The world changes so quickly nowadays, yet, in many ways, it also stays the same.

In Crichton’s State of Fear, the author takes on the concept of global warming from the perspective of a lawyer, Peter Evans, who works for a climate change philanthropist George Morton. Morton funds a major climate change non-profit and is concerned about the way his money is being spent.

Evans’ work uncovers more than the financial abuse, but a greater threat within the green movement that may be working to manufacture catastrophes in order to propel their mission forward.

Crichton’s writing is as polished as ever and he takes time within the story to present both sides of the issue, challenging publicly held believes with scientific scrutiny, while still telling a fast-moving, surprising and powerful story.

At the heart of Crichton’s novel is the title, State of Fear. Through the narrative, he proposes that powerful entities within society (government, lawyers, media and academia) all benefit from promoting threats in the guise of promoting safety, keeping citizens in a constant state of fear, allowing them to be manipulated.

I can attest to this. In my lifetime numerous public threats have hung over America’s heads. Acid rain. Pollution. Over crowding. Global cooling. Aids. Global warming. Covid. To name just a few. It is this personal history that makes me skeptical of all “global” threats,” when proposed by those who benefit from their existence.

As I’ve told my children, any good intention, once taken over by politics, is corrupted and unreliable. Or, as Milton Freedman said, we should judge whether a goal is successful by it’s outcomes, not it’s intentions.

The novel, written in 2004, puts a pin in America’s social focus where, back then, Global Warming hadn’t yet become Climate Change. Since then, most of the dire predictions offered in the name of the cause have failed to come to fruition, though the debate about man’s effect on nature continues to be evaluated.

Now, we worry about Covid, vaccines, mandates, genders, inflation, war, abortion. Different subjects, all being presented by those in power as fearful events to keep us threatened.

In that way, Crichton’s novel is timeless. Human nature never changes and those in power reuse the same tactics time and time again.

State of Fear is an excellent novel penned by a legendary writer. Check it out.