The Great Train Robbery

Title: The Great Train Robbery

Author: Michael Chrichton

Pages: 329

Genre: Historical Fiction

Grade: B+

Synopsis: Edward Pierce fits in well in high-society in Victorian England, while also being able to navigate the slums of poverty.  Pierce has a grand scheme to rob the train that is carrying the gold from the bank to pay for England's involvement in the Crimean War.  Over the course of many months he concocts a complicated scheme to get his hands on the money.

My Review: I'm not sure where I picked this book up, but it was the perfect book to read on a vacation (I did my reading in Jamaica).  It was fast-paced and easy to follow.  The details of the story have been filled in by Crichton, but the overall story is true and based on lots of testimonies from a court trial.

Prey

Title: Prey

Author: Michael Crichton

Pages: 11 discs

Genre: Science Fiction

Grade: B

Synopsis: Jack Forman recently lost his job as a computer programmer. He is eventually hired on as a consultant to his wife's company, Xymos Technologies. They've recently invented a way for nano-particles to reproduce themselves using bacterial processes. Unfortunately, some of the particles have gotten loose into the atmosphere and they are now reproducing on their own outside of the lab environment.

My Review: The science behind the book is a little suspect and often unbelievable which is a little unfortunate because it's such a critical portion of the book. It was generally easy to understand what was going on though and the book had plenty of suspense and twists.

Disclaimer: There's a bit of language to watch out for.