I have enjoyed most of Michael Crichton's books simply for the thrill value. He's an undisputed master in the techno-thriller genre and although the dialog and characters in his novels aren't exactly world-class, he can usually be relied upon to give us interesting and highly original plots. With other authors as prolific as Crichton (such as Robin Cook), they can sometimes fall into the trap of plots that are merely tiresome variations on the same theme. Crichton, however, always seem to serve up something new and highly creative.

In "Sphere," a huge spaceship is discovered under 1000 feet of ocean water with a cargo bay containing a strange payload - a perfectly shaped sphere that exhibits unusual properties. The government enlists the expertise of a psychiatrist, a biochemist, an astrophysicist, and a mathematician to journey to the ocean floor and determine whether this sphere is some type of alien life form. When the sphere begins communicating with them, the mood is initially exuberant, but quickly goes south when people begin dying and the underwater habitat comes under attack. Who or what is intent on destroying them? Where is the spaceship from? What is its mysterious payload? It all makes for a fun ride that is exhilarating until the very end.

Unfortunately, it's not the ride that was problematic - it's the end of the ride. After 350 pages that built masterfully to a climax, we're left in the final pages to scratch our heads and say, "Huh?" With the rest of the book so imaginative, it's hard to explain why Crichton couldn't come up with a resolution as satisfying as the build-up.

Even with the so-so ending, it's a fun read and remains among my favorite novels by Crichton. He keeps the suspense meter ratcheted up so high that most people will have trouble putting the book down long after it's time to go to bed. Thus, in spite of the shortcomings, it's still a page turner and was considered a good enough story to be made into the 1998 screen adaptation starring Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone, and Samuel L. Jackson.

By far the best stay-up-late novel by Crichton. If you love Michael Cricton, you don't wanna miss this one. It'll keep you in the Sphere and you wouldn't want to get out of there unless you finish this book the moment you start it. (I remember my dad telling me to go to sleep when I read this a while back and I was ignorning him, focusing on the book past bed time!)

OK, I am an admitted hater of Crichton's work. However, Sphere was entertaining and had me guessing until a forth of the way through (I've never seen the movie, or heard anything about the book). However, any fond feelings that I may have felt for this book was completely decimated by the cop-out ending!

The slow drag partway through the story not withstanding, the pacing is good, and mood that Crichton cast is both eerie and suspenseful. I would have given this book a high rating, just because I was so surprised how much I enjoyed the ending...until the last five pages. Actually, if you skip the last five pages of the book - you will love the book and will walk way enjoying this much more then you would otherwise.

I'm dying to say more, but I can't without giving away the ending, and while the ending isn't worth the paper it was printed on (was Crichton just bored of the book, by this point?!?), I don't want to ruin it for people who dislike spoilers.

This is one of those rare treats in the literary world that grab your attention, keep you enthralled, and refuse to let you stop reading. I read this book and literally did not sleep one night because I was too busy trying to finish the book. But what makes this book so rare is not because of how good it is, but it's because how good everything is until the very end. That's right, the incredible cop-out of an ending made me mad enough to hate the entire novel. This is "deus ex machina" in its finest form. This is unexcusable in my opinion. I just don't get it. I just don't understand how one can (seemingly) work so hard on a work of fiction only to screw everyone in the final pages. I gave it two stars (as opposed to one) for fooling everyone into reading through this book. This is by far and away my most dissappointing reading ever.

It's probably been 15 years since I read it, and EVERY person in the years since with whom I have discussed this book has said the same thing.

It was literally a book that kept me up until 3 a.m. - and THAT is how it ends? I'm hoping Dr. Crichton had a publishing deadline or something.