Michael Crichton scares up big sales

According to Nielsen Bookscan, Michael Crichton's latest techno-thriller, State of Fear, was very popular with book buyers its debut week, landing at #2 on the Bestselling Fiction chart with sales of 108,000 copies.

I haven't read it yet, but my sense of it based on the reviews and word-of-mouth is that it's good, not great, with some interesting scientific information, although it gets preachy. (Crichton is trying to point out to readers how the fears of global warming are based more on propaganda than evidence.)

I don't feel as strong a need to read Crichton's work as I once did, but I do still find him a fascinating figure.