Buying Options

Kindle Price:	$9.99
Sold by:	HarperCollins Publishers Price set by seller.

Promotions apply when you purchase

Add Audible narration to your purchase for just $12.99

Deliver to your Kindle or other device

Enter a promotion code or Gift Card

Audible Sample

Playing...

Paused

Follow the Author

Michael Crichton

Next Kindle Edition

by Michael Crichton (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

1,012 ratings

See all formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Kindle

"Please retry"

$9.99

—

Audible Audiobook, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$0.00

Free with your Audible trial

Hardcover, Deckle Edge

"Please retry"

$14.14

$3.31

$0.36

Paperback

"Please retry"

$15.09

$12.45

$2.45

Mass Market Paperback

"Please retry"

$9.99

$5.41

$0.35

Audio CD, Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged

"Please retry"

$25.99

$21.79

$35.98

Digital, Import

"Please retry"

—

Michael Crichton, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Jurassic Park, comes an astounding, eye-opening look at the world of genetics as it’s happening now, told as only Michael Crichton can tell it, with lightening fast pacing and thrilling chases.

Welcome to our genetic world. Fast, furious, and out of control. This is not the world of the future—it’s the world right now. Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why an adult human being resembles a chimp fetus? And should that worry us? There’s a new genetic cure for drug addiction—is it worse than the disease?

We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps; a time when it’s possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars; test our spouses for genetic maladies and even frame someone for a genetic crime. We live in a time when one fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else, and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes within their chromosomes...

Devilishly clever, Next blends fact and fiction into a breathless tale of a new world where nothing is what it seems, and a set of new possibilities can open at every turn.

Print length

448 pages
Language

English
Publisher

HarperCollins e-books
Publication date

October 13, 2009
Reading age

14 - 18 years
File size

710 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
See all details

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Michael Crichton
1,876
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $7.99
Michael Crichton
1,868
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $4.99
Michael Crichton
2,938
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $7.99
Michael Crichton
511
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $8.99
Michael Crichton
511
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $12.99
Michael Crichton
1,310
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $8.99

Customers who read this book also read

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

Michael Crichton
1,876
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $7.99
Michael Crichton
1,868
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $4.99
Michael Crichton
66
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $8.99
Michael Crichton
2,938
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $7.99
Michael Crichton
1,310
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $8.99
Michael Crichton
511
Kindle Edition
1 offer from $8.99

Amazon Business: Make the most of your Amazon Business account with exclusive tools and savings. Login now

Editorial Reviews

Review

“You realize what [Crichton]’s fictionalizing could be happening now, not “Next.” And that’s what makes it all so terrifying.”

Amazon.com Review

Is a loved one missing some body parts? Are blondes becoming extinct? Is everyone at your dinner table of the same species? Humans and chimpanzees differ in only 400 genes; is that why a chimp fetus resembles a human being? And should that worry us? There's a new genetic cure for drug addiction--is it worse than the disease?

What's coming Next? Get a hint of what Michael Crichton sees on the horizon in this short video clip: high bandwidth or low bandwidth

We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps, a time when it's possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars and to test our spouses for genetic maladies.

We live in a time when one fifth of all our genes are owned by someone else, and an unsuspecting person and his family can be pursued cross-country because they happen to have certain valuable genes within their chromosomes...

Devilishly clever, Next blends fact and fiction into a breathless tale of a new world where nothing is what it seems and a set of new possibilities can open at every turn.

Next challenges our sense of reality and notions of morality. Balancing the comic and the bizarre with the genuinely frightening and disturbing, Next shatters our assumptions and reveals shocking new choices where we least expect.

The future is closer than you think. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

About the Author

Michael Crichton (1942-2008) was the author of the bestselling novels The Terminal Man, The Great Train Robbery, Jurassic Park, Sphere, Disclosure, Prey, State of Fear, Next and Dragon Teeth, among many others. His books have sold more than 200 million copies worldwide, have been translated into thirty-eight languages, and have provided the basis for fifteen feature films. He wrote and directed Westworld, The Great Train Robbery, Runaway, Looker, Coma and created the hit television series ER. Crichton remains the only writer to have a number one book, movie, and TV show in the same year.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From AudioFile

Through fake tongue-in-cheek headlines and imaginative creations like transgenic (TG) dachshund-sized pet cockroaches, Perma-puppies, and deviant cacti growing human hair, Crichton gives listeners a satirical thriller with plenty to think about and more than a few giggles. Are your cells subject to eminent domain? Is genetic engineering already tinkering with transgenic animals and hybridizations? Through several stories that intersect, Dylan Baker gives one of those magical performances in which the narrator disappears and a world appears, populated by amoral biogeneticists, bounty hunters, bullies, and lawyers. Baker is a full-cast recording, creating an especially appealing Davy, a "humanzee." And as Gerard, a TG parrot who imitates famous movie lines, Baker is at his best, doing Clint Eastwood, John Wayne, and a fantastic Bette Davis. Lots of fun. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Do you own your body's cells? If a doctor develops a cure for a disease using your cells in the process, are you entitled to a share of the profits? These are some of the questions Crichton explores in his latest science-as-boogeyman polemic. Baker does all he can to give life to the characters, but they are little more than tools to convey the plot, so the author leaves him little to work with. Baker subtly shifts the tone of his voice to distinguish between characters and deftly alters the cadence of his speech to keep the narrative flowing. Despite his best efforts, though, Baker cannot turn the nonfiction interludes between chapters into anything remotely interesting. As if these weren't distracting enough, the multiple subplots make it quite difficult to keep track of what's going on, or how one plot line relates to another. Reading a book that goes in this many directions would be difficult enough, but on audio it's almost impossible to follow. Baker's performance is excellent all around, but listeners hoping Crichton would return to Jurassic Park form will be left wanting.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Review

Praise for 'Next': 'A wonderful farrago, energetically stirring up a lot of scientific, medical, business and legal issues! marvellous.' Evening Standard Praise for 'State of Fear': 'A gripping, impeccably researched thriller!we don't get much politically engaged fiction these days. Here is a fine example.' Evening Standard 'Exciting!a master storyteller.' Sunday Telegraph 'Terrific fun. The pages whip by.' Independent 'An enviromental adventure of truly global proportions!it's intelligent, readable and guaranteed to get the grey matter going.' Mirror 'An action-packed page-turner.' Daily Mail 'An entertaining thriller stimulating debate.' Time Out Praise for 'Prey': 'One of the most ingenious, inventive thriller writers around! another high-concept treat!written in consummate page-turning style!fascinating.' Observer 'This is Crichton on top form.' The Times Praise for 'Prey': 'Mixing cutting-edge science with thrills and spills, this is classic Crichton.' Daily Mirror 'Reading Crichton is like taking a speed-reading course, your eyes flying across the page because you're completely gripped and desperate to know what's going to happen next.' Time Out --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Inside Flap

We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps, a time when it's possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars and to test our spouses for genetic maladies.

Devilishly clever, Next blends fact and fiction into a breathless tale of a new world where nothing is what it seems and a set of new possibilities can open at every turn.

Next challenges our sense of reality and notions of morality. Balancing the comic and the bizarre with the genuinely frightening and disturbing, Next shatters our assumptions and reveals shocking new choices where we least expect.

The future is closer than you think.

--South China Morning Post --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

From the Back Cover

We live in a time of momentous scientific leaps, a time when it's possible to sell our eggs and sperm online for thousands of dollars and to test our spouses for genetic maladies.

Devilishly clever, Next blends fact and fiction into a breathless tale of a new world where nothing is what it seems and a set of new possibilities can open at every turn.

The future is closer than you think.

--This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000MAH7EK
Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins e-books; Reprint edition (October 13, 2009)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 13, 2009
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 710 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 448 pages
Page numbers source ISBN ‏ : ‎ 006222719X
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #135,763 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #607 in Technothrillers (Kindle Store)
- #846 in Technothrillers (Books)
- #1,217 in Genetic Engineering Science Fiction (Books)

Customer Reviews:
1,012 ratings

Customer reviews

5 star		63%
4 star		19%
3 star		9%
2 star		5%
1 star		4%

How are ratings calculated?

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Bruno

Take the hint, he's pulling your leg

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2018

Verified Purchase

I suspect that many readers don't get that he's writing this as satire and comedy, expecting his more serious dry style of previous books. The audio version is great because the actor adds so much to it with his characterizations of the various people and their reactions. The tone is tongue in cheek and parts are hilarious. There are a few missteps, such as the dead end plot line of the glowing animals used for advertising. There were even a few grammatical errors that made it past the editor, and some of the plots were farfetched (trying to arrest someone to grab their tissues because you own the rights to it)
But it brings up interesting topics and tosses in some education. The story had me eagerly awaiting the next chapter.

8 people found this helpful

Helpful

Takes a while to get going, but pays you back with dividends

Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2017

Verified Purchase

This was my sixth Crichton novel, after (in order) Micro, Congo, Prey, Jurassic Park, and Jurassic World. Next ranks in the top three, along with Micro (2nd) and Prey (an easy 1st).

Bear in mind, this book is seriously unlike the others. If you are looking for a straight forward plot, you will not like this book. Crichton takes several story lines, some important and some not, and weaves them all together (expertly, I might add), detailing genetic progresses, problems, and possibilities, all while building to an expertly constructed finale. As such, the story takes time, and doesn't really take off until at least 1/3rd into the book, although I'd argue it's really more like 60% in that it catches fire.

If you can get through about half (which is not bad, just exhausting - names are plentiful and difficult to remember) you're set, because the rest of the book is dynamite, and the ending is so well done I found myself really in disbelief.

I might re-read it, just now that the story has been made clearer and so I can focus on the genetic aspect, but this is one of those books that is best the first time around, when you don't know how it will come together.

This is not even to get into how well this is researched. The genetic knowledge Crichton supplies is incredible.

Without a doubt, a must read.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Bill Reid &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; The Fewer Sorrows Band

Scary as Hell, Especially for Thinkers

Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2019

Verified Purchase

A gripping SEMI-SciFy novel that tweaks the reader at many levels and keeps the action—largely cerebral rather than bloody—going. I like Crichton. The short chapter style is a little choppy, and the pseudo-news clips a little tiresome (but perhaps necessary to clarify the science for lay readers). The author interview and essay at the end of the Kindle edition are not entertaining, but thought provoking and important, especially the essay (reprinted from his 2006 NY TIMES op-ed piece). I hope the cautions he recommends have been implemented by the time of this 2019 review.

Helpful

C. Baker

A Poorly Concieved Novel about Genetics

Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2007

Verified Purchase

In Next, Michael Crichton tackles the exiting yet scary world of generic research and engineering. Here he focuses on the use of genetic engineering as applied to humans for diseases and even personality traits, as well as the world of corporate and academic pursuit of profit through human genetic applications.

Next is a failure as a novel. There are several storylines going on at once, which in itself is fine, but the novel jumps around from one storyline to the next in rather quick session making for a rather choppy and disjointed reading experience. Secondly, it paints a rather stark picture of the avarice, greed, and unethical pursuit of knowledge and profit among those investing in generic research. While certainly there is a grain or even a bushel of truth to this, Next goes too far. Only the most paranoid of conspiracy theorists and those who distrust every institution whether it be government, corporations, individuals, or universities would find Crichton's depiction of these organizations believable.

Worse is the peachiness of the novel. One court scene has a judge expounding from the bench what public policy should be on genetic research and applications, calling for legislatures to pass very specific laws to regulate it. This scene was so contrived and unbelievable as to completely ruin the suspension of disbelief a reader needs to enjoy a novel like this.

On the plus side for Next, it does explore some very interesting ethical and moral issues surrounding the use of genetics for human applications that society will have to grapple with. The problem is it doesn't do it very well.

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

NeuroSplicer

WISECRACKING GREY PARROTS & GREY ETHICAL AREAS

Reviewed in the United States on March 8, 2008

Verified Purchase

This is the best of Crichton and the worse of Crichton. Ever since the ANDROMEDA STRAIN, this is the writer that rides not just the zeitgeist wave but the very edge of biomedical breakthroughs - and makes great novels on the issues they raise. The SPHERE, CONGO, JURASSIC PARK are all excellent biothrillers. In NEXT he seems to have managed the first but neglected the later.

This is collection of loosely related stories, all linked in some way or the other to either transgenic organisms or gene patenting; and all dosed under the light of the human science...being, well, all too human. Family obligations, personal choices, ambition, shortsightedness and pure greed bear much more influence on the outcome of the scientific process than most scientists will ever admit. I should know, I am a NeuroBiologist myself...

I found NEXT to be quite interesting, and eagerly followed some of the story-lines in the early morning hours. Yet, at the same time, there was no backbone to the story other than the cautionary message. This made the novel, at first to give the feeling of never-actually-taking-off, only to finally turn into an informative episodic collection of characters I hardly cared for.

This is, at most, a 3½ stars novel. I rounded it up (rather than down) because of the great books Crichton has given us in the past. My advise to Michael Crichton would be "no writer is big enough to totally ignore his editors".

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

North Yorkshire

What a miserable book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 23, 2020

Verified Purchase

Crichton's early novels are enthusiastic and exciting - they still read well today. But his later fiction is very cynical. This is perhaps his most cynical - I found his moral crusade a bit aggressive and alarming.

The plot hinges around biotech innovation and its cynically connection to financial backing - both collude to rip off the average joe. They are not just ripping of our money, but our very essence. None of this cartel even pretend they are in it for the good (or such thoughts are pretty quickly erased to make way for full-on collusion). They end up going to absurdly immoral lengths to protect their profits. The plot is deliberately structured to show how utterly degraded professionals and experts really are. The legal bit about genes being copyrighted and so future generations are 'owned' by the biotech company is given a fairly literal run out here.

I understand this is based upon conservative American fear about bio-engineering - Michael Sandel's Case Against Perfection is an eloquent statement of the non-cynical reasons for being suspicious. I understand there is fear about investment managers seeking profit-over-people, and the like, but this book drips with cynicism about anyone who is not just-plain-folks. Much of Robin Cook's writing about similar themes has clear distinctions between goodies and bodies, but they never seem to be plotted in anger like this.

One person found this helpful

Traffic

Couldn't Finish It

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 8, 2019

Verified Purchase

Having recently read Timeline, by the same author, I was eager to read another Crichton book. Timeline was the first non-Jurassic Park book of Michael Crichton's that I had read. Timeline was great, but this book, Next, I just could not get to grips with. I got a little lost with the style in which the storyline is told, and I ended up quite confused as to who was who, what was what etc. In the end I gave up, which is unusual for me as I normally see books through to the end. I may give it another go in the future.

One person found this helpful

Greg Withnail

Reads like author's notes

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 30, 2021

Verified Purchase

Bought this because the sample pages were very promising. Unfortunately, the remainder of the book is a disjointed mishmash.
Perhaps the threads are brilliantly drawn together at the end, but I'll never know because I gave up around 80% through.

Pauly Pops

A fascinating look into the world of Gene and Patenting.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 18, 2015

Verified Purchase

Once again, Michael Crichton has open my mind to a part of Academia that I knew nothing about. This book is an exciting story that shows how Gene Patenting is a terrible idea; how does one 'own' a gene? It's like owning a 'nose' and licensing that out to Kleenex. If one 'owns' a gene, do they have right to access (extract it from someone) should they run out, as it is now their legal property?

But as usual with Crichton, it's put in as a fascinating story that a layman like me can understand.

P. Matthews

A chilling thriller

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 12, 2018

Verified Purchase

As usual a very enjoyable read. Fast paced and like Jurassic Park, if the science was true, it paints a very alarming picture of the future, move over 1984. But seriously if the patents and litigation described here came to pass it would be a very, very sad world. Fortunately it ends well.