“Michael Crichton’s recently discovered novel—an adventure set in the Wild West during the golden age of fossil hunting.
The year is 1876. Warring Indian tribes still populate America’s western territories even as lawless gold-rush towns begin to mark the landscape. In much of the country it is still illegal to espouse evolution. Against this backdrop two monomaniacal paleontologists pillage the Wild West, hunting for dinosaur fossils, while surveilling, deceiving and sabotaging each other in a rivalry that will come to be known as the Bone Wars.
Into this treacherous territory plunges the arrogant and entitled William Johnson, a Yale student with more privilege than sense. Determined to survive a summer in the west to win a bet against his arch-rival, William has joined world-renowned paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh on his latest expedition. But when the paranoid and secretive Marsh becomes convinced that William is spying for his nemesis, Edwin Drinker Cope, he abandons him in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a locus of crime and vice. William is forced to join forces with Cope and soon stumbles upon a discovery of historic proportions. With this extraordinary treasure, however, comes exceptional danger, and William’s newfound resilience will be tested in his struggle to protect his cache, which pits him against some of the West’s most notorious characters.”
So this was my first Michael Crichton book. I’ve seen the Jurassic Park movies but that’s about all I have when it comes to Crichton experience. So I have nothing to compare it to as far as his books go. With that being said let’s get into this…
So I he NO idea that he was dead! 🙊😮 and that this was a newly discovered book of his published after he died. I enjoyed this book. It was a fun read and very fast. But…it had a lot of holes. You could read it and understand it just fine but this was not a completed book at all and probably never should have been published. It was like his family was looking for more money. They knew people would buy it because of the name slapped on the front.
I did enjoy the characters of Professor Marsh and Professor Cope. It was interesting to see their real life fued play out in a story. Yes Cope and Marsh are real people from that time period. Johnson was an ok character. Something was missing about him to make him a great character.
The reason I feel this was not a completed novel was because it felt rushed. It happened all too fast. Too easy, not enough action or interaction with Indians. Reminds me a little of Go Set a Watchmen by Harper Lee. While I loved the book and story and understood where they were trying to go with them, they were not complete and should have never been published.
I do plan on reading Crichton’s books that he wrote, completed and published while he was alive and compare them to this book. I don’t regret reading this book. It was a great start to what could have been a fantastic historical fiction novel so I gave it a 3/5 🌟
Thanks for reading! 💁🏻
Adventures Between Pages 