Next – Michael Crichton (2006)

Next by Michael Crichton, published in 2006, is a provocative biopolitical thriller that explores the ethical, legal, and commercial ramifications of genetic engineering. Known for his gripping techno-thrillers, Crichton constructs a chaotic, near-future world where genetic science runs unchecked and where the boundaries between science, commerce, and personal autonomy collapse into absurdity and horror. The novel, though fictional, is rooted in real-world controversies and mirrors the disarray of contemporary biotechnology, making it a compelling yet disconcerting exploration of genetic manipulation.

Plot Summary

In the shimmering artificial twilight of the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, a man named Vasco Borden stalked his prey through a biotech conference brimming with capitalists, scientists, and dream-peddlers. Eddie Tolman, a balding postdoc with a duffel of secrets, carried within a velvet wine bag a dewar of cryogenically preserved transgenic embryos – not wine, but twelve possibilities, each encoded with more value than their bearer ever earned in a lifetime. Tolman’s awkward gait and nervous glances betrayed his purpose, and Borden, a former football player turned professional tracker, read him like a textbook.

The conference roared with self-congratulation, led by Jack Watson, a venture capitalist revered for building empires and adored for scholarships handed out with calculated flair. Watson spoke of a future where biotech would dominate like the tech titans before them, a future too luminous for morality. But Borden’s interest in Watson was more immediate. A momentary crossing of paths in a crowded courtyard – Watson brushing past Tolman, accompanied by a slinky woman in stilettos – raised questions that vanished as quickly as Tolman himself.

Back at the hotel, surveillance footage showed Tolman in a room with a Russian woman named Irina, tall and calm, offering him the wine sack. But cameras also revealed urgency – neither exchanged payment, and neither lingered. Within minutes, Tolman clutched the sack and vanished again, escorted by Irina to a meeting at a gaudy restaurant. The intended contact didn’t recognize Tolman, spooked by a flash from Dolly, Borden’s partner. Chaos followed – a chase, a collision with hotel staff, and finally, Tolman trapped himself in a service elevator with his stolen embryos.

He sealed the elevator, opened the dewar, and flooded the space with liquid nitrogen. Asphyxiated by a cold he had once handled with expertise, he fell, his life snuffed by his own design. But the embryos were already gone.

The next morning, in a tired Los Angeles courtroom, Frank Burnet prepared to testify. A former pipeline welder, he had unknowingly become the property of a biotech firm. Years ago, diagnosed with leukemia, he had been saved by Dr. Michael Gross at UCLA. The cure was real, but what followed was not: years of repeated testing, more biopsies, and stacks of legal documents disguised as consent forms. All the while, UCLA had quietly patented a cell line from Frank’s body, one that produced rare cytokines – cancer-fighting compounds potentially worth billions. No one asked permission. No one offered compensation.

Frank’s daughter, Alex Burnet, a litigator sharp enough to know the game was rigged, fought to expose the theft. But Jack Watson, behind the scenes again, controlled the media narrative. Frank was cast as the greedy man who threatened progress. In court, he sat dignified and scarred, describing how he had sold his house and abandoned love because he thought he was dying – while his doctor, smug and silent, peddled pieces of his body to corporations.

Rick Diehl, CEO of BioGen Research and Frank’s unintentional adversary, watched the proceedings uneasily. He had banked his company’s future on the Burnet cell line, funded with his wife’s inheritance and Jack Watson’s venture money. Now, he was losing control of both the company and his marriage. Convinced his wife was cheating, he sought not only divorce but a way to discredit her. His strategy was as cold and calculated as his science – he wanted her genetically tested. Alzheimer’s risk, Huntington’s, predispositions for addiction, depression, anything. And if needed, he would fake his own results.

Elsewhere, in the steamy jungles of Sumatra, tourists stumbled upon a young orangutan in the trees, one with strange intelligence and a white-streaked patch of fur. It watched them, moved with eerie composure, and muttered guttural phrases. Dutch, French, insults. A talking ape, the tabloids screamed. Hoax, said the networks. But the incident left a chill that lingered.

Henry Kendall, a researcher in San Diego, read the headlines with dread. Years ago, he had worked on chimp embryos at the NIH, and now someone was asking questions. A secretary, too precise with her inquiries. A memory of a chimp named Mary. At the time, nothing had come of it – or so he thought. The news of a polyglot orangutan rekindled a suspicion that something from his past had grown into something unnatural.

A race began. Someone wanted to bury the origins of the talking primate, while others, like Vasco Borden, found new leads pointing toward genetic patents gone rogue. Animals weren’t exempt from ownership. Genes were property, life was commercial, and the boundaries between species had begun to dissolve. A parrot named Gerard with a near-human vocabulary, a boy named Dave whose genome was part-chimpanzee, and a child custody battle over a boy who wasn’t fully human – each event trickled out of laboratories and courtrooms, stitched together by laws too outdated to cope.

The biotech industry spun faster, and the public, stunned by tales of talking animals and patented people, began to awaken. The legal system sputtered. Frank Burnet’s case ended without resolution, the judge siding with precedent that gave institutions ownership over the cells they extracted. BioGen collapsed. Diehl’s empire was swallowed by litigation. Alex Burnet walked away with scars and no victory, only the bitter clarity of knowing truth doesn’t always win.

Somewhere in a jungle canopy, the orangutan with the white streak swung through the trees, free and silent now. In laboratories across the globe, researchers pushed deeper into genomes, splicing, recombining, inventing futures. The boundaries of ethics blurred beneath ambition, and the line between man and beast, nature and commerce, science and speculation, grew thinner still.

Main Characters

• Rick Diehl – The CEO of BioGen Research, a biotech startup, Rick is an ambitious yet anxious man who becomes deeply entangled in corporate battles and personal betrayals. His actions are driven by business desperation, a deteriorating marriage, and his dependence on powerful investors. His arc exposes the perils of monetizing biology without ethical restraint.

• Jack Watson – A ruthless venture capitalist, Watson is the embodiment of capitalist greed masked in philanthropic rhetoric. While publicly advocating for scientific progress, he privately manipulates biotech enterprises for personal gain. His charm and charisma are as formidable as his duplicity.

• Frank Burnet – A former construction worker turned central plaintiff in a groundbreaking lawsuit, Burnet unwittingly becomes the genetic property of a biotech firm. His journey from patient to litigant illuminates the commodification of human biology and the dangers of uninformed consent.

• Alex Burnet – Frank’s daughter and legal advocate, Alex is a sharp, principled attorney determined to defend her father’s rights. Her struggle in court against media bias and corporate power showcases her moral clarity and persistence.

• Vasco Borden – A former football player turned private investigator, Borden is methodical and relentless. Hired to track a rogue researcher, he unveils the novel’s more suspenseful threads. His pragmatic view of morality contrasts with the chaos around him.

• Dolly – Borden’s partner, Dolly is astute and resourceful. Though often dismissed for her appearance, she consistently proves herself as a capable and strategic investigator.

• Eddie Tolman – A disillusioned postdoc turned biotech thief, Tolman represents the erosion of scientific integrity under financial pressure. His tragic arc underscores the human cost of the biotech gold rush.

Theme

• Commodification of Life – Crichton critiques how human and animal genomes are transformed into proprietary assets. The ownership of genes, tissues, and even transgenic organisms raises urgent questions about consent, autonomy, and personhood.

• Scientific Overreach – The novel portrays a biotech industry enthralled by its own power, often ignoring ethical boundaries in pursuit of breakthroughs. Researchers modify organisms, sell human cells, and blur lines between experimentation and exploitation.

• Legal and Moral Ambiguity – Through court cases and shady deals, Crichton explores the inadequacies of legal frameworks in regulating emerging science. Genetic rights, custody battles over modified children, and ambiguous consent forms reflect systemic flaws.

• Media and Public Perception – The novel satirizes how the media shapes scientific narratives. Sensationalist coverage obscures truth and elevates profiteers while marginalizing victims.

• Identity and Humanity – The emergence of transgenic beings (such as a talking orangutan) forces characters to reevaluate what it means to be human. This theme interrogates the boundaries of species, consciousness, and moral responsibility.

• Corporate Exploitation – The biotech firms in Next are emblematic of unchecked capitalism. Crichton depicts how investors and CEOs manipulate science for personal enrichment, often at the expense of ethical considerations or individual rights.

Writing Style and Tone

Crichton’s writing in Next is brisk, cinematic, and laden with urgency. He employs short chapters, rapid scene changes, and interwoven storylines to mimic the fragmented, chaotic nature of the biotech landscape. His prose is direct, avoiding florid language in favor of sharp dialogue, clipped exposition, and journalistic detachment. This clinical style mirrors the novel’s focus on data, patents, and scientific jargon.

The tone oscillates between satirical and chilling. Crichton’s narrative is often darkly humorous, particularly when exposing the absurdities of biotech law or corporate spin. Yet, beneath the satire lies a deeply unsettling commentary on modern science. The tone becomes particularly grim in moments of character exploitation or when depicting the unintended consequences of genetic tampering. Crichton cultivates a sense of moral disorientation, underscoring how progress can spiral into peril when divorced from ethics.