Michael Chrichton ontsluit het domein van de genetica: een wereldwijde revolutie die zich ongekend snel en onbeheersbaar voltrekt. NEXT beschrijft een wereld waarin niets is wat het lijkt en waarin om elke hoek nieuwe mogelijkheden opdoemen. NEXT zet je gevoel over wat er gebeurt, wat waar en ethisch is op losse schroeven. NEXT kegelt je vaste aannames omver. Provocerend en speels, duister en onheilspellend: dat is NEXT.
Chrichton gaat niet over morgen; het is onze wereld. De meeste gebeurtenissen in NEXT hebben al plaatsgevonden. En de rest is net om de hoek. Wen er maar aan.

The dominant storyline involves Frank Burnet, a 51-year old cancer survivor whose body is discovered to be producing unique proteins that vigorously destroy cancerous cells. What Burnet didn't realize until it was too late was that he had unwittingly signed off on ownership of his protein-producing genes to his doctor, which then wound up in the possession of genetics research firm BioGen. Burnet loses his bid in court to regain legal ownership of the cell lines and BioGen is naturally exultant to have won against the $3 billion claim. But when Frank Burnet is found to have disappeared following the destruction of the cell lines in an act of sabotage - coupled with the mysterious vanishing of all the lines' backups and genetic data - BioGen brazenly assumes their legal ownership of Burnet's cells regardless of where they may be found. So it is that Burnet's daughter Alex and her young son Jamie become the prey of a bounty hunter hired by BioGen to track them down and have them biopsied.