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Who needs research when you have politicians like this? Michael Crichton's latest thriller attacks the idea of using science as a pawn in politics. Crichton's topic of choice is global warming. Although his work is classified as fiction, Crichton has strewn the book with factual footnotes, lending credibility to the main theme of his novel. I highly suggest reading the book in its entirety (including the introduction and afterward by the author) to understand the novel completely. It's easy to dismiss this novel as a work that simply bashes global warming, but that isn't the point of the book. Before reading the book, I was a bit skeptical. I mean... c'mon, a book about global warming? How interesting can THAT be? Boy, was I wrong. With likable characters, non-stop action, witty dialogue and thought-provoking themes, "State of Fear" is an engaging page-turner. The book does have a few flaws. For example, it isn't very clear why `the bad guys' killed off a young researcher in the beginning of the book. It seemed rather unnecessary to me. Also, certain sections of the novel contain really random events that seemed to be thrown in just for the sake of making the reader raise their eyebrows in surprise. I think the novel would've been better with these scenes thrown out. I wish I could go into detail, but I don't want to ruin it for anybody. All in all, I definitely recommend this book to anybody. It's entertaining and thought-provoking.