"Next" finds the bestselling author uncharacteristically jumping back and forth through a number of different storylines, each dealing with the overall theme of the science--and business--of the human genome.
Critic Reviews
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Favorable
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The New York Times Janet Maslin
"Next" is one of Mr. Crichton’s more un-put-downable novels.
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Favorable
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USA Today Carol Memmott
If you didn't care for Crichton's last two techno-novels —Prey and State of Fear— it's time to kiss and make up.
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Favorable
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Wall Street Journal Matt Ridley
In "Next," Mr. Crichton conjures so many characters, all of them unsympathetic (and deliciously vivid), that he hardly has space to construct a plot at all.
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Mixed
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Washington Post Patrick Anderson
Maybe the occasional reader will be inspired to do serious follow-up research, but my guess is that the vast majority will just come for the freak show.
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Mixed
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The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Robert Wiersema
If one looks beyond the clumsy narrative approach (and equally clumsy resolution), Crichton has created a series of vivid, thought-provoking morality plays, presenting key questions engendered by genetic research. [9 Dec 2006]
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Mixed
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Houston Chronicle Robert Cremins
True, one shouldn't expect profound psychological depth from a thriller, but one does expect more than the verbal stick figures that constitute about 90 percent of Crichton's character population.
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Mixed
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Los Angeles Times Michael Harris
As entertaining as "Next" can be, it's too monochromatic a picture of fecklessness and corruption to stand in credibly for the real world of genetic research.
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Mixed
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The Onion A.V. Club Keith Phipps
As usual, Crichton remains at the forefront of popular speculative fiction. Too bad that this time out, he doesn't know what he wants to do there.
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Unfavorable
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The New York Times Book Review Dave Itzkoff
Crichton’s latest novel, “Next,” not only preserves the hysterical tenor and questionable methodology of “State of Fear,” but also completes the author’s metamorphosis from steely-eyed augur of the not-too-distant future to unabashed demagogue.
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Unfavorable
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Entertainment Weekly Gregory Kirschling
Next is the most unintentionally rib-tickling book Crichton has ever written. [8 Dec 2006, p.98]
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Unfavorable
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London Review Of Books Thomas Jones
The result is a confused mess, which may be an accurate reflection of our current understanding of the way genes work, but isn’t a very good way to structure a novel.
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Unfavorable
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The Independent Kim Newman
Next is middling Crichton, perhaps because it lacks the simple suspense situation around which most of his books are constructed.
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