Deep in the middle of the Nevada desert, the Xymos Corporation has built a state-of-the-art fabrication plant, surrounded by miles and miles of nothing but cactus and coyote. Eight people are trapped inside-because outside, waiting for them, looking for them, is a self-replicating, fast-evolving swarm made up of predatory molecules that they themselves created. On a singular level, the molecules are seemingly harmless, but massed together, they form an intelligent organism that is anything but benign. It’s getting bigger and more powerful by the hour, and it has targeted the eight humans as prey. They must find a way to stop this creature before it gets inside-unless it’s already too late… Once again, Michael Crichton combines scientific brilliance with relentless pacing to create an electrifyingly chilling techno-thriller.