The Prey

By Tom Isbell

In the Republic of the True America, it's always hunting season. Riveting action, intense romance, and gripping emotion make this fast-paced adventure a standout debut.

After a radiation blast burned most of the Earth to a crisp, the new government established settlement camps for the survivors. At one such camp, Book and the other ‘LTs’ are eager to graduate as part of the Rite.

Until they learn the dark truth: ‘LTs’ doesn't stand for lieutenant but for ‘Less Thans’, feared by society and raised to be hunted for sport. Together with the sisters, Hope and Faith, twin girls who've suffered their own haunting fate, they join forces to seek the safety of the fabled New Territory.

As Book and Hope lead their quest for freedom, these teens must find the best in themselves to fight the worst in their enemies. But as they are pursued by sadistic hunters, secrets are revealed, allegiances are made, and lives are threatened.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Mar 12, 2015
• ISBN: 9780007528172

Tom Isbell

Tom Isbell grew up in Illinois, and graduated from the Yale School of Drama before spending ten years as a professional actor, which saw him star in episodes of shows such as Golden Girls, Kate and Allie, Murder She Wrote and many more. He is now both a teacher at the University of Minnesota Duluth and an author. His debut, The Prey was published in 2015, and was followed by The Capture in 2016.

Reviews for The Prey

[darkfaerietales_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie TalesQuick & Dirty: Though I had problems with the writing style, I still found this novel a fast-paced, engaging read.Opening Sentence: Blood drips from fingertips, splashing the floor.The Review:Book is an LT at a camp for children who were damaged by radiation poisoning. He has a limp in one leg, and at the camp, they are taught basic survival skills. It’s all fine and good until a stranger comes to camp, warning Book that not all is as it seems. The soldiers are keeping them at the camp to train them, so that they’re not easy prey…when they’re hunted. People from the outside can pay to hunt the boys, who are no longer under the protection of any law being damaged. Book and a group are preparing to stake an escape.Meanwhile, Hope and her sister Faith have been living off the land for ten years with their father. After he dies, they are captured by another camp, a camp for girls…girls with twins. Since twins have the same genetic material, they can use them to test the amount of medicine needed after a sickness, and administer sadistic experiments to see how long they can hold out. Many of the girls at the camp have lost their sisters, and Hope doesn’t want to be next. And the girls in their cabin seem like they’re hiding something.The writing in The Prey was very odd. It was often choppy, and didn’t flow well. I guess one could say it was unique, but this wasn’t my favorite kind of unique, unfortunately. For example. The first page has this paragraph: “Blood. Purpling. Coagulating before his eyes.” Last time I checked, “purple” isn’t a verb, but I guess artistic freedom and all allowed it to exist as one. This writing style really bothered me at first. It got on my nerves. A lot. It would. Phrase. Things oddly. Like. This. It would chop sentences into individual words – for suspense? Maybe it would have worked better if there was less of it. Eventually, I got used to it, around 25 percent in. Then it was easier and less frustrating to read the novel.The main characters were Book and Hope, though there were plenty of side characters. In the beginning it is mentioned how Book is shy and doesn’t do social very well, and yet I didn’t see much of a problem with him and socializing as the novel went on. Unfortunately, there was little development there, although I do admire his wits and bravery. He does do something at the end that made me shake my head. After going the whole way through the book, focused on a certain goal, he achieves it . . . then decides it’s not enough and he needs to start over. Why couldn’t he have decided that when he wasn’t miles and miles away from the starting point? Uch. Hope’s character was more gritty. She did what she needed to do to survive. She was really tough on her sister, sometimes too rough, but hey, it kept them together.There was a sort of love triangle in the book, though it is definitely resolved in the end. It was between Cat, a leader, a relentless, persevering, smart force. He can protect her. He makes Hope feel safe. Then there is Book, whom she feels connected to from the very beginning. (It was sort of insta-love) He makes her feel like she’s not alone. He understands her pain. He understands what she’s been through and heels her heart simply by being with her. Their relationship wasn’t extremely fast-moving, so I liked that, but the connection was immediate. They were cute together, and Cat was more of a short infatuation. We never learned any of the boys real names, now that I think about it.In the end, though I had some problems with the writing style in the beginning, I found this to be an enjoyable book. I was a little wary going into it because many people, namely reviewers, had a tough time getting through this book. Thankfully, though it wasn’t my favorite, I still had fun reading it and think that others will too. I had recently read another book about humans getting hunted – Blackbird by Anna Carey – and couldn’t help making comparisons. Don’t worry, it wasn’t a carbon copy, and there were plenty of differences between the two, it was just fun finding the similarities. One thing I wish the book had, that it didn’t deliver, was world-building. Maybe in the next novel they’ll go into that more, but in this one it just gave the bare minimum of information about the war before the kid’s time. Altogether, this novel had a lot of grit, action, and fast-paced survival scenes!Notable Scene:“So what’d those LTs do that got them punished?”Cat stopped. “You’re not listening. You all are prey, and your camp is one big hatchery. Those six LTs did nothing more than have the bad luck to get sent here. Period.”“A hatchery?” Flush repeated.“A place where fish are raised, then released into rivers so fishermen have something to catch. You’re just a bunch of Less-Thans- being raised to be hunted.”FTC Advisory: HarperTeen provided me with a copy of The Prey. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this dystopian beginning to a trilogy, boys are kept in resettlement camps where they believe that they are being raised before becoming part of the army. Book is one of the boys. When he finds another boy outside the camp and near death, he is surprised to hear him whisper "You got to get me out of here." When the boy recovers, he takes Book and a couple of other boys to watch boys who have graduated from the camp being hunted. This inspires Book to begin to organize an escape. On one of his initial forays, he discovers a nearby girls camp and meets a girl named Hope.Hope and her twin sister Faith are new arrivals at the girls camp, They had been living in the wilderness with their father until he died and they were captured by soldiers. They quickly learn that they are being used for medical experimentation (think Nazi Germany and the concentration camps). Faith, who was always gentler and weaker, doesn't survive the experiments. And when Hope learns that the leaders have sent a message to eliminate the evidence of the experiments, Hope and some of the other girls decide that they need to escape too.A small group of boys and a larger group of girls escape and try to make their way to a new district where they hope conditions are better. They have to battle the hunters, the soldiers, mutated wolves, and the elements as they try to find freedom. The book was action-packed with the girls digging a tunnel which is filling with water to make their escape and then the whole group running from a forest fire set by the hunters. The grossest part was when they had to eat maggot-infested meat to avoid starvation.Like many dystopias, we have only vague ideas of what caused this and even vaguer ideas of what the world is like outside of the two camps. I am very curious about both of those things and wonder about the economics of raising these young men to be hunted. There has to be money somewhere!Students who are looking for still another dystopia will enjoy this one.

[ginger_reader22 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Twenty years ago everything changed. Dozens of nations declared nuclear war on one another and the aftermath was catastrophic. Fast forward twenty years and the United States of America, along with it's constitution and pledge of allegiance are but a distant memory. Now The Republic is in charge and with their new charge comes new rules. New ways to live and for the LT's, new ways to die. LT- Less than. At Camp Liberty the LT's think that their nicknames stand for lieutenant, but in reality they aren't being trained to serve their country, they are being raised in a Hatchery, only to be hunted and killed for nothing other than entertainment, all because they are different, disfigured, handicapped. When they discover the truth about Camp Liberty they gather what they can and run, but things get complicated when they encounter another camp, this one full of girls, all who have now or have once had a twin sister. Killing for sport wasn't enough for the government, they are also using twins as experimental test subjects to find new ways to improve the health and longevity of their soldiers. Working together they all set out for an unknown territory, one that, hopefully, sees them as equals and not lab rats or animals to be hunted. I've seen so many negative reviews about this book, so many that I got to the point where I didn't want to waste my time reading it because there was no way I was going to like it. But I did indeed like it. I read it in one day and although it does have it's faults they don't overshadow the good parts in any way. I used to love dystopian/survival books and have recently been in a rut of reading nothing but contemporaries. This was such a refreshing break. I can see how some people would be turned off to this book due to the fact that the back story is lacking somewhat, but for me I think the history of the Omega and the camps were self explanatory. I'm sure we'll learn more about them in the coming books and I look forward to reading them. My only major fault I have does include a spoiler so if you're planning on picking this book up I suggest you stop reading this now. *Spoilers* The one thing I loathed about this book was the ending. They made it so far only to turn right back around, no gathering supplies, no resting, they didn't even look around the new territory to see if it was worth bringing all the others back to it. For all they know it could have made their previous arrangements look like a 5 star hotel. But no, they turned right back around and started all over again. As much as I loved the book that last chapter left me so frustrated I couldn't make myself give it 5 stars. So 4 it is and hopefully the next book isn't this one told in reverse. Until next time, Ginger In compliance with FTC guidelines I am disclosing that this book was given to me for free to review. My review is my honest opinion.

[skullstuffing_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Cliched tale of technology gone awry. Two-dimensional characterisation doesn’t help.

[altheaann · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Although the book is ostensibly about nanotechnology gone wrong, and includes a decent amount of info on nanotech (including a reading list at the back of the book), it really progresses more like a horror novel... As always with Crichton's books, the writing is very straightforward but eminently readable.... but too much of Crichton's extremly ill-informed and annoying personal opinions come through in the book.

[storeyonastory · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is by far my least favorite Michael Chrichton book. I typically enjoy his cautionary views of pushing the limits of science, but this one just fell flat for me.

[bridgey_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Prey - Michael Crichton *****My second book by the author, the first being the very mediocre Pirates Latitude. However I have always found his subject matters interesting so decided to try another of his novels. I am very glad that I did. Prey focuses on the concept of evolution of manmade technology (in this case nanobots) and the possible effects of experiment gone awry. The majority of the novel takes place over only a few days and it is a credit to Crichtons talents that he still makes the breakneck speed of the plot totally plausible.The main concept of the novel is that a swarm of Nanobots have been released from a research facility deep in the Nevada desert. Not wanting to inform the authorities for fear of the company having funding stopped and the widespread panic, they enlist the help of former employee, computer programmer Jack Forman. However, when he arrives at the plant, things are far from as they seem. Accompanying this are numerous subplots that break up any monotony the reader may feel (although I doubt they will). The ending was slightly weaker than I would have liked and the more eagle eyed reader would have seen it coming with around 100 pages or so to go.The main aspect of the book that impressed me was the mountains of research that Crichton must have waded through. Parts of the novel felt as if they could have been written as a textbook with more than enough for a reader new to the subject to gain a grasp of the mechanics and thinking behind nanotechnology.I would recommend this to anyone familiar to Crichton or as an introduction. In my opinion it is probably lesser known due to the fact it has to stand against his other mammoth works such as Jurassic Park.

[elviomedeiros_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a very fast paced book. The concepts of evolution, nanotecnology and AI are very well laid out and mixed with a good story and good writting.

[glglgl_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In diesem Wissenschafts-Thriller geht es um Schwärme aus Nanorobotern, die außer Kontrolle geraten sind, ein Eigenleben entwickelt haben und nach Beute jagen. Die Geschichte braucht einige Zeit, um in Gang zu kommen, der Anfang liest sich etwas schleppend. Nach etwa hundert Seiten kommt dann Spannung auf in einem typischen Crichton Szenario: In einem abgelegenen Forschungslabor in der Wüste, versuchen einige wenige Menschen, der Bedrohung entgegen zu treten, wobei die Gefahr sowohl von außen als auch von innen kommt. Der wissenschaftliche Hintergrund ist im Ansatz interessant, die Geschichte aber letztlich nicht sehr glaubwürdig. Insgesamt ist es nach langsamen Anlauf ein stellenweise spannender und kurzweiliger Roman, der aber nicht die Qualitäten von z.B. "Sphere - Gedanken des Bösen" vom gleichen Autor hat.

[justicefortibet_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Michael Crichton never fails to give you enough information to understand his topic. Unfortunately, it's sometimes overwhelming. The storyline is gripping in its concept - nano technology is already here and hard to control. That's the thing about Crichton - he can make things real enough to scare the pants off you.

[atdcross · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Chrichton keeps a flow of suspense in his writings that in one page may heighten your need to know more and, at the next page, you just want to get to the end to see how it finishes (which I have never done, that is, read the ending of a book before I finished it). He also involves you in the somewhat technical details of the science his book revolves around without at the least being tedious. The way he gives you the information just accelerates the suspense. "Prey" is no different. While a company attempts to design a tiny robotic camera for the defense department using nano-technology, it goes terribly wrong and micro-robots escape the confines of the laboratory and begin evolving with an intelligence all their own with deadly consequences.I should mention that a few times - not many - Chrichton resorts to profane language, which is totally unnecessary. I am surprised as I haven't noticed it in previous books I've read by him (although it has been awhile since I picked up a Chrichton book to read). If you can forgive him for that, I'm sure you will enjoy the read.

[benuathanasia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A tad bit predictable, but very good nonetheless. Very typical "Crichton".

[ctmsalmo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thrilling! The story was different than normal sci-fi. It felt real. 

[florencecraye · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I thought it was so cool to be able to say "Oh I'm just doing some recommended reading for my CS class" when reading this sort of book. Yes, it's recommended reading for a class on Evolutionary Computation. The book itself wasn't amazing.. the writing was a little weird in places, almost as if he had the beginning and the end written and he was struggling to fill in the middle. But definitely an entertaining read for me, given my recent entry into the field of phage evolution. Is the science sound? Well.. he's got a nice reading list at the end of the book. That's about where the science ends. The rest I felt was just cool, science-y name dropping. Worth a read though :)

[sturlington_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read Crichton’s novel for two reasons: 1) because I usually learn something from him about a new subject that interest me, like nanotechnology; and 2) because they’re usually very suspenseful, exciting, quick reads. In this case, I did learn something new – but not as much as I would have liked – about nanotechnology and molecular engineering, the scientific areas that the technological horror story explores.But the truth is that, this time, the plot was more than a little silly, the characters were bare sketches of typical Crichton people – none of whom I cared a lick about – and the suspense was almost entirely missing. Yes, it was a quick read, but a thoroughly unsatisfying one. Perhaps Crichton isn’t trying anymore, or perhaps I’ve outgrown him; I suspect it’s a combination of both. But while Jurassic Park may be counted as a guilty pleasure, this novel gives no pleasure at all.

[jackravi_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another Mic Crichton's fantastic novel...He is a master story teller,,,

[cenneidigh · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

* spoiler alert ** I liked this book, it was scary with how tiny the little computer bugs were. They could get almost anywhere and then they acted like a group and could destroy anything they wanted. The end with the magnets and the wife, broke my heart. The story with the family kept my interest. It was sad the way that things change, but I'm glad at the end things were discussed between the husband and wife. The idea of the nano's is great, but control of them will be something I hope we get before we set them loose. This may be make believe, but the future is coming. Exciting and frightening at the same time

[ukaissi_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book is among the best thriller books I have ever read. It is scary and at the same time full of suspense. You simply cannot put it down. The ability to create a bridge between fiction and non-fiction is something few authors could do and in this case Michael Crichton is a master.

[lorireed_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jack Forman has big problems. The out-of-work computer programmer turned stay-at-home dad suspects that his wife is having an affair. Little does he know that this is the least of his problems. His wife Julia has been working long hours with a new technology – nanotechnology – creating tiny robots the size of an atom. But something has gone horribly awry. The nanobots have escaped, and based on a computer program that Jack wrote, they have also begun to reproduce, evolve, swarm, and hunt. Humans are their prey. Crichton’s most suspenseful novel yet , Prey, will leave you in a constant state of anticipation, eagerly turning the page to see what happens next.

[jechtshot · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Prey is a techno-thriller where Michael Crichton takes us deep into the world of nanotechnology. In this science space, millions of nanoparticles act as a swarm to achieve a common goal. However, what happens when the swarm evolves faster than the humans that design it? Crichton has authored a suspenseful story in which nanomachines are used to develop innovative medical diagnostic images by essentially creating a nano-eye that can traverse the blood stream, but all is not as it seems as the true reason for the technology comes to light.Michael Crichton spends a great deal of time on the scientific details of nanotechnology and distributed computer processing, which are essential in understanding the plot. Each nanoparticle is given a very simple program to run and a very small brain (CPU/Memory) to achieve its objective. As more and more particles are introduced into the system each particle communicates with nearby particles, in essence increasing the brain power of the machine. Crichton takes this a step further by allowing the swarm to learn and evolve at a rate much higher than expected. The result: Prey. A fun and suspenseful read.

[lavonardo · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Prey starts off like a typical Crichton book. High concept, with one-dimensional and unbelievable characters, way too much space devoted to describing technical details. Sadly, the pacing dies down in the middle and the last hundred and fifty pages are spent slogging towards the end.

[jayne_charles_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This started out excellent, I raced through the first couple of hundred pages, and pretty much decided I'd go on to read all his books if they were this good.Unfortunately this book is a bit like one of those suitcases in spy films which have a false bottom. After a sort of mini conclusion four hundred pages in, it then limps along for angnother hundred pages and blows itself out like an overambitious firework.All in all, this read like a Stephen King plot (very much like 'Cell' in fact), but whereas King would have spent ages building up personality, Crichton spends an equivalent amount of time describing the technology in excruciating detail. I think I prefer King's style - he can (and does) get away with simply saying OK there's this killer virus out there, or whatever it happens to be, and then describing the consequences. I have no problem believing that it exists. Michael Crichton seems to think we have to hear chapter and verse about the underlying technology, and I don't know about anyone else, most of it went right over my head.

[aethercowboy · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Michael Crichton would occasionally write books forewarning the general populace of new technology gone bad. For example, with Jurassic Park, it was dinosaur cloning.With Prey, the technology to fear is nanotechnology. Granted, it's mixed a bit with swarm technology, evolutionary algorithms, and genetic modification. But the root is nanotechnology: tiny little robots that can replicate themselves, and do stuff on a tiny level.The story is told through the point of view of the protagonist, an out-of-work computer programmer. He's eager to get a job before he reaches his "shelf-life."His wife, he's noticed, has been aloof with respect to the family. He fears the worse: she's having an affair. After she gets into an automobile accident, he gets a job offer from her company. He jumps right on it, part to have a job, and part to uncover the root of her mysterious behavior.So, at the lab, in the middle of the desert, he learns that a rogue swarm built for the DOD has escaped and is replicating in the desert. The odd thing is, though, nobody seems to want to take care of it.The book is a thriller, so there are plenty of twists, turns, explosions, and deaths at the hands of these fearful micro-automata. And in the end we learn a valuable lesson: stop messing with nature!The book itself was quite entertaining. Crichton was one of those authors with "universal appeal" that actually appeals to me. If you've liked other Crichton books about technology, you'll most likely enjoy this one as well.

[spectralbat · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the first book I read by Michael Crichton and it remains one of my favorite reads. Fast paced technological thriller that keeps you on edge until the very end. Despite the fact that it's been shown that the situation in this book is not actually realistic, Crichton builds a solid theoretical situation that feels completely plausible and draws you in.

[loucypher_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of Crichtons best I think. The suspense was great and the depth of the field covered is enormous but he explains it all very well as usual. Great read.

[blazingice0608 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was awesome, very hard to put down, kept me guessing until near the end, the action was always at a good speed. And like with most of his novels, there is a lot of interesting information in there as well. My only complaint was that towards the end, i didnt really care for the direction the story took, felt kind of rushed and went a little too far imo.

[radaghast_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Definitely one of Crichton's weaker entries. A lot of this novel, especially the ending unfortunately, was predictable. The usual punch in the face that Crichton provides when it comes to issues of science and ethics is also missing. Beyond the obvious Nanotechnology=bad, there's no deeper argument. Readable, but not a must read.

[dspoon_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In the Nevada desert an experiment has gone horribly wrong. A cloud of nanoparticles -- micro-robots -- has escaped from the laboratory. This cloud is self-sustaining and self-reproducing. It is intelligent and learns from experience. For all practical purposes, it is alive. It has been programmed as a predator. It is evolving swiftly, becoming more deadly with each passing hour. Every attempt to destroy it has failed. And we are the prey.As fresh as today's headlines, Michael Crichton's most compelling novel yet tells the story of a mechanical plague and the desperate efforts of a handful of scientists to stop it. Drawing on up-to-the-minute scientific fact, 'Prey' takes us into the emerging realms of nanotechnology and artificial distributed intelligence -- in a story of breathtaking suspense. 'Prey' is a novel you can't put down. Because time is running out.

[sarahjanesandra · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book once I got into it. It may not be the books fault, I was in Paris for the first time. I don't know why I haven't read more Michael Crichton. I always enjoy each book.

[jeffv_19 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A mid-career, Silicon Valley couple is having marital issues. The husband lost his job for raising ethical questions, and suddenly he's the one being blackballed. His wife is working late hours every day, is becoming a stranger to her kids, and resents that her husband has not yet got back to work and accuses him of undermining her authority at home. He starts to believe she is having an affair...the signs appear unmistakable. Then he gets a phone call from his former company...they want him back as a consultant to fix something that went horribly wrong with one of his former projects. And the client happens to be his wife's company, and immediately he is dispatched to a fabrication plant in the desert where the company has seemingly overcome the problem of creating nanobots in quantity.At this point, the novel moves into the Sci-fi techno-horror realm as the nanobots escape, evolve, and learn. Creighton, as was his wont, displays a terrific grasp on the state of technology, as well as current issues and challenges employing it. There are no less than 5 pages of bibliography at the end, but Creighton keeps the science accessible (likely artificially so). It's been a long time since I've blown through a 500-page book in just two days, and even longer since finding the task so effortless. The story is recent enough that technology portrayed doesn't come off as already obsolete...a frequent problem with this type of story.