STATE OF FEAR by Michael Crichton
Michael Crichton loads his new novel STATE OF EAR down with so many facts and figures that most readers will come away from reading his book with a new attitude towards global warming. If it is all mainly a hoax as he asserts, then most of us have had the wool pulled over our eyes. Take that, Al Gore.
The story primarily concerns a young lawyer who works for a hugely rich and powerful man. His work requires him to travel around the globe and give advice as needed. This powerful man, George Morton, has funded projects for several environmental groups but suddenly he seems to lose interest. Peter Evans, his attorney, does not understand why.
Later Morton dies and Evans is drawn even more closely into the workings of his business. The more he is involved the more his life seems to be threatened. Time after time Peter is put into a dire situation only to escape by the skin of his teeth.
This "luck" is one of the flaws of the book. Peter's miraculous escapes get less and less believable each time one of them occurs. It makes for exciting reading but you feel you are reading a comic book about a super-hero. Even Indiana Jones couldn't be this lucky.
The other flaw is the mountain of data Crichton has loaded the book down with in order to support his premise that global warming is not a threat to our lives or our culture. The reader finally reaches the point where he/she wants to scream, "OK! I get your point!" It is overkill of the worst kind and it diminishes the enjoyment of the story overall.
Still Crichton has to be given credit for backing up his premise. He is certainly attacking a core belief most Americans have had for the past few decades. Ask any man on the street if global warming poses a threat and his answer will probably be a definite yes.
If you are going to read STATE OF FEAR be ready to skim through paragraph after paragraph of Crichton's theory. The first few times it appears it is interesting but as the book progresses your tolerance of his "overkill" will diminish. Eventually you will find yourself searching for the "plot paragraphs" and leaving the "theory" ones unread.
As a light-hearted adventure the book is okay, but as believable heroics it is not. Plus the scientific documentation is a snorer. It ought to make a heck of a movie though.
STATE OF FEAR is published by HarperCollins. It contains 603 pages and sells for $27.95.