State of Fear by Michael Crichton

State of Fear is written by Michael Crichton. The story is fiction, though it is put in a way so that it may seem believable. There are graphes as well as references in the story, only making it seem more credible. However, before I type anymore, I want the reader of this review to know that there will be spoilers. If you actually have any intent to read this novel later on, I suggest you skip my next paragraph as it will be a summary of the story. Since I am warning you, there will, of course be spoilers.

State of Fear is based on a simple idea. This idea is that global warming does not exist. "For fifty years, Western nations had maintained their citizens in a state of perpetual fear. Fear of the other side. Fear of the nuclear war. The Communist menace. The Iron Curtain. The Evil Empire. And within the Communist countries, the same in reverse. Fear of us. Then, suddenly in the fall of 1989, it was all finished. Gone, vanished. Over. The fall of the Berlin Wall created a vacuum of fear. Nature abhors a vacuum. Something had to fill it.' Evans frowned. 'You're saying that environmental crises took the place of the Cold War?'" (Page 454) Global warming is something created by the government in order to scare its citizens into behaving and doing what they want: paying taxes. Many non-profit organizations also try to take advantage of this by convincing people to send them money so that they can combat "global warming" where needed. However at the time of State of Fear, global warming was already becoming a thing of the past. The government created global warming to scare people into submission but it was no longer needed thanks to 9/11, a real fear of terrorists. But by now it was already too late, there were hundreds of organizations fighting for a cause that didn't exist. Some people realized this and disbanded. Others refused to give up though. Instead, they decided that they had to create a series of disasters and disguise them as effects of global warming. This is the whole concept of the story and it isn't until around the 5th section does the reader figure it all out. Michael Crichton does a fine job at convincing the reader that globing warming doesn't exist in his novel. He uses many graphes that seem so realistic that we wonder if this is all true. Not only that, he references many works done by scientists. I'm not sure if they're real or not but I bet it would make anyone curious enough to search it.

Introduce Peter Evans, one of the main characters. He is George Morton's attorney, a wealthy man who is a philathropist. Peter works with Sarah Jones in handling George's financial issues as well as his involvement in NERF, the National Environmental Resource Fund. One day while visiting a research station at Iceland though, George finds out that a large chunk of his money has gone missing, a quarter of a million dollars. Apparently it was used by NERF itself. Nicholas Drake, director of NERF and long time friend of George Morton, is the prime suspect. However he denies any wrong doing, saying that it was probably just a simple mistake. Never the less, George becomes extremely suspicious of NERF and even considers pulling out his funding, even though NERF just named him "Concerned Citizen of the Year". To make things even more puzzling, two men, who identify themselves as John Kenner and Sanjong Thapa, enter the scene and begin to have secret conversations with George. George Morton finally decides to stop funding NERF. However he tells Evan to just change the contract so that Drake can only receive $50,000 a week and not become entirely suspicious. At the banquet where NERF intends to present George with the "Concerned Citizen of the Year" award, he gives a speech while drunk, telling everyone that he would no longer fund NERF. He is quickly ushered off stage by Drake, Evan and Sarah. George drives away and ends up in a car crash.

More strange events start to follow. George's house is broken into. Evan also finds his house broken into. It seemed as if the thieves were searching for something but no one knew what. While Evans is at Morton's house trying to see if he can dig up any clues with Sarah, two men come in. Evans and Sarah, having just found a suspicious package hidden underneath a statue, fight back. The lights mysteriously go out and when they come back on, Kenner had saved them. Kenner begins to explain that NERF is involved with eco-terrorists. George had figured this out and that was why he had wanted to stop the funding. When they finish talking, they examine the package. It contains nothing useful. Frustrated, they poke around some more and eventually find a list of coordinates. This list details where the eco-terrorists, or the Environmental Liberation Front, plan to strike and create what look like natural catastrophes. Confused, Evans tries to get an explanation out of Kenner. However Kenner first tries to explain to Evans that global warming does not exist. Evans refuses to believe it though and instead follows Kenner blindly to Anartica, the first site. There, Kenner finds several explosive charges ready to break a large iceberg. While Kenner disables them, Evans and Sarah find themselves led into a trap and as a result, stuck at the bottom of a crevice. Evans and Sarah create a special bond as they save each other's lives.

After that disaster is averted, Evans finds himself back in Los Angeles. Kenner tells him to plant an electrical bug in Drake's office and after doing so heads home. Only to find a man waiting for him. This man turns out to be a private investigator hired by George Morton. He says he'll deliver a package later to Evans after he has sorted out his life a little bit. Meanwhile, Kenner and Sarah continue to investigate ELF since there were 4 coordinates listed, leaving 3 more disasters to be averted. They find out that the 2nd event is to create a flood in Flagstone, Arizona and kill many people to create a scene. However, they Sarah finds herself yet in another trap as she and Kenner are trapped in a warehouse after following one of the men that had put her in the initial trap. The ELF members procede to start up a "lightning zapper" (as i like to call it). Kenner's wit saves them and they escape. Back to Evans, he goes back to his apartment to meet the private investigator and pick up the package, only to find him paralyzed. The police come to grill Evans as the medics take the P.I away. After searching for where the P.I hid the package, Evans finds it stashed away inside one of his couch cushions. Inside is a dvd, showing evidence of Drake's involvement with ELF.

Sanjong comes to Evans house to pick him up, claiming that they all have to go to Arizona right away and stop the flood. They fly over in a helicopter and find 3 sets of missile platforms. These are to be launched in the air and then electricity will run through wires connected the missiles. The electricity will then stimulate rain to fall from the clouds and flood the nearby rivers. The plan is that Kenner will take out a a set, Sanjong will take out a set, and Sarah and Evans will take one out. However, ELF uses their "lightning zapper" to delay everyone. It homes on to each person because they carry around radios that have been bugged. Sarah and Evans seek shelter in a nearby home. The lighting penetrates the ceiling though, knocking Sarah unconcious. Scared, Evans attempts CPR. Sanjong is nearly hit as well but he manages to throw away his radio in time before he is hit. Kenner, who had figured it out first, tries to warn everyone but fails to do so in time for Sarah and Evans. He stays true to his task though. No matter how much he wants to save Evans and Sarah, saving hundreds of lives was more important than two. Evans successfully manages to revive Sarah. Sarah urges Evans to drive them to the last site so that they can disable the last missile platform. He is unable to pull himself together though, and insists that they both get to safety instead. Kenner and Sanjong engage in firefights in their attempts to disable the missile platforms. The two of them aren't fast enough however, and the first set of missiles are launched, bringing down rain. Evans and Sarah find themselves caught in the flash flood. As their car is swept away in the muddy river, Evan's quick thinking this time buys them some time. Kenner and Sanjong successfully disable their assigned missile platforms and race over to save Evans and Sarah. Kenner reachs them just in time to save them before their car falls over a cliff. Although the don't complete stop the flood, they damage it enough to save everyone's life.

Once again, back in Los Angelos. Evans finds himself more and more open to the truths of the world. Most importantly, he finally accepts that global warming is not real. He finds himself consulted by Jennifer, a researcher for George Morton. She was doing research for him in order to help in a courtroom case. However, all of the researchers know that they can't win against big time corporations. Jennifer decides then and there that she'll accompany Peter and everyone else. Evans finds himself called in to check George Morton's recently found body and identify it. When this is all done, Evans goes home. There, he is attacked and injected with the venom of a deadly octopus. He survives however and is taken to the hospital in time by Sarah. Though the bad comes with good. The third event has been canceled due to unfavorable weather conditions, giving everyone some space to breath. Right after recovering, Evans finds himself at Drake's environmental convention. There he meets Norman Hoffman, a professor. The two procede to strike up a conversation and Evans learns about why global warming was created and the history behind it. Eventually Kenner comes and pulls him away, saying that the 4th event is going to take place soon.

Their last destination is Gareda in the Solomon Islands. Drake sends two people, Ted Bradley and Ann Garner, to tag along and spy on them. However, on the way there, Kenner weaves a story about how the island they are going to is inhabited by cannibals and rebels. Ann immidiately gets off when they refuel. Ted, however, refuses to leave his position. Kenner fills everyone in on their plane ride. ELF plans to create an underwater mudslide and cause a tsunami which will engulf Hawaii and then devastate the California coast. Once they finally reach the island, they also have to take a helicopter to the ELF base. However, it turns out to be yet another trap and Kenner kicks the pilot who betrayed them out of the helicopter. Even after flying to a different location however, they are caught by the island's natives and taken to their camp. Ted is eaten alive while Jennifer, who we learn to be Kenner's niece, attempts to escape. She kills 2 boys but can't find the keys to Sarah's handcuffs. Meanwhile, Evans is tied up and is ready to meet the same fate as Ted. Until George Morton happens to be there and saves Evans and Kenner. George hadn't been dead the entire time but acting. Kenner saves the two girls and they dash off to stop the mudslide. With everyone reunited, they succesfully stop the mudslides and the tsunami. When everything is done, they head back home.

State of Fear is some what realistic. It is already proven that global warming does exist however after reading this book, I wonder if the government and everyone is just lying to me. As mentioned above, the book was extremely convincing in terms of facts. The whole idea as a whole was very possible. It's even possible that global warming is in fact a lie made up by the government. But aside from the idea, I found the everything else unbelievable yet interesting to read. For example, why would eco-terrorists be trying to damage the thing they want to save so badly? Also, some events are just near impossible. For example, when Evan's car is caught by the flash flood, it gets stuck on a ledge and he just so happens to be able to escape because of this. A majority of the actions scenes are so unrealistic as well, but that's what makes this novel so good. If global warming actually wasn't true and was something created by our government, there would be some huge issues. Firstly, when people find out, they will be pissed. That in turn will become rage and might even lead to a topple of the government. Even if the government isn't toppled, many people will lose faith in it. There would be chaos. That's one possibility, or it could be that so many people already believe in global warming that we'll just think that the government is trying to lie about lying about global warming. If that made any sense.