Books

Michael Crichton's NEXT Review

Although the book has been out for quite a while, I recently finished reading Michael Crichton’s latest book titled NEXT.

It focuses on a number of subjects ranging from genetic testing, biotechnology, gene patenting and gene ownership.

While it was an interesting read, I found it to be sort of a rush job. About 80% of the book is composed of small stories based on different areas of the biotech industry and the remaining 20% is a quick story to make it look like you were actually reading a novel of some sort.

I was expecting the stories to crossover and intertwine but no such luck. It was sort of like a textbook of biotech facts and oddities.

I did enjoy the fact that the stories are based on true facts or almost, like Crichton claims in the following way:

“This novel is fiction, except for the parts that aren’t”

Overall, it’s a quick read that keeps the reader interested and goes into some subjects that have a controversial component, be it ethical, legal, financial or all of the above.

If you want to watch an hour long interview of Michael Crichton on Charlie Rose’s show, you can watch it here.