I had my reservations about this one, truth be told. I'm a huge Michael Crichton fan, and having someone else finish his novel didn't sit right with me. Until I read it. Richard Preston did a commendable job of fitting into the same writing style as Michael Crichton. It was a seamless transition between to two writers, to the point where I have no idea where Richard Preston's contributions came in. What I found interesting is how complete this novel felt to me. And I wish that they had pulled in another author to clean up the last book, Pirate Latitudes, which was a complete manuscript found after Crichton's death in 2008.
Micro follows the tale of seven graduate students, all scientists in some area or another. They go to Hawaii to investigate a company that is looking to hire them. But, before they go, one of the student's brother goes missing - supposedly murdered by the CEO of the same company. When Peter confronts the CEO, Vin Drake, about Eric's death, Drake beats him up. All of the students are ushered into the bowels of the company and Drake uses the company's new technology to shrink them all down to half an inch tall. They are then dumped out into the Hawaiian rainforest, in hopes that nature will kill them. Now, they must avoid succumbing to the various horrors of the natural world, the impending danger of the "micro-bends," and attempts by Drake to ensure that they are killed.
What I like about this one is that it isn't a cutesy ride like "Honey, I Shrunk The Kids." There's no cutesy flight on the back of a bee or swimming in a bowl of cereal. This is nature at its most beautiful and its most deadly all at the same time. At half an inch tall, even an ant possessed the power and ability to kill them. It's definitely a page-turner, and I loved every moment of it.
Battle On, Deadly Chakram
"Being with you is stronger than me alone." ~ Clark Kent
"One little spark of inspiration is at the heart of all creation." ~ Figment the Dragon
