Introduction Summary

The author summarizes a lawsuit promised by the National Environmental Resource Fund (NERF) after a 2003 Sustainable Earth Summit Conference on behalf of the island-nation of Vanutu against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The suit claims that the U.S. is responsible for global warming that will cause a rise in sea level that will destroy Vanutu. Largely George Morton, an environmentally conscious retired billionaire, funds NERF. For some inexplicable reason the suit was ultimately dropped, and Crichton's ensuing tale purports to reveal the mysterious reasons behind that outcome.

Introduction Analysis

The Vanutu lawsuit becomes the starting point for State of Fear. Ostensibly, the tale is an attempt to unravel the mystery behind the disappearance of the suit after the initial media hype. Indeed the novel does resolve that mystery, but it is much more as well; it is a critical analysis of how...