State of Fear by Michael Crichton, review

It's only taken me six months to read the most recent Michael Crichton book, State of Fear - because of school semesters cutting into my free time - but it was well worth the time and wait. Actually, I finished it rather quickly once I had some uninterrupted reading time. I didn't nap on the train in and out of city for a few days.

I’ve been a Michael Crichton fan for years. My father pointed me towards Andromeda Strain 13 years ago – long after it had been written and made into a movie. While some of his books may seem very sci-fi, others seem plausible – Airframe and State of Fear. There is, at least as far as I can understand, valid science running through his books. This particular book ends with two additional sections including one where Crichton draws his own conclusions based on this research.

State of Fear takes you on an exploration of the environment and global warming. Are things really as gloom-and-doom as computer models predict or is it just to create a "state of fear" to keep people inline? Facts were mixed into the story (and documented), which left me wondering how much do I really know? And, how much do we really know?

Without giving away the storyline, one conversation in the book talks about the theory of power lines causing cancer, a theory that the book mentions has been found to be untrue. Look at former New Jersey governor Whitman. She resigned as head of the EPA because of requests to change the wording on releases. I think they wanted the wording to sound less gloom-and-doom, but it still really makes you wonder, doesn’t it?

Read this book. While it is a fiction book the science really makes you think and its not complicated since to make your head spin.

I'm looking forward to your next book Mr. Crichton.

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