State of Fear

By: Michael Crichton

Narrated by: George Wilson

Length: 18 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's Summary

The undisputed master of the techno-thriller has written his most riveting, and entertaining, book yet.

Once again Michael Crichton gives us his trademark combination of pause-resistant suspense, cutting-edge technology, and extraordinary research. State of Fear is a superb blend of edge-of-your-seat suspense and thought provoking commentary on how information is manipulated in the modern world. From the streets of Paris, to the glaciers of Antarctica, to the exotic and dangerous Solomon Islands, State of Fear takes the listener on a rollercoaster thrill ride, all the while keeping the brain in high gear.

©2004 Michael Crichton (P)2004 Harper Audio

Critic Reviews

" State of Fear is one of Crichton's best because it's as hard to pigeonhole as greenhouse gas but certainly heats up the room." ( Entertainment Weekly)
"Michael Crichton's new, can't-put-it-down novel is a first-of-a-kind thriller - a fast-paced adventure based on the notion that a current widespread fear is baseless." ( Forbes)

Did I read the same book as some of you?

It's tough for me to be open minded about a Michael Crichton book. I've read nearly all of them going back to the very beginning when he wrote novels under a pen name while in medical school. What I enjoy most is that he doesn't talk down to his audience. He deals with complex scientific issues, uses complex language and (usually) explains things pretty well. He's been warning about the dangers of the mis-use of science for decades, so this book should come as no surprise. I always learn something new when I read a Crichton book. That's why I read them. They stimulate ideas and I always want to read more about the issues he discusses. There's always a danger in taking fiction as fact, so if you have doubts check it out on your own. That's the point, isn't it? To get people talking, and thinking? That's why I read books. If I simply want entertainment I'll watch a mindless sitcom.

I especially found his personal comments interesting, especially the reference to eugenics (did I spell that right?).

As for the performance criticism from some of the other reviewers, I had no such problems. Maybe it's because I usually listen to audio books in the car and the traffic noise diminishes it. Maybe it's because I'm not as critical as others. There's always some dubbing. Try reading a 10,000 word book aloud and see how YOU do.

So take this audio book for what it is, a thought-provoking, non-mainstream journey through unfamiliar territory. You'll only get out of it what you put into it.

128 of 135 people found this review helpful

An Interesting read!!!

While this book may not be of unending layers of depth, nor is it shallow. I found it to be entertaining. I was not disappointed and if you are looking for entertainment I doubt that you will be disappointed.

Some reviewers have complained about the content and if it is correct or factual. The author gives references (amazing for a book of fiction)! Some times books are for enjoyment. This certainly fits the bill, regardless of your scientific or political views. Enjoy.

11 of 11 people found this review helpful

Too controversial to let it pass

Definitely worth reading. I had no idea there was an ulterior side of the environmentalist. In any case, it is a good thriller. Do not read too many reviews just hear it. You cannot let a controversial book like this pass?can you?

22 of 23 people found this review helpful

Fearful State

I sometimes find the narration of an audio distracting. This was transparent and easily understood. Well done accents added to the realism without making the narrator instrusive.

Crystalizing for me an idea that had been nagging irritatingly at my consciousness, the premise felt like a weclome resolution. With each daily news cast we get new "important information" designed to make us afraid. Why do we tune in daily for another dose? Are we addicted to bad news? I thought his premise to be valid.

The presentation of the facts about global warming and climate change, however, was a bit one sided. Not enough is realy known about climate for anyone to be sure and there is convincing evidence on both sides of that question. Seems that some error on the side of caution would be warranted.

Neverhteless, I found this an expremely enjoyable book.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Good Story! You'll enjoy it!

If you can ignore the other reviews that seem to worried about where this book falls in the political spectrum, then you will enjoy it tremendously. I always look for one thing: a story to keep me interested and listening, something that I won't drift off and realize that I have no idea where the narrator is. Although it starts a little slow, with perhaps a little too much detail added in, all in all the story - again I emphasize that point - is a good one.

9 of 9 people found this review helpful

Caveat Emptor

Huge fun. I bought the book with some trepidation. On the one hand, Crichton is always entertaining. On the other, I had been led to believe by the media response that the book was an attempt to discourage people from taking responsibility for their impact on the environment. I decided to read it with a sceptical mind. Nobody was going to convince *me* that global warming was a hoax, by golly.
To my surprise, I began to really enjoy the book despite the blatantly manipulative characterization of the pro-environmentalist protagonist as a credulous dupe. It helps here if you have a sense of humor about yourself.
I realized I had never *seen* any data that actually demonstrated the reality of global warming as a consequence of human actions. I had been *told*, but I had never seen the data. Kind of like high-school algebra, where even if you got the answer right, you couldn't get credit unless you showed how you *got* the answer.
I highly recommend the book as entertainment. Just bear with the dufus protagonist for the first half of the story (he gets better), and don't let your preconceptions spoil the fun.

18 of 19 people found this review helpful

Don't believe all the bad reviews.

I can't believe all the negative reviews that all the narrow minded politically correct do gooder wannabees have written to trash this suspensful book. They gotta get over the fact that the protaganist is on the other side of the current liberal beliefs on global warming. When I was a kid, we didn't have wind chill factors, heat indexes etc. It was either cold or it was hot. Lets start reviewing books on their good and bad merits instead of whether they are in tune with the reviewers beliefs. I thought it was a great story and well worth the hours of listening. Never a dull moment. I listened and learned from both sides of the global warming argument. I found the book challanging, not written at a level below me. Maybe thats it, they just didnt understand the book.

64 of 71 people found this review helpful

Narration aside, absorbing and provocative

Yes, the narration isn't ideal (mouth noises and stomach grumbles are sometimes positively nauseating!). And yes, Crichton certainly has an agenda interspersed with the action. But I appreciate his willingness to be politically incorrect. As a scientist myself, I know first hand the power of politics and fashion on science. Crichton's provocative assertions should send the interested reader straight to the library (or scientific journals). Perhaps more of us should be paying attention to the environmental issues he wrestles with.

18 of 20 people found this review helpful

Refreshing look at a minority view

The bad: the narrator must have eaten some bad burritos before each recording session, because digestive gurgles are heard throughout the narration - it's at times funny and at other times revolting, and at all times DISTRACTING! This recording never should have been published. It loses one star because of this.

The good: intestinal maladies aside, the narrator does an excellent job with the material and various characters, giving each a believable and easily recognizable voice. The material is EXCELLENT and VERY REFRESHING - it's a wonderful change to get to explore the OTHER side of the whole "global warming" THEORY (and, hey, let's face it, folks - GW *IS* still just a THEORY at this point, and a quite young theory at that). To the reviewers who complain about the "right-wing minority pseudo-science" they see in this book, I paraphrase William Shatner: "Would you get a life, people? I mean, for crying out, it's just a novel!" I sense the shrill whining and hyper-excitable hand-ringing of the evil "Environmental Liberation Front" (the novel's bad guys) in those reviews! ;)

35 of 40 people found this review helpful

DaVinci Code For Intelligent Folks

This is a fairly typical Crichton book -- I'd rate it a little better than Prey or Timeline, not as good as Disclosure, JP, or Rising Sun.

I'm a little surprised to see all the hostility directed toward his subject matter (right-wing propaganda, said one of the reviewers). As always, his subject matter is well researched and well thought out. Also, as always, there are shadowy groups and people who populate the novel. The use of a wise academic from Cambridge, Mass, to initiate a novice in to the world of faith reminds me of The DaVinci Code -- yet, this is better sourced and supported.

On one hand, you could say he's demonizing environmentalists (like DaVinci Code did to the Catholic Church), but I think if you look below the surface, he's really hitting the lawyers (full disclosure: I am a lawyer) and media people who may be playing with the environment without a real understanding of what they're doing.

And this is a constant theme in Crichton books from Terminal Man to Prey.

Let's face it -- I've never known anyone to read Crichton for character development -- it's not his strong point.

Moreover, if you look back to a book like Congo, you've seen Crichton take the same stand with respect to the environment as he does in this book.

Crichton hasn't changed since he wrote Rising Sun and relied on Al Gore for his background. Those who think he is now a "right-winger" are missing what he has always done as a writer.

In any event, read it for the story and make up you own mind by reading the science elsewhere.

68 of 80 people found this review helpful

State of Fear

A book written fron a clear anti-establishment view on the changing environment. He uses his undoubted scientific credentials to make his point around a barely plausible story.

His strength as an author means that he maintains interest despite the poor plotting. Not one of his best, but for Crighton fans it is still worth listening to.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Fear Mongering

Crichton targets the global warming movement in this polemical thriller. Although this novel may also be seen as an attack on lazy thinking in a world where information is too easily available and facts more difficult to discern.

I love that this book will get many people to challenge the assumptions they have about Global Warming and may even make a few of them check the facts quoted.

As a UK resident I hate the way facts are so quickly twisted to the purposes of pointless self serving politicians and the spotlight hogging radio whores of Today, who act the expert with their flimsy veneers of knowledge. This book could act as a cautionary tale to all such doom mongers.

This is a provocative work of fiction. Don?t assume that data, and therefore the issues, are as clear as is laid out here ? nothing in this arena is really is.

So as a polemic against the assumptions the Global Warming debate this is OK, as a thriller it does the job. Perhaps though, the author should concentrate more on characters that lectures, too many sermons, as perhaps here, will put off many. Great polemical writing keeps the audience whilst pounding the sacred cow, this got me wishing I could skip forward.

9 of 10 people found this review helpful

A Novel from now for now that makes you think

This is one for all conspiracy theorists, and also for anyone who just likes a good book. fast and full of action. This is Crichton at his best, blending fact and fiction seamlessly. a genuine thinking man's (or woman's) novel.

If you think you know anything about global warming and conspiracy think again and listen to this.

This is one to keep in the collection / Ipod and listen to more than once

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Worth sitting on a sunsetbeach and just listening

Excellent read and one story that questions the very basis of our thinking on Global Warning and its future effects on our planet

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

A wonderful book performed with great enthusiasm.

Would you listen to State of Fear again? Why?

If i had the time to listen to an audio-book over this would certainly be a contender. Crichton often douses the reader/listener in a veritable hail-storm of scientific facts and figures which require a great attention span and, i'm sure, with multiple listens one could gain a great understanding of his material. Therefore this particular book would serve well or possibly better given the time it deserves and a second listen.

What about George Wilson’s performance did you like?

I like the subtle enthusiasm which George gives to the appropriate characters. This book is, after all, a story driven by Micheal Crichton's great passion for the preservation of the environment and so bringing the characters to life with just the right flare and inflection is of the utmost importance. I believe that George manages this exceedingly well.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I did not for one simple reason; it is rather long. I do tend to purchase audio-books of considerable length in order for it to tide me over for the most car journeys as i listen, which are often up to five hours at a time, but any more than that in one go would have impacted my enjoyment of the story and the performance.

Any additional comments?

I would strongly urge Micheal Crichton fans to pick this audio-book up; but being open minded is crucial as it is not your typical Crichton novel. He occasionally carries himself into a kind of rant when trying to impress his point on environmental protection and preservation and although those who enjoyed Jurassic Park and The Lost World may be familiar with this side of him he does take it to a new level at times with State of Fear.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

A thinking person's thriller!

What I love about Crighton's works is that they are heavily researched and loaded with logic. This book powerfully illustrates how well-intended people and groups can be lead astray through ignorance and pseudo-science. The author's note and appendix at the end are incredibly enlightening. One of my favorite books!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Love it or loathe it.

You will either love this book or loathe it. Whilst on a superficial level it's about global warming (and it is here where the divisions are caused), the reality, if you look a little deeper, is that it is about how we think. In particular how we think as groups or societies.

As well as the underlining story there are, what amount to, a series of lectures on various topics but always with the point that the results of studies can be misrepresented by both sides of the argument. Throughout the book Crichton seeks to disprove many of the accepted facts surround the theory of global warming. You will have to do your own research to check these - which I suspect is the point. The fact that he challenges this ideas will anger many and please many. Listen to the very end, including his own final remarks and notes. You may be a little surprised.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Food for thought

A gripping book, that certainly sped along my journey to work. Are we currently experiencing global warming due to our own interference or is the current climate change just part of the bigger picture of earth's nature? This book, whilst entertaining, also certainly does provide food for thought!

8 of 12 people found this review helpful

Classic Crichton

As always, great story with great technical information and research intertwined with action and intensity. If you like Crichton you'll love this. Performance is very good too. A couple of the voices are similar but otherwise very well done.

Slow to start, but stick with it.

I very nearly gave up on this, but glad I didn’t as it got very grippy