A Book I Seriously Tried To Read But Was Not Able To Finish or Like. State of Fear by Michael Crichton

Eventually I finish almost of the books I start, probably because as years go by I become more aware of what I like, so what you're about to read is definitely a matter of my personal opinion which you will not and could not totally agree with.  When I pick a book out, I do feel a certain amount of disappointment in myself if I don't like it.

For the most part I don't like popular fiction.  I don't try to read popular fiction anymore because I am a book snob:)  I admit it.

Having said all of that one of my favorite writers is best selling popular fiction writer Michael Crichton.  I love his older novels.  A Case of Need is excellent detective fiction in which a doctor has to solve a mystery that occurs at the hospital he works in, and Jurassic Park is one of the best suspense filled thrillers I ever read; the book is much better than the movie.  Crichton's Travels is a funny and wise autobiography about world travel and personal struggles.  But when I tried reading  State of Fear  published in 2004, I had to put it down after fifty pages because it seemed the author kept whispering somewhere underneath and between the words "Stay with me. It will get better."  It did not.

Actually I still don't understand the plot of State of Fear.  It has something to do with an elaborate environmental conspiracy being carried out by different people around the world for power and money. I love a good conspiracy because I think most people (including myself) are not smart enough to purposefully put one together, but it would be scary if it happened.  I like fictional stories that scare me without blood and gore.  In the pages I read from State of Fear, a few people were killed by the conspirators and there was a man in England starting to figure out something was going on.  To tell the truth I just didn't care about the plot, any of the characters, and there were too many side stories that didn't fit together in order for the story to make sense.

A loved one or friend should have pulled Crichton aside and told him that book was not up to his standards. Perhaps they did.  You know how that is. Maybe when a person is a bestselling author editors and publishers look the other way because they know they're going to get paid.

I suppose the best thing to do is judge for yourself.  Remember you can get State of Fear from the local library or a yard sale.

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