This is a novel, written according to Crichton’s successful formula:

Research a fairly complex and scientific subject well, build an artificial and somewhat unlikely plot around it, don’t worry too much about character development, make the actors desirable, and package some fastpaced action around it. Crichton, I am sure, took lessons from Dean Koontz.

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy almost all of Crichton’s books. I am a “kind of” scientific guy. It’s just that it gets old when every story has a key character, usually a woman, fitting the physical description of a Playboy model, who somehow managed to get her Ph.D. in a science subject by the age of 21, and is now the right hand to some evil industrial tycoon.

Next is about genetic engineering. If you want to learn about this subject, albeit in a story format, then read this book. There is an African Grey parrot with near human intelligence. There are primates that speak several human languages. It will keep you turning pages, and then you’ll put the book down and say: “Good, I learned something.”