This book is ... frustrating. I'm giving it a middling score because its not terribly written, its pretty consistent with Crichton's other books in that he's much more interested in big ideas and concepts and the characters are just there to bring you along. If you've read on Crichton book, you're used to that. 
The issue comes down to what Crichton's big idea is. The issue that global warming isn't real/isn't a threat/actually could be a net benefit for humanity. 

The main character who is the Crichton mouthpiece is frustrating because he's a very typical older man who knows better than all these young 'uns, and honestly reading him I kept hearing the voices of climate change deniers I heard ten years ago because he uses all the same talking points they do. Granted this book is older than when I heard those people (who are still talking like this), but it made the book seem even older than it is. 

The characters that believe in climate change are at best naive, at median self promoting, and at worst bad actors. It gives the feeling Crichton thought he was smarter than the average person and really enjoyed being able to "win debates" in the same way certain media figures are today, which is obnoxious. 

There are good points in the book, like recognition of Native Americans cultivating the land before colonialism came along, the idea that the Earth is always changing and what preserving nature looks like, how fear is used by the media and politicians to keep people easier to manipulate, even addressing the issue of denying developing/over exploited countries the ability to improve their situations because the Western world has decided those ways are bad and should be stopped. It's just put alongside the obnoxiousness of the mouthpiece 'oh so calmly' rebutting the self evident nonsense of climate change. 
  
TW: Racism -

Also towards the end the book takes a bit of a nosedive with some really outdated depictions of cannibal natives that just seemed excessive and racist.

 

State of Fear by Micheal Crighton. 

3.75 /5 book dropped in local LFL

I was invested in the story but only while I was reading it. As soon as I put the book down at the end of my lunch break there was nothing to draw me back in until tomorrow’s lunch break. It took me way longer than I expected because of that, I will sometimes take a books back and forth to work but this one just lived under the seat in the work truck except for the hour or so I was eating. 

The fact that there were foot notes and actual graphs printed in even the MMPB copy was impressive. It strengthens the arguments that were being made by the characters and by extension, the author. 

Everyone knows Crighton from Jurassic Park but he’s a prolific creator of intense action stories full of social political commentary, this one focuses on media relations, ethics, environmentalism and by extension colonialism. A good quarter inch of pages at the back of the book is him talking about how he formed his ideas and what else to read if you’re interested. 

Generally, glad I read it because it made me think, met my completionist tendencies about authors, and for the quote…

“I believe people are well intentioned. But I have great respect for the corrosive influence of bias, systemic distortions of, the power of rationalization, the guises of self interest, and the inevitability of unintended consequences.“

I am a huge fan of Michael Crichton and his writing, so I really enjoyed this book. Crichton has this insane ability to combine facts and credible information with a crazy and fictional plot in a way that makes me question the world around me and rethink everything I know. Thai book was definitely not what I was expecting, and before reading this book, I did not agree with Crichton’s stance on climate change; however, it is hard to ignore the 27 page bibliography at the end of this book. I really appreciate the effort that Crichton puts in to make sure the information he presents is credible and traceable for readers. I will say that I found his argument about the “state of fear” being used to sort of control and manipulate the masses very interesting and thought provoking. 

Overall, this book really helped me to think more about the world around me and challenged my thoughts and opinions. Regardless of your opinions, I think this book is worth the read!