NeXT is a 2006 novel, MichaelCrichton's final published novel. The plot intertwines several different stories. There are two main story arcs: that of a family trying to raise a transgenic HalfHumanHybrid in secret and that of a family who're being hunted down for "illegal theft" of their cancer-resistant genes. Sub-plots include an incredibly intelligent parrot, a pedophile working security for a genetics firm who is promptly framed for rape and is convinced by his lawyer to use genetics to excuse his behavior, a delusional hippie, a foul-mouthed orangutan, and the media hype surrounding it, a baby rapist with a small penis (who just happens to have the same name as Crichton's real-life critic) and a pair of bounty hunters hunting down said family.

The book is entertaining and very informative, as Crichton is known for heavy amounts of research, but also basically Crichton [[AuthorTract yelling at the mainstream news for]] [[YouFailBiologyForever Failing Biology Forever]].

(This has nothing whatsoever to do with the [[AppleMacintosh computer company of roughly the same name.]] [[VideoGame/ArmoredCore Or with humongous mecha.]] Or the movie of the same name. Or the clothing chain Next.)
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Contains examples of the following tropes:

* AbortedArc - The resolution as to whether John Weller was a Chameara (someone with two sets of DNA) and therefore whether or not Lisa was actually his daughter, never occurs in favor of [[spoiler:implying that he was poisoned by his wife.]]
* AuthorTract - There's an actual appendix outlining Crichton's views on the subject of genetic engineering and the laws about it.
* [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled Better To Die than Be Arrested]] - The Bounty Hunter's first target.
* FrenchJerk - The talking orangutan swears in French, greatly annoying a French tourist who tried to speak with it.
* HalfHumanHybrid - Dave.
* LaserGuidedKarma - Jack Watson, a venture capitalist who had a compromised [=BioGen=] lab tech sabotage their research to drive down its stock price prior to purchasing it, then sends bounty hunters to kidnap a family to procure more samples of cancer-resistant genes(which he decided the company "owned" due to LoopholeAbuse) he had destroyed as part of that sabotage, [[spoiler:dies of a cancer strain the company might have been able to treat if not for the sabotage.]]
* LoopholeAbuse - Jack Watson is able to get a lower court to rule that [=BioGen=] owned not only the cancer-reistant genes they purchased from a university, but also the rights to the donor's entire cell line - AKA ''him and his children.'' [[spoiler:A higher court pretty much crucifies him for attempting to re-institute slavery.]]
* [[TwoLinesNoWaiting Four Lines No Waiting]] - asides from minor stories focusing on politicians or random observers, the four narrative lines of Dave, the Parrot, the bounty hunter, and a pedophile using genes as a defense often intertwine.
* TakeThat - The politician that Alex mentions prosecuting near the third act? The one that raped his two-year-old nephew and has a "small penis"? The one that's never mentioned again and has zero relevance to the plot? He just happens to share the name and college of a reviewer who was particularly critical of Crichton's previous novel ''StateOfFear'
* TheyWouldCutYouUp - Watson has skilled enough lawyers(and current biotech laws are vague enough) that he actually gets a state court to give him legal permission for this.
* ThisIsAWorkOfFiction - [[SubvertedTrope Subverted.]]
--> ''"This novel is fiction, except for the parts that aren't."''
* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman - Like woah. First off, Dave's subplot is ''really'' sad (he's the transgenic half-human, half-chimpanzee). Second off, a gene-engineered ''parrot'' saves [[spoiler:a family on the run from a bounty hunter by faking shotgun noises]].
* YouCanPanicNow - Many of the "news report" chapters exist to criticize this kind of news reporting.

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