Crichton's "page-turning triumph" ("Detroit Free Press") is now in paperback. Deep in the Nevada desert, an experiment goes horribly wrong as a cloud of self-sustaining nanoparticles escapes from the laboratory. They have been programmed as predators and mankind is the prey. In the Nevada desert, an experiment has gone horribly wrong. A cloud of nanoparticles -- micro-robots -- has escaped from the laboratory. This cloud is self-sustaining and self-reproducing. It is intelligent and learns from experience. For all practical purposes, it is alive.