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State of Fear cover art

State of Fear

Written by: Michael Crichton
Narrated by: George Wilson
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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

What the critics say

" 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)

What listeners say about State of Fear

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Climate Hoax is the agenda

This book started strong, enjoyed the narration and some of the story, but it quickly devolved into Mr. Crichton's personal war on climate change. After looking into some of his references, and how the authors of those papers refuted Mr. Crichton's own conclusions, it's hard to take the book seriously. And the 30 minute long diatribes into granular pseudo-science about how climate change is false becomes tedious.

This book was clearly written before we had 10 of the hottest years on record in the last 15 years. Makes it hard to suspend belief to follow along.

On the plus side, worked great to fall asleep to, as it wasn't very engaging.

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7 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Holy cow is this ever awful!!!

His sanctimonious denial of climate change through this book causes intestinal cramping. This terrible novel has put me off crichton forever. I am an emergency doctor who has had to walk through the covid deniers protesting out front of my hospital whilst inside my patients die of covid. This sorry excuse for a novel induces the same sense impotent rage. I am sad that my purchase will contribute to his legacy (he died in 2008).

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3 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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  • cj
  • 2023-10-16

Hard to take seriously

This read like the author had done some research into the environment and related conspiracy theories and somehow tried to construct a story around his beliefs and assumptions. Tediously long winded, hardly made sense. Not a fan.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Terrible, climate change denying book

This book has not aged well. In 2023, denial of climate change in the serious scientific community is not a thing. As Wikipedia notes, "Many climate scientists, science journalists, environmental groups, and science advocacy organizations dispute the presented views as being error filled and distorted."

For all the folks who reviewed this as a reasonable and well researched work, I strongly encourage you to do your own research instead of accepting as fact the presentations of temperature and seal level rise not being a thing... It's fanciful, alternate reality using distorted, cherry picked records. Glaciers really are melting, Ice shelves in Antarctica are in trouble, and the whole planet needs our help.

I managed to get to within about 6 hours left in the book, but I just couldn't bring myself to listen to the whole, "now that I'm educated in the facts, I know better and climate change is an alarmist fiction" theme of the book. The whole work is irresponsible.

All I can say is that I'm glad that I bought this on sale for just a few dollars, but sadly it's 10 hours of listening entertainment of my life that I won't get back. This book belongs with the Flat Earth Society.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing and well researched book

This is a classic Michael Crichton book about science gone wrong. The book brings across ideas and theories in a very blunt ways sometimes. Although the book started off slowly and takes about 4 chapters to get into it, it builds up in pace and ends amazingly.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Close to the truth

I liked the author‘s opinions and views as presented at the end of the book

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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A Very Important Counter Perspective

This is an entertaining and informative examination of an ideological movement masquerading as scientific fact. Although this novel was published several years ago, I found it strikingly relevant to things going on today, possibly even more so than when it first came out. Though I'm critical of some of Crichton's ideas, and differ with some aspects of his worldview, I think he raises some significant points. This is a very important book, but the ideas inside it, if taken seriously by enough people, would threaten the power of those seeking to dominate the world right now. I think it's a wonder it hasn't been banned yet.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A thoughtful and thrilling story

well researched and thought provoking Michael Crichton delivers a book that kept me entertained on long drives. the characters are human and complex with development throughout the story. The locations are diverse and rich and the details intense.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Still enjoyable

Nitpicking; but some pauses in audio were too long, you can hear the narrator clicking his mouse to the next chapter/page etc.

Story is good, and the narration itself is fine, just it suffers a little from the audio quality

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