BOOKS

Author Michael Crichton has a way of using real hot-button topics to hang his fiction upon. “Jurassic Park” dealt with the deadly effect of scientists playing God in resurrecting dinosaurs. “Rising Sun” dealt with what seemed like the 1980s Japanese take-over of the American economy. “Disclosure’s” setting was the rise of women in positions of workplace power and a man being sexually harassed by his female boss. “State of Fear” focused on Crichton’s apparent disdain for the concept of global warming. With “Next,” he returns to the territory of “Jurassic Park,” but without the dinosaurs. “Next” is also about scientists playing God, but this time through gene technology run amok. “Next” is filled with talking monkeys, mathematical parrots, cured drug addicts who become old people within weeks, corporate espionage and sabotage, the overriding religion of corporate profits over the passion of discoveries of science or faith. “Next” is a compelling read. A definite page-turner. Much more of an actual novel than “State of Fear,” which was so vehemently opposed to global warming that Crichton couldn’t just stick to the fiction of having global warming advocates eaten by cannibals, he had to fill that book’s pages with pie charts, graphs, reams of statistics and all the propaganda his editors could apparently stomach. Still, in “Next,” don’t expect much character development. There are numerous characters, who do different things, but they essentially boil down to the men being venal and the women vague. It is easy to confuse one character with another here. But don’t let that get in the way of the fun as well as the thoughts which Crichton’s narrative provokes. Though published at the end of 2006, “Next” remains as relevant as this week’s news of human cloning.