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Wyman Ford #1
Tyrannosaur Canyon
A stunning archaeological thriller from Douglas Preston, the New York Times bestselling co-author of Brimstone and Relic.
A moon rock missing for thirty years...
Five buckets of blood-soaked sand found in a New Mexico canyon...
A scientist with ambition enough to kill...
A monk who will redeem the world...
A dark agency with a deadly mission...
The greatest scientific discovery of all time...
What fire bolt from the galactic dark shattered the Earth eons ago, and now hides in that remote cleft in the southwest U.S. known as Tyrannosaur Canyon?
A fascinating novel from acclaimed bestselling author, hailed by Publishers Weekly as "better than Crichton."
A moon rock missing for thirty years...
Five buckets of blood-soaked sand found in a New Mexico canyon...
A scientist with ambition enough to kill...
A monk who will redeem the world...
A dark agency with a deadly mission...
The greatest scientific discovery of all time...
What fire bolt from the galactic dark shattered the Earth eons ago, and now hides in that remote cleft in the southwest U.S. known as Tyrannosaur Canyon?
A fascinating novel from acclaimed bestselling author, hailed by Publishers Weekly as "better than Crichton."
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
1034 people are currently reading
9313 people want to read
About the author
Douglas Preston
178 books13.4k followersDouglas Preston was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1956, and grew up in the deadly boring suburb of Wellesley. Following a distinguished career at a private nursery school--he was almost immediately expelled--he attended public schools and the Cambridge School of Weston. Notable events in his early life included the loss of a fingertip at the age of three to a bicycle; the loss of his two front teeth to his brother Richard's fist; and various broken bones, also incurred in dust-ups with Richard. (Richard went on to write The Hot Zone and The Cobra Event, which tells you all you need to know about what it was like to grow up with him as a brother.)
As they grew up, Doug, Richard, and their little brother David roamed the quiet suburbs of Wellesley, terrorizing the natives with home-made rockets and incendiary devices mail-ordered from the backs of comic books or concocted from chemistry sets. With a friend they once attempted to fly a rocket into Wellesley Square; the rocket malfunctioned and nearly killed a man mowing his lawn. They were local celebrities, often appearing in the "Police Notes" section of The Wellesley Townsman. It is a miracle they survived childhood intact.
After unaccountably being rejected by Stanford University (a pox on it), Preston attended Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he studied mathematics, biology, physics, anthropology, chemistry, geology, and astronomy before settling down to English literature. After graduating, Preston began his career at the American Museum of Natural History in New York as an editor, writer, and eventually manager of publications. (Preston also taught writing at Princeton University and was managing editor of Curator.) His eight-year stint at the Museum resulted in the non-fiction book, Dinosaurs in the Attic, edited by a rising young star at St. Martin's Press, a polymath by the name of Lincoln Child. During this period, Preston gave Child a midnight tour of the museum, and in the darkened Hall of Late Dinosaurs, under a looming T. Rex, Child turned to Preston and said: "This would make the perfect setting for a thriller!" That thriller would, of course, be Relic.
In 1986, Douglas Preston piled everything he owned into the back of a Subaru and moved from New York City to Santa Fe to write full time, following the advice of S. J. Perelman that "the dubious privilege of a freelance writer is he's given the freedom to starve anywhere." After the requisite period of penury, Preston achieved a small success with the publication of Cities of Gold, a non-fiction book about Coronado's search for the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola. To research the book, Preston and a friend retraced on horseback 1,000 miles of Coronado's route across Arizona and New Mexico, packing their supplies and sleeping under the stars--nearly killing themselves in the process. Since then he has published several more non-fiction books on the history of the American Southwest, Talking to the Ground and The Royal Road, as well as a novel entitled Jennie. In the early 1990s Preston and Child teamed up to write suspense novels; Relic was the first, followed by several others, including Riptide and Thunderhead. Relic was released as a motion picture by Paramount in 1997. Other films are under development at Hollywood studios. Preston and Child live 500 miles apart and write their books together via telephone, fax, and the Internet.
Preston and his brother Richard are currently producing a television miniseries for ABC and Mandalay Entertainment, to be aired in the spring of 2000, if all goes well, which in Hollywood is rarely the case.
Preston continues a magazine writing career by contributing regularly to The New Yorker magazine. He has also written for National Geographic, Natural History, Smithsonisan, Harper's,and Travel & Leisure,among others.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/dougla...
As they grew up, Doug, Richard, and their little brother David roamed the quiet suburbs of Wellesley, terrorizing the natives with home-made rockets and incendiary devices mail-ordered from the backs of comic books or concocted from chemistry sets. With a friend they once attempted to fly a rocket into Wellesley Square; the rocket malfunctioned and nearly killed a man mowing his lawn. They were local celebrities, often appearing in the "Police Notes" section of The Wellesley Townsman. It is a miracle they survived childhood intact.
After unaccountably being rejected by Stanford University (a pox on it), Preston attended Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he studied mathematics, biology, physics, anthropology, chemistry, geology, and astronomy before settling down to English literature. After graduating, Preston began his career at the American Museum of Natural History in New York as an editor, writer, and eventually manager of publications. (Preston also taught writing at Princeton University and was managing editor of Curator.) His eight-year stint at the Museum resulted in the non-fiction book, Dinosaurs in the Attic, edited by a rising young star at St. Martin's Press, a polymath by the name of Lincoln Child. During this period, Preston gave Child a midnight tour of the museum, and in the darkened Hall of Late Dinosaurs, under a looming T. Rex, Child turned to Preston and said: "This would make the perfect setting for a thriller!" That thriller would, of course, be Relic.
In 1986, Douglas Preston piled everything he owned into the back of a Subaru and moved from New York City to Santa Fe to write full time, following the advice of S. J. Perelman that "the dubious privilege of a freelance writer is he's given the freedom to starve anywhere." After the requisite period of penury, Preston achieved a small success with the publication of Cities of Gold, a non-fiction book about Coronado's search for the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola. To research the book, Preston and a friend retraced on horseback 1,000 miles of Coronado's route across Arizona and New Mexico, packing their supplies and sleeping under the stars--nearly killing themselves in the process. Since then he has published several more non-fiction books on the history of the American Southwest, Talking to the Ground and The Royal Road, as well as a novel entitled Jennie. In the early 1990s Preston and Child teamed up to write suspense novels; Relic was the first, followed by several others, including Riptide and Thunderhead. Relic was released as a motion picture by Paramount in 1997. Other films are under development at Hollywood studios. Preston and Child live 500 miles apart and write their books together via telephone, fax, and the Internet.
Preston and his brother Richard are currently producing a television miniseries for ABC and Mandalay Entertainment, to be aired in the spring of 2000, if all goes well, which in Hollywood is rarely the case.
Preston continues a magazine writing career by contributing regularly to The New Yorker magazine. He has also written for National Geographic, Natural History, Smithsonisan, Harper's,and Travel & Leisure,among others.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/dougla...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,068 reviews
June 27, 2023
A thief in broad daylight, scurries over and around the windy badlands of northern New Mexico, someone is following, he is a little concerned the geologist Marston Weathers, having just found his "treasure". The dreams of a lifetime at long last, becomes a reality not gold or gemstones, not even ancient coins. Mr. Weathers is the top dinosaur hunter in the nation, but lacks honesty some would say, a stickler for obeying every rule that doesn't apply to him, that the law demands. A free man, until caught this is government land after all, everything belongs to them... four shots ring out in the largely silent, numerous canyons. Tom Broadbent the local veterinarian, likes riding his horse in this wild territory, he loves animals, people that's another story. Arriving at the bloody scene, a badly wounded Mr. Weathers received a couple of bullets to the back, tells the vet to give his coded notebook to his estranged daughter, Roberta,"Robbie" and a promise to keep the secret from everyone else, how can he refuse ? Looking at the anguish in the dying face, expiring with a grotesque half - smile. Mr.Weathers has discovered the most complete Tyrannosaur Rex fossil ever, so lifelike it chills the spine, worth maybe 100 million dollars on the black market. However the killer is descending from the mesa above , no time to dawdle Tom, he goes for help the police are suspicious, his wife Sally, says to give the notebook to them, but he will keep his word to the unknown dead man , still how ?...It will cost them both dearly, the murderer is very clever, hiding the body and burro from the police , nothing is found in the canyon of where the crime occurred, except a mass of blood in a hole in the sand...An ex-con, Jimson Maddox , working for a seemingly respectable man from a museum in New York, is the killer, he would do anything for his benefactor, who got him out of prison in California. A different kind of human Wyman Ford, ex- C.I.A., lives in a monastery on the desert, isolated from the world which the would be monk now craves, his wife also in the company died on duty. He was the intended victim but three years later the almost monk is restless, he likes roaming the waterless land going for days alone, seeing the mesas, canyons and the relentless Sun beating down on the hot, lonely deserts, that will kill the careless or people who lose their way, no mistakes are permitted in this exotic and fetching place. Wyman...
needs to think about his future ... Tom travels to see Mr.Ford, he was a codebreaker in his previous occupation, the reluctant Wyman is bored, needs the excitement of his former life . It will naturally cause big trouble too, the criminal will stop at nothing to get the notebook, that reveals where the dinosaur is located and the indignant police are watching also, any excuse to lock up the closed mouth of the very uncooperative, Mr.Broadbent ...Superior tale, for those who like action and adventure, with a touch of suspense but not for some... no live dinosaurs...
needs to think about his future ... Tom travels to see Mr.Ford, he was a codebreaker in his previous occupation, the reluctant Wyman is bored, needs the excitement of his former life . It will naturally cause big trouble too, the criminal will stop at nothing to get the notebook, that reveals where the dinosaur is located and the indignant police are watching also, any excuse to lock up the closed mouth of the very uncooperative, Mr.Broadbent ...Superior tale, for those who like action and adventure, with a touch of suspense but not for some... no live dinosaurs...
May 5, 2018
What I wanted:
What I got:
That's what you get when you don't check up the book you're reading before you start. Anyway, the book wasn't that bad, it was just not what I wanted. I wanted a t-rex, perhaps a couple of t-rex, and people being hunted by t-rex, instead, I got t-rex...fossil and a lot of people after the fossil.
I had a bit of trouble getting into the story of Tyrannosaur Canyon and Wyman Ford isn't really working for me. I prefer his agent Pendergast books with Lincoln Child. The part of the book I liked the best was "the life of the T-rex" when Preston wrote about her life 65 million years ago. So in a way, I actually liked the t-rex best of all the "characters" in the book...
What I got:
That's what you get when you don't check up the book you're reading before you start. Anyway, the book wasn't that bad, it was just not what I wanted. I wanted a t-rex, perhaps a couple of t-rex, and people being hunted by t-rex, instead, I got t-rex...fossil and a lot of people after the fossil.
I had a bit of trouble getting into the story of Tyrannosaur Canyon and Wyman Ford isn't really working for me. I prefer his agent Pendergast books with Lincoln Child. The part of the book I liked the best was "the life of the T-rex" when Preston wrote about her life 65 million years ago. So in a way, I actually liked the t-rex best of all the "characters" in the book...
May 9, 2019
Well, T-Rex, I think nature might have some other plans for you!
As I recently finished up all currently available Preston & Child Pendergast books, I decided to move on to some of the solo efforts. It is obviously different; not bad, but just a little off what I expect. I can feel some of the same essence there, but it will take some getting used to.
Are you a fan of Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park? This is a great book for people who love science, archeology, and or paleontology-based mysteries. It also has quite a bit of political intrigue for people who enjoy political thrillers. If you enjoy authors that write in any of these genres and/or books with lots of locations, lots of twists/turns, and lots of suspense, I think it is worth giving this one a go.
Also, based on some of the content of this book, I am thinking (as I have with at least one of his other books) Douglas got some help from his brother Richard!
This is the first book of the Wyman Ford series (and, if you read this book looking for Ford, you will be waiting a while before he joins in!). I plan to continue the series to satiate my hunger until the next Pendergast book hits the scene!
July 1, 2024
Frightening - because it COULD happen!!
Only an extraordinarily deft master of suspense thrillers like Douglas Preston could pull together such wildly unrelated props, ideas and events and combine them into single related roller-coaster story line - an ex-CIA cryptologist who retired to a monastery after witnessing his wife blown to bits in a Cambodian car bomb; a treasure hunter murdered by an ex-con sniper in a canyon in the New Mexico desert; a lunar rock sample that disappeared from the final Apollo mission to the moon in 1972; a shady entrepreneur running a lonely hearts web site for ladies who fancy corresponding with somebody on the wrong side of prison walls; a completely intact Tyrannosaurus fossil flash dried by during the heat storms following the impact of an asteroid with the earth over 65 million years ago; an infectious virus from outer space; a veterinarian struggling with a promise made to a dying man to give a notebook filled with numeric code to a woman whose name he doesn't even know; and a deep, dark US government black ops squad willing to exterminate US citizens to fulfill their mission!
Omigod! All of this sounds just a little TOO bizarre and over the top to approach credible!
But that certainly didn't seem to matter to Preston who has crafted much more than a thrilling page turner. He has combined all of these tidbits with cutting edge science and technology to create a horrifying tale that seems within the realm of possibility. For me, that was much, much more than merely thrilling. It was actually quite frightening.
Preston's lurid, graphic descriptions of the life of a Tryannosaur and her death after the impact of a killer asteroid are positively gripping. Before you hit the "send" button on your next e-mail or make another cell phone call to your lover, you'll shudder as you wonder if there is actually a computer at the National Security Agency monitoring the world's conversations through the use of a new computer algorithm known as "Stutterlogic". You'll hold your breath as you wonder how many soldiers for how many nations and for what purposes have listened to an order like this one:
"The time is coming when I will ask you to kill several unarmed American citizens. These individuals are too dangerous to entrust to the courts. Will you have a problem with that?"
Enjoy it! This thriller is as thrilling as they come!
Paul Weiss
Only an extraordinarily deft master of suspense thrillers like Douglas Preston could pull together such wildly unrelated props, ideas and events and combine them into single related roller-coaster story line - an ex-CIA cryptologist who retired to a monastery after witnessing his wife blown to bits in a Cambodian car bomb; a treasure hunter murdered by an ex-con sniper in a canyon in the New Mexico desert; a lunar rock sample that disappeared from the final Apollo mission to the moon in 1972; a shady entrepreneur running a lonely hearts web site for ladies who fancy corresponding with somebody on the wrong side of prison walls; a completely intact Tyrannosaurus fossil flash dried by during the heat storms following the impact of an asteroid with the earth over 65 million years ago; an infectious virus from outer space; a veterinarian struggling with a promise made to a dying man to give a notebook filled with numeric code to a woman whose name he doesn't even know; and a deep, dark US government black ops squad willing to exterminate US citizens to fulfill their mission!
Omigod! All of this sounds just a little TOO bizarre and over the top to approach credible!
But that certainly didn't seem to matter to Preston who has crafted much more than a thrilling page turner. He has combined all of these tidbits with cutting edge science and technology to create a horrifying tale that seems within the realm of possibility. For me, that was much, much more than merely thrilling. It was actually quite frightening.
Preston's lurid, graphic descriptions of the life of a Tryannosaur and her death after the impact of a killer asteroid are positively gripping. Before you hit the "send" button on your next e-mail or make another cell phone call to your lover, you'll shudder as you wonder if there is actually a computer at the National Security Agency monitoring the world's conversations through the use of a new computer algorithm known as "Stutterlogic". You'll hold your breath as you wonder how many soldiers for how many nations and for what purposes have listened to an order like this one:
"The time is coming when I will ask you to kill several unarmed American citizens. These individuals are too dangerous to entrust to the courts. Will you have a problem with that?"
Enjoy it! This thriller is as thrilling as they come!
Paul Weiss
August 17, 2017
Tyrannosaur Canyon (Wyman Ford #1) by Douglas Preston is a great thriller/mystery based around an archeology find. It is fast paced and exciting. I enjoyed it on many levels. I loved exciting stories of archaeological finds, stories that puzzle, those that might involve the government, and a new scientific find. Murder, mayhem, and suspense is the bonus! Good story!
May 19, 2021
Book 1 in the Wyman Ford series first published 2005.
4 entertaining stars.
This was a surprise, I really didn’t know what to expect but what I got was a lot more than I could have hoped for.
This was a thriller with a bit of sci-fi and a rudimentary introduction to paleontology thrown in for good measure.
The thriller part was indeed thrilling and I found the paleontology fascinating and the science fiction was just that, fiction. Put it all together and what you get is a highly entertaining and informative read.
The story starts in The Bad Lands of New Mexico where Tom Broadbent, a country vet, is out riding his horse when he hears a gun shot. A gun shot in, quite literary, the middle of nowhere can mean only one thing, trouble. Tom rides to investigate and find a man who has been shot in the back and who is not far from death. Tom tries to help but with his last breath the dying man places a notebook into Tom’s hand and asked Tom to make sure his daughter, Robbie, gets the notebook.
Tom makes the promise willingly but this act of kindness will end up jeopardising not only Tom’s life but that of his wife and the lives of many more innocents before this story ends.
The story is pretty straight forward, not a lot of twists and turns, but the pace is unrelenting and I for one found it hard to put down.
This is with out a doubt a cracker of a yarn.
4 entertaining stars.
This was a surprise, I really didn’t know what to expect but what I got was a lot more than I could have hoped for.
This was a thriller with a bit of sci-fi and a rudimentary introduction to paleontology thrown in for good measure.
The thriller part was indeed thrilling and I found the paleontology fascinating and the science fiction was just that, fiction. Put it all together and what you get is a highly entertaining and informative read.
The story starts in The Bad Lands of New Mexico where Tom Broadbent, a country vet, is out riding his horse when he hears a gun shot. A gun shot in, quite literary, the middle of nowhere can mean only one thing, trouble. Tom rides to investigate and find a man who has been shot in the back and who is not far from death. Tom tries to help but with his last breath the dying man places a notebook into Tom’s hand and asked Tom to make sure his daughter, Robbie, gets the notebook.
Tom makes the promise willingly but this act of kindness will end up jeopardising not only Tom’s life but that of his wife and the lives of many more innocents before this story ends.
The story is pretty straight forward, not a lot of twists and turns, but the pace is unrelenting and I for one found it hard to put down.
This is with out a doubt a cracker of a yarn.
November 17, 2015
You know it's a bad sign when you keep flipping to the end of the book to see how much further you have to slog 'til the end. I consider myself a fan of the Lincoln-Child (LC) books. At the time of this writing I've read seven Pendergast books back-to-back earlier this year. Although I wouldn't categorize them as tomes of High Literature I do find them well-written (especially for the thriller genre), suspenseful, interesting, and almost always entertaining.
Having blazed through those seven co-authored books, I wanted to try out each author "on their own" in some of their solo books to see how they fared. Judging solely from this slapdash novel I'd say that the two authors together are far greater than the sum of their parts. I suspect that working together sets up some friendly competition resulting in more complex novels, propelling their stories to greater heights.
Coincidences, or "Haven't I Seen You Somewhere Before?"
It's stunning -- some would say "astonishing" -- how many similarities appear in this book. Here are a few that have been dragged out of previous books which Douglas Preston co-authored.
1. The feisty, under appreciated -- but highly intelligent -- female museum worker.
2. The sleazy, uptight, bug-up-his-butt museum director.
3. The dark chase in the deserted museum basement. You know the one: a terrified character is running down aisles, knocking stuff over in the dark, hiding from a mysterious killer who -- against all odds -- knows a shocking amount of detail about the museum and its security. (See LC's "Dance of Death", I believe, and a few others if I'm not mistaken -- reading so many Pendergast series books back-to-back earlier this year has caused some of them to blur together).
4. Unmistakable shades of Pendergast in the government uber-agent who appreciates the finer things in life, has a superhuman past and a wife who was murdered, and, as the story begins, is holed up in a remote monastery.
5. The dark chase through the tunnels of an abandoned mine (see the LC book "White Fire"). What's this fixation Douglas Preston has with mines?
6. The dizzying number of time the word "astonished" (or astonishes and astonishing) is used. Well, mystery solved, I guess: now we know which of the two authors, Child or Preston, manages to jam the word onto every page.
In short, this book didn't really work for me. The plot was paint-by-numbers, the characters shallow, and the very brief 2 or 3 page chapters that give the book a "movie" feel and their brevity never really allowed me to immerse into any extended passages of the book. Every chapter felt almost like it ended needing a commercial break.
I toss the book aside and wait patiently for Blue Labyrinth later this year. Though we'll still have to dodge more than a few abuses of the word "astonishing", it's a fair bet that the result of Lincoln and Child joining heads will result in something better than this.
Having blazed through those seven co-authored books, I wanted to try out each author "on their own" in some of their solo books to see how they fared. Judging solely from this slapdash novel I'd say that the two authors together are far greater than the sum of their parts. I suspect that working together sets up some friendly competition resulting in more complex novels, propelling their stories to greater heights.
Coincidences, or "Haven't I Seen You Somewhere Before?"
It's stunning -- some would say "astonishing" -- how many similarities appear in this book. Here are a few that have been dragged out of previous books which Douglas Preston co-authored.
1. The feisty, under appreciated -- but highly intelligent -- female museum worker.
2. The sleazy, uptight, bug-up-his-butt museum director.
3. The dark chase in the deserted museum basement. You know the one: a terrified character is running down aisles, knocking stuff over in the dark, hiding from a mysterious killer who -- against all odds -- knows a shocking amount of detail about the museum and its security. (See LC's "Dance of Death", I believe, and a few others if I'm not mistaken -- reading so many Pendergast series books back-to-back earlier this year has caused some of them to blur together).
4. Unmistakable shades of Pendergast in the government uber-agent who appreciates the finer things in life, has a superhuman past and a wife who was murdered, and, as the story begins, is holed up in a remote monastery.
5. The dark chase through the tunnels of an abandoned mine (see the LC book "White Fire"). What's this fixation Douglas Preston has with mines?
6. The dizzying number of time the word "astonished" (or astonishes and astonishing) is used. Well, mystery solved, I guess: now we know which of the two authors, Child or Preston, manages to jam the word onto every page.
In short, this book didn't really work for me. The plot was paint-by-numbers, the characters shallow, and the very brief 2 or 3 page chapters that give the book a "movie" feel and their brevity never really allowed me to immerse into any extended passages of the book. Every chapter felt almost like it ended needing a commercial break.
I toss the book aside and wait patiently for Blue Labyrinth later this year. Though we'll still have to dodge more than a few abuses of the word "astonishing", it's a fair bet that the result of Lincoln and Child joining heads will result in something better than this.
January 7, 2012
I picked this book up expecting to be entertained. I'm perfectly able to suspend disbelief if they story is good enough. Oh my was I disappointed. This book was about as interesting as watching paint dry. This author is - according to the blurb "...hailed by "Publishers Weekly" as 'better than Crichton'." My ass. I've read most of Cricthons books and although not all of them were to my liking, not one of them came close to this in sheer stupidity.
If you hate something you're supposed to be specific. I'll give it a shot. I still feel mildly sick that I bothered to finish it. Anyway, a man who has discovered something big, something he calls "a treasure" is murdered on a visit to it. A vet living nearby hears it and goes to explore. He finds the man, badly wounded, hears his dying words and is entrusted a notebook that he must give to the dying man's daughter. Right. So far so good. The "treasure" turns out to be an extraordinarily well-preserved t-rex fossil. Complete with inner organs and feathers. Wow. I mean, you hear about the odd mammoth mummy turning up in the tundra in a pristine state, but a FOSSIL including skin and organs? Come on! It is not the same thing at all. Sure, soft organs are sometimes "imprinted" in the rock, but that's not what the case was in this book. The follies do not end here, but I shall not reveal "the twist". It does not redeem the book in anyway regardless and does not deserve mentioning.
So yes, there are numerous scientific cock-ups that even the most average lay person can detect. This could have been forgiven if the characters had been interesting, but they are not in the least. It is Tom, the vet and his wife Sally. The latter gest hunted down while Tom is away, by a man who wants the notebook. There is a student who examines a sample from the fossil for the biggest crook in the book. There's the former CIA agent, now a monk, who cracks the code in the notebook. None of them are particularly intersting or entartaining, I did not give a hoot as to what happened to any of them.
I must finish this review now, because the more I think about the content of this book, the more annoyed I get at having wasted my time on it.
Please, please PLEASE let whatever I read next be better than this!!!
If you hate something you're supposed to be specific. I'll give it a shot. I still feel mildly sick that I bothered to finish it. Anyway, a man who has discovered something big, something he calls "a treasure" is murdered on a visit to it. A vet living nearby hears it and goes to explore. He finds the man, badly wounded, hears his dying words and is entrusted a notebook that he must give to the dying man's daughter. Right. So far so good. The "treasure" turns out to be an extraordinarily well-preserved t-rex fossil. Complete with inner organs and feathers. Wow. I mean, you hear about the odd mammoth mummy turning up in the tundra in a pristine state, but a FOSSIL including skin and organs? Come on! It is not the same thing at all. Sure, soft organs are sometimes "imprinted" in the rock, but that's not what the case was in this book. The follies do not end here, but I shall not reveal "the twist". It does not redeem the book in anyway regardless and does not deserve mentioning.
So yes, there are numerous scientific cock-ups that even the most average lay person can detect. This could have been forgiven if the characters had been interesting, but they are not in the least. It is Tom, the vet and his wife Sally. The latter gest hunted down while Tom is away, by a man who wants the notebook. There is a student who examines a sample from the fossil for the biggest crook in the book. There's the former CIA agent, now a monk, who cracks the code in the notebook. None of them are particularly intersting or entartaining, I did not give a hoot as to what happened to any of them.
I must finish this review now, because the more I think about the content of this book, the more annoyed I get at having wasted my time on it.
Please, please PLEASE let whatever I read next be better than this!!!
August 23, 2024
Dinosaur and More
Stem Weathers was a thin and weathered old man who had been exploring desserts everywhere and was currently in the Mesa de los Viejos or Mesa of the Ancients. He and his burrow were trying to get to the river when he discovered he was being followed. Stem tried to lose his pursuer, but felt the bullet before he heard it. Tom Broadbent heard the shots and found the old man dying, who shoved a notebook in his hands and made him promise to give it to his daughter.
Before Tom knew what was happening, he had involved a former CIA turned monk and then a man had kidnapped Tom’s wife demanding he give him Stem’s book.
Meanwhile, the specimen Stem Weathers had in his pocket has made its way into the hands of someone who has been using a young and brilliant PhD to study the intricacies of the find. But what exactly did they find, because it’s more than what it seemed. That’s the real question, especially when you find out how many people are really after that book and specimen. Unfortunately none of the unsuspecting people involved have any idea what they have stumbled into and things get out of control fast.
This was a well thought out thriller with twists and turns that kept me guessing through most of the book. There is a bad guy that I thought kind of jumped the shark in his insane badness, but mostly this was a mystery lover’s thriller. Solid four star read taking off five stars because of the crazy guy. You have to read it to know what I mean, but do that so you can tell me if I’m crazy!
Stem Weathers was a thin and weathered old man who had been exploring desserts everywhere and was currently in the Mesa de los Viejos or Mesa of the Ancients. He and his burrow were trying to get to the river when he discovered he was being followed. Stem tried to lose his pursuer, but felt the bullet before he heard it. Tom Broadbent heard the shots and found the old man dying, who shoved a notebook in his hands and made him promise to give it to his daughter.
Before Tom knew what was happening, he had involved a former CIA turned monk and then a man had kidnapped Tom’s wife demanding he give him Stem’s book.
Meanwhile, the specimen Stem Weathers had in his pocket has made its way into the hands of someone who has been using a young and brilliant PhD to study the intricacies of the find. But what exactly did they find, because it’s more than what it seemed. That’s the real question, especially when you find out how many people are really after that book and specimen. Unfortunately none of the unsuspecting people involved have any idea what they have stumbled into and things get out of control fast.
This was a well thought out thriller with twists and turns that kept me guessing through most of the book. There is a bad guy that I thought kind of jumped the shark in his insane badness, but mostly this was a mystery lover’s thriller. Solid four star read taking off five stars because of the crazy guy. You have to read it to know what I mean, but do that so you can tell me if I’m crazy!
June 22, 2008
I would be ashamed to acknowledge that I read this novel, if it were not for the fact that my story may serve as a cautionary tale for others.
I have never read Douglas Preston before this book. I likely will never again read Douglas Preston. The blurb on the cover states, "If John Grisham had written Jurassic Park, he couldn't do better than Tyrannosaur Canyon."
I think, if John Grisham chose to sue for libel he would have a compelling case. This book was meant to fill the desperately needed void of light fluff reading while I finished writing my thesis. Luckily it was a quick read, because....I, like, got stupider in the head.
SPOILER ALERT
It had a great start; wily geologist (I love crazy geologists) and a mule (I love mules) are chased and shot by a mysterious assassin in Utah slot canyons (I love Utah slot canyons).
Then we move into the realm of crappy crappy Dan Brown with government cover-ups, moon rocks and alien life.
I have never read Douglas Preston before this book. I likely will never again read Douglas Preston. The blurb on the cover states, "If John Grisham had written Jurassic Park, he couldn't do better than Tyrannosaur Canyon."
I think, if John Grisham chose to sue for libel he would have a compelling case. This book was meant to fill the desperately needed void of light fluff reading while I finished writing my thesis. Luckily it was a quick read, because....I, like, got stupider in the head.
SPOILER ALERT
It had a great start; wily geologist (I love crazy geologists) and a mule (I love mules) are chased and shot by a mysterious assassin in Utah slot canyons (I love Utah slot canyons).
Then we move into the realm of crappy crappy Dan Brown with government cover-ups, moon rocks and alien life.
February 9, 2018
There's a lot going on in a remote area of New Mexico.
Somebody shoots an old prospector and hides the body. The old prospector had a map that leads to...something. Somebody is stalking a woman. There's a mysterious alphabet soup agency poking around.
Lots of drama, for what I felt wasn't a lot of payoff.
Somebody shoots an old prospector and hides the body. The old prospector had a map that leads to...something. Somebody is stalking a woman. There's a mysterious alphabet soup agency poking around.
Lots of drama, for what I felt wasn't a lot of payoff.
April 15, 2022
Science fiction/science fact, CIA Black Operations, a scramble through university achievements, death in the desert, and the callousness of human nature combine to make this a gripping page-turner of a novel.
Thanks to Paul Weiss and his much better review
Death of a fossil hunter.
He heard the shot only after he felt the bullet slam into his lower back and saw his own entrails empty onto the sand in front of him, the inertia pitching him facedown. He tried to rise, sobbing and clawing, furious that someone would steal his find. He writhed, howling, clutching his pocket notebook, hoping to throw it, lose it, destroy it, to keep it from his killer – but there was no place to conceal it, and then, as if in a dream, he could not think, could not move...
The hitman/professional retriever
Corvus leaned over, unlocked a drawer, and removed an inch-thick stack of hundred-dollar bills bound in a block with rubber bands.
"You don't need to do that, Dr. Corvus. I've still got money left over–"
The man's thin lips gave a twitch. "For any unexpected expenses." He pressed the book of notes into Maddox's hand. "You know what to do."
Maddox parked the money in his jacket.
"Good-bye, Mr. Maddox."
Maddox turned and walked stiffly toward the door Corvus had unlocked and was holding open for him. Maddox felt a burning sensation prickling the back of his neck as he passed. A moment later Corvus arrested him with a firm hand on his shoulder, a squeeze that was just a little too sharp to be affectionate. He felt the man bending over his shoulder, whispering into his ear, overpronouncing each syllable.
"The note book."
His shoulder was released and Maddox heard the door close softly. He walked through the now empty secretary's office into the vast, echoing corridors beyond.
Broadbent. He'd take care of that son of a bitch.
This story is a roller-coaster of a ride. Chapters end with cliff-hanger endings over actual cliffs!
Not for the fainthearted.
Enjoy!
Thanks to Paul Weiss and his much better review
Death of a fossil hunter.
He heard the shot only after he felt the bullet slam into his lower back and saw his own entrails empty onto the sand in front of him, the inertia pitching him facedown. He tried to rise, sobbing and clawing, furious that someone would steal his find. He writhed, howling, clutching his pocket notebook, hoping to throw it, lose it, destroy it, to keep it from his killer – but there was no place to conceal it, and then, as if in a dream, he could not think, could not move...
The hitman/professional retriever
Corvus leaned over, unlocked a drawer, and removed an inch-thick stack of hundred-dollar bills bound in a block with rubber bands.
"You don't need to do that, Dr. Corvus. I've still got money left over–"
The man's thin lips gave a twitch. "For any unexpected expenses." He pressed the book of notes into Maddox's hand. "You know what to do."
Maddox parked the money in his jacket.
"Good-bye, Mr. Maddox."
Maddox turned and walked stiffly toward the door Corvus had unlocked and was holding open for him. Maddox felt a burning sensation prickling the back of his neck as he passed. A moment later Corvus arrested him with a firm hand on his shoulder, a squeeze that was just a little too sharp to be affectionate. He felt the man bending over his shoulder, whispering into his ear, overpronouncing each syllable.
"The note book."
His shoulder was released and Maddox heard the door close softly. He walked through the now empty secretary's office into the vast, echoing corridors beyond.
Broadbent. He'd take care of that son of a bitch.
This story is a roller-coaster of a ride. Chapters end with cliff-hanger endings over actual cliffs!
Not for the fainthearted.
Enjoy!
July 6, 2012
After finishing Impact, I was intrigued enough to try another book by Douglas Preston. I selected Tyrannosaur Canyon on the basis of the reviews on Goodreads.
I felt Tyannosaur Canyon was a much better book -- even though it was written before Impact .
I loved the irony of the plaque in Beezon's office of a minnow in the belly of a fossilized fish, itself in the belly of an even larger fossilized fish. It cleverly foretold of predators chasing victims in the plot only to become the victim of even larger predators.
As before, I believe Douglas Preston's writing style is excellent and his pace keeps the reader completely absorbed in the story. His descriptions of characters, scenes and actions portray vivid images yet do not bog down the story.
I liked many of the characters including Tom Broadbent and his wife, Sally. I particularly enjoyed the character of Wyman Ford trying (and failing) to escape his demons by entering a monestary. The villains were dramatically nasty and the poor police detective seemed to always be behind the curve in his chase.
I also liked the genre of what I call "real world" science fiction. No little green men but instead plausible, scientific extensions of our current world.
I can easily recommend this book
I felt Tyannosaur Canyon was a much better book -- even though it was written before Impact .
I loved the irony of the plaque in Beezon's office of a minnow in the belly of a fossilized fish, itself in the belly of an even larger fossilized fish. It cleverly foretold of predators chasing victims in the plot only to become the victim of even larger predators.
As before, I believe Douglas Preston's writing style is excellent and his pace keeps the reader completely absorbed in the story. His descriptions of characters, scenes and actions portray vivid images yet do not bog down the story.
I liked many of the characters including Tom Broadbent and his wife, Sally. I particularly enjoyed the character of Wyman Ford trying (and failing) to escape his demons by entering a monestary. The villains were dramatically nasty and the poor police detective seemed to always be behind the curve in his chase.
I also liked the genre of what I call "real world" science fiction. No little green men but instead plausible, scientific extensions of our current world.
I can easily recommend this book
September 2, 2016
WHAT? WHERE ARE THEM DINOSAURS?
Misleading titles. Fffffffffffffff-
I don't know. There was something essential missing that should've been part of such an action-incorporated, part science-fiction thriller.
Wish I could pinpoint it out but I wouldn't want to waste more thoughts on this.
Mediocre.
Or maybe just missing a live T-Rex.
Misleading titles. Fffffffffffffff-
I don't know. There was something essential missing that should've been part of such an action-incorporated, part science-fiction thriller.
Wish I could pinpoint it out but I wouldn't want to waste more thoughts on this.
Mediocre.
Or maybe just missing a live T-Rex.
August 1, 2021
I was surprised to find a nearly endless number of websites offering advice on how to write a thriller. What none of them can supply, however, is how an author can fill a story with his/her own unique voice. Without such a voice, even the most complicated plot twists will lapse into the formulaic. This is a particular challenge for the thriller genre where a quest-driven plot filled with a succession of ominous incidents and narrow escapes (or not!) from deadly traps are meant to propel the reader's interest.
Author Douglas Preston applies the research he gleaned from his nonfiction work, Dinosaurs in the Attic, and his extensive forays on foot and on horseback into the landscape of the American Southwest to voice this narrative. He re-creates the awe inspiring vistas and terrain of slot canyons, hoodoos and mesas that encircle the Chama River in New Mexico. In addition he inserts vivid vignettes of that world as it existed 65 million years ago.
Preston teeters on the edge of a common pitfall of the thriller genre: the overly heroic protagonist. Too frequently violent engagements and impossible escapes despite life-threatening injuries combined with one too many lucky coincidence strain the credulity of even the most sympathetic reader. Preston offsets this flaw with ample realistic detail. He opens with astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt collecting samples from the lunar Taurus-Littrow Valley. In a basement lab of the Museum of Natural History he itemizes state-of-the-art equipment for the geochemical analysis of mineral samples. Of course, there is the obligatory description of an arsenal of military-style firearms assembled by the villain. In addition, he provides a basic overview of the ground penetrating radar device and magnetic field metal detector used for serious geologic exploration. It also helps that his protagonists are engaging.
Tom Broadbent, son of a sketchy tomb raider and artifacts dealer named Maxwell Broadbent, is experienced in archaeology but has chosen the more sedate career of a large animal veterinarian. His wife Sally is an adventurous horsewoman who runs a riding school for local children. A secondary character, Wyman Ford, has a unique skill set and tragic backstory that has led him to a remote convent as a novitiate. (Ford will appear in later thrillers by this author). My favorite character, however, was Melodie Crookshank, an under-employed geochemist and paleontologist at the Museum of Natural History. Despite a doctorate from Columbia and extraordinary technical skills, she has been unsuccessful for the past five years at landing a tenure-track position in her overcrowded field.
Serendipity brought me to this book. As a child I was enthralled by Roy Chapman Andrews' All About Dinosaurs (am I showing my age?). I love fiction set in New Mexico where I now live. The timing of this read was perfect. I needed something fast-paced after having just completed a complex work of fiction filled with ambiguous meanings and open to multiple interpretations. So, guilty pleasure? Maybe. Except I don't feel guilty. This was a fast-paced entertaining page-turner, even if I had minor quibbles with the ending.
This book was published in 2005, ten years before the author's bestselling nonfiction work The Lost City of the Monkey God, another book I have had for a while on my “to read” list.
Author Douglas Preston applies the research he gleaned from his nonfiction work, Dinosaurs in the Attic, and his extensive forays on foot and on horseback into the landscape of the American Southwest to voice this narrative. He re-creates the awe inspiring vistas and terrain of slot canyons, hoodoos and mesas that encircle the Chama River in New Mexico. In addition he inserts vivid vignettes of that world as it existed 65 million years ago.
Preston teeters on the edge of a common pitfall of the thriller genre: the overly heroic protagonist. Too frequently violent engagements and impossible escapes despite life-threatening injuries combined with one too many lucky coincidence strain the credulity of even the most sympathetic reader. Preston offsets this flaw with ample realistic detail. He opens with astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt collecting samples from the lunar Taurus-Littrow Valley. In a basement lab of the Museum of Natural History he itemizes state-of-the-art equipment for the geochemical analysis of mineral samples. Of course, there is the obligatory description of an arsenal of military-style firearms assembled by the villain. In addition, he provides a basic overview of the ground penetrating radar device and magnetic field metal detector used for serious geologic exploration. It also helps that his protagonists are engaging.
Tom Broadbent, son of a sketchy tomb raider and artifacts dealer named Maxwell Broadbent, is experienced in archaeology but has chosen the more sedate career of a large animal veterinarian. His wife Sally is an adventurous horsewoman who runs a riding school for local children. A secondary character, Wyman Ford, has a unique skill set and tragic backstory that has led him to a remote convent as a novitiate. (Ford will appear in later thrillers by this author). My favorite character, however, was Melodie Crookshank, an under-employed geochemist and paleontologist at the Museum of Natural History. Despite a doctorate from Columbia and extraordinary technical skills, she has been unsuccessful for the past five years at landing a tenure-track position in her overcrowded field.
Serendipity brought me to this book. As a child I was enthralled by Roy Chapman Andrews' All About Dinosaurs (am I showing my age?). I love fiction set in New Mexico where I now live. The timing of this read was perfect. I needed something fast-paced after having just completed a complex work of fiction filled with ambiguous meanings and open to multiple interpretations. So, guilty pleasure? Maybe. Except I don't feel guilty. This was a fast-paced entertaining page-turner, even if I had minor quibbles with the ending.
This book was published in 2005, ten years before the author's bestselling nonfiction work The Lost City of the Monkey God, another book I have had for a while on my “to read” list.
January 12, 2015
A thriller by Douglas Preston, copyright 2005. It must have been reasonably good, because I couldn’t put it down. Mind you, I am a sucker for mysteries and/or thrillers that involve the science of paleontology.
I found the pacing excellent—the point of view changed regularly, but there was no confusion about whose POV each chapter captured. There was a perfect number of characters. I could keep them all straight and their names did not blend together to perplex me.
The book begins with the moon landing and some rock samples brought back to earth, one of which mysteriously disappears. And then the matter isn’t mentioned again until close to the novel’s end. I had truthfully completely forgotten that opening and had to go back and renew my memory to make the connection. But it did work to bring the book full circle.
I’m always interested in the portrayal of academics in popular culture—this author has worked for the American Museum of Natural History, so no doubt has some personal experience. This leads me to wonder who inspired the character of Dr. Iain Corus, the academic mastermind behind one of the major conspiracies. Corvus’s misuse of the lab assistant, Melodie, was believable, as senior researchers have been taking advantage of junior staff for centuries, if not millennia. His association with a convicted felon was less “real” to me, but it worked for the purposes of the book. Having set Corvus up as a complete creep, it is satisfying to see his plans come apart as the book progresses.
Another “amazing coincidence” is the proximity of three ex-CIA operatives in the same remote community. I guess you can get away from your stressful past in the desert and canyon country as easily as anywhere else—and once again, it worked for the purposes of the novel.
Preston obviously has a sense of humour about the whole jaunt, though, that doesn’t take his book too seriously. He plays on both the anti-intellectual bias of American culture and the current popularity of conspiracy theories to hook his readers into the plot. I loved at one point when an art gallery employee tells the bad guy, Jimson Maddox, “I know bullshit when it walks in the door and you’re so full of it you’re leaving tracks.” So far, so good, a firm 3/5 star book.
Preston gets a fourth star from me for his treatment of the lab assistant, Melodie Crookshanks. She has her PhD in paleontology and plenty of intelligence, yet has been unable to find a tenured position. Reduced to working as a technician in a gloomy basement lab at the AMNH, she is paid less than the cleaning staff. Her redemption, through following her own suspicions (which prove to be right on the mark) and by taking a calculated risk, change her life very much for the better. Thank you, Douglas Preston, for championing the under-recognized female in academic culture!
Plus, the paleontology is well written. It’s a constantly changing science, so a few details may not hold up over time, but that is not the author’s fault. What was cutting edge in 2005 may be debatable in 2013.
A thoroughly enjoyable book, suitable for a quick, fun read.
I found the pacing excellent—the point of view changed regularly, but there was no confusion about whose POV each chapter captured. There was a perfect number of characters. I could keep them all straight and their names did not blend together to perplex me.
The book begins with the moon landing and some rock samples brought back to earth, one of which mysteriously disappears. And then the matter isn’t mentioned again until close to the novel’s end. I had truthfully completely forgotten that opening and had to go back and renew my memory to make the connection. But it did work to bring the book full circle.
I’m always interested in the portrayal of academics in popular culture—this author has worked for the American Museum of Natural History, so no doubt has some personal experience. This leads me to wonder who inspired the character of Dr. Iain Corus, the academic mastermind behind one of the major conspiracies. Corvus’s misuse of the lab assistant, Melodie, was believable, as senior researchers have been taking advantage of junior staff for centuries, if not millennia. His association with a convicted felon was less “real” to me, but it worked for the purposes of the book. Having set Corvus up as a complete creep, it is satisfying to see his plans come apart as the book progresses.
Another “amazing coincidence” is the proximity of three ex-CIA operatives in the same remote community. I guess you can get away from your stressful past in the desert and canyon country as easily as anywhere else—and once again, it worked for the purposes of the novel.
Preston obviously has a sense of humour about the whole jaunt, though, that doesn’t take his book too seriously. He plays on both the anti-intellectual bias of American culture and the current popularity of conspiracy theories to hook his readers into the plot. I loved at one point when an art gallery employee tells the bad guy, Jimson Maddox, “I know bullshit when it walks in the door and you’re so full of it you’re leaving tracks.” So far, so good, a firm 3/5 star book.
Preston gets a fourth star from me for his treatment of the lab assistant, Melodie Crookshanks. She has her PhD in paleontology and plenty of intelligence, yet has been unable to find a tenured position. Reduced to working as a technician in a gloomy basement lab at the AMNH, she is paid less than the cleaning staff. Her redemption, through following her own suspicions (which prove to be right on the mark) and by taking a calculated risk, change her life very much for the better. Thank you, Douglas Preston, for championing the under-recognized female in academic culture!
Plus, the paleontology is well written. It’s a constantly changing science, so a few details may not hold up over time, but that is not the author’s fault. What was cutting edge in 2005 may be debatable in 2013.
A thoroughly enjoyable book, suitable for a quick, fun read.
May 18, 2020
Book on CD performed by Scott Sowers
From the book jacket: A moon rock missing for thirty years … Five buckets of blood-soaked sand found in a New Mexico canyon … A scientist with ambition enough to kill … A monk who will redeem the world … A dark agency with a deadly mission … The greatest scientific discovery of all time… What fire bolt from the galactic dark shattered the Earth eons ago, and now hides in that remote cleft in the southwest United States known as Tyrannosaur Canyon?
My reactions:
This was one wild ride of a thriller! I was all set to follow independently wealth veterinarian Tom Broadbent not just through this novel, but any future ones. He has all the markings of a major series hero – wealth, good looks, a noble heart, the confidence and admiration of the community, and a wife who is both smart and beautiful. He’s also tenacious and does not suffer fools gladly, even when those fools are the police who seem to suspect HIM rather than listen to his story of the murdered prospector he found in the desert.
Tom’s got his work cut out for him in trying to find out the identity of the murdered man. He’s also determined to find out what the old man was up to. He recalls a visit to a monastery to treat their sheep and meeting a monk who had some experience with codes, so he decides to ask for the monk’s help in deciphering the dead man’s notebook.
The monk is an ex-CIA operative now living a life of contemplation in a remote monastery, and he is the character who steals the show. And then I realized that the series title is: Wyman Ford, NOT Tom Broadbent.
Plenty of action, more villains that you can shake a stick at, twists and turns and danger to keep the reader turning pages and trying (in vain, in my case at least) to guess where this is going. And I loved that the T-rex gets a few chapters of her own to “narrate.” I will say this, for all the testosterone on the pages, Preston’s women are no shrinking violets. They give as good (or better) than they get – smart, determined, strong in mind and body!
Scott Sowers does an excellent job reading the audiobook. He sets a good pace and has the skill to give the many characters sufficiently distinct voices. As a bonus, there is an interview with the author at the end of the audiobook. I found it fascinating to learn a little more of Preston’s background, including his years working for the American Museum of Natural History.
From the book jacket: A moon rock missing for thirty years … Five buckets of blood-soaked sand found in a New Mexico canyon … A scientist with ambition enough to kill … A monk who will redeem the world … A dark agency with a deadly mission … The greatest scientific discovery of all time… What fire bolt from the galactic dark shattered the Earth eons ago, and now hides in that remote cleft in the southwest United States known as Tyrannosaur Canyon?
My reactions:
This was one wild ride of a thriller! I was all set to follow independently wealth veterinarian Tom Broadbent not just through this novel, but any future ones. He has all the markings of a major series hero – wealth, good looks, a noble heart, the confidence and admiration of the community, and a wife who is both smart and beautiful. He’s also tenacious and does not suffer fools gladly, even when those fools are the police who seem to suspect HIM rather than listen to his story of the murdered prospector he found in the desert.
Tom’s got his work cut out for him in trying to find out the identity of the murdered man. He’s also determined to find out what the old man was up to. He recalls a visit to a monastery to treat their sheep and meeting a monk who had some experience with codes, so he decides to ask for the monk’s help in deciphering the dead man’s notebook.
The monk is an ex-CIA operative now living a life of contemplation in a remote monastery, and he is the character who steals the show. And then I realized that the series title is: Wyman Ford, NOT Tom Broadbent.
Plenty of action, more villains that you can shake a stick at, twists and turns and danger to keep the reader turning pages and trying (in vain, in my case at least) to guess where this is going. And I loved that the T-rex gets a few chapters of her own to “narrate.” I will say this, for all the testosterone on the pages, Preston’s women are no shrinking violets. They give as good (or better) than they get – smart, determined, strong in mind and body!
Scott Sowers does an excellent job reading the audiobook. He sets a good pace and has the skill to give the many characters sufficiently distinct voices. As a bonus, there is an interview with the author at the end of the audiobook. I found it fascinating to learn a little more of Preston’s background, including his years working for the American Museum of Natural History.
August 13, 2018
I’ll start off by saying; “so IT begins”. That’s investigator Wyman Ford. There were some pleasant surprises throughout with elements of a treasure hunt, a heart pounding stampede of a bad ass thriller and a science fiction extravaganza. What more could anyone ask for? The science descriptions were spot on and the facts well vetted. The only knock was that there were scenes that could have been written with less words but all in all my zest for a SF and thriller were satisfied. When you have read the last words; you would be left with a profound feeling of I want more Ford and will look forward to the next in the series.
December 18, 2021
A very exciting thriller with a bit of an unsatisfactory ending.
August 26, 2012
A techno-thriller for dinosaur nerds.
Although the cover art and blurbs present Tyrannosaur Canyon as a Jurassic Park knock-off, this book is about humans who chase fossils for both the brief glimpse into a lost world and the financial rewards which accompany it, all wrapped in the cloak of a fast-paced thriller.
Here's a bit of a disclaimer: I grew up wanting to be a paleontologist, and am predisposed to favor any story about this topic which is at least competently written. Douglas Preston's prose isn't brilliant, but it's certainly more than competent, and by the end I was glad that I'd picked this book up. If the story had revolved around stamps or antiques rather than tyrannosaurs and trilobites it would have still been a good airport read, but as it stands it was irresistible for me. (And frankly, the detail and affection with which Preston delves into the world of fossil hunting makes it obvious that he's more than a bit of a dinosaur nerd himself. That bit of passion from an author goes a long way toward giving life to any novel, regardless of topic or genre.)
Preston begins the mystery with the Apollo 17 moon landing, and he quite cleverly uses the actual dialogue from the mission transcripts to build the prologue for the story. From there we jump to the American Southwest in 2005, where a man is about to be killed as he returns from the site of a major find. By chance, a passerby hears the shot and tries to help the dying man. This good samaritan is Tom Broadbent, one of the main characters in an earlier Preston book (don't let this put you off-- I've never read that earlier book, and didn't feel that I was lost or walking into a sequel). Much as you'd expect, Tom and his wife are soon pulled into the crossfire as events spin out of control.
As in most thrillers, there are several villains, attacking our protagonists from several different vectors. As you'd expect, the villains with the most screen time are the most fleshed out, but I was disappointed to find that they were a bit of a mixed bag. While one heavy has outside interests and aspirations that round him out as a person, at least one had motivations which simply didn't ring true to my ear.
The science and weaponry details are there for geeks of multiple stripes; this is the kind of book that specifies what make and caliber of handgun is being waved under our hero's nose, while still finding time to ruminate on the different types of sediment thrown up by the impact which wiped out the dinosaurs.
Preston references paleontologists and bone hunters from the early days of museum expeditions to Bob Bakker, and mixes them effortlessly with car chases and kidnappings. (The desert wandering ex-CIA monk doesn't mix in so effortlessly, but hey-- they can't all be winners.)
Don't let the cover fool you-- it's no Jurassic Park clone, and Tyrannosaur Canyon is worth a read.
Although the cover art and blurbs present Tyrannosaur Canyon as a Jurassic Park knock-off, this book is about humans who chase fossils for both the brief glimpse into a lost world and the financial rewards which accompany it, all wrapped in the cloak of a fast-paced thriller.
Here's a bit of a disclaimer: I grew up wanting to be a paleontologist, and am predisposed to favor any story about this topic which is at least competently written. Douglas Preston's prose isn't brilliant, but it's certainly more than competent, and by the end I was glad that I'd picked this book up. If the story had revolved around stamps or antiques rather than tyrannosaurs and trilobites it would have still been a good airport read, but as it stands it was irresistible for me. (And frankly, the detail and affection with which Preston delves into the world of fossil hunting makes it obvious that he's more than a bit of a dinosaur nerd himself. That bit of passion from an author goes a long way toward giving life to any novel, regardless of topic or genre.)
Preston begins the mystery with the Apollo 17 moon landing, and he quite cleverly uses the actual dialogue from the mission transcripts to build the prologue for the story. From there we jump to the American Southwest in 2005, where a man is about to be killed as he returns from the site of a major find. By chance, a passerby hears the shot and tries to help the dying man. This good samaritan is Tom Broadbent, one of the main characters in an earlier Preston book (don't let this put you off-- I've never read that earlier book, and didn't feel that I was lost or walking into a sequel). Much as you'd expect, Tom and his wife are soon pulled into the crossfire as events spin out of control.
As in most thrillers, there are several villains, attacking our protagonists from several different vectors. As you'd expect, the villains with the most screen time are the most fleshed out, but I was disappointed to find that they were a bit of a mixed bag. While one heavy has outside interests and aspirations that round him out as a person, at least one had motivations which simply didn't ring true to my ear.
The science and weaponry details are there for geeks of multiple stripes; this is the kind of book that specifies what make and caliber of handgun is being waved under our hero's nose, while still finding time to ruminate on the different types of sediment thrown up by the impact which wiped out the dinosaurs.
Preston references paleontologists and bone hunters from the early days of museum expeditions to Bob Bakker, and mixes them effortlessly with car chases and kidnappings. (The desert wandering ex-CIA monk doesn't mix in so effortlessly, but hey-- they can't all be winners.)
Don't let the cover fool you-- it's no Jurassic Park clone, and Tyrannosaur Canyon is worth a read.
September 2, 2015
I just can't believe anyone liked this book. It was beyond ridiculous. If you have even the most basic of a scientific education, save your brain cells and skip this.
*****Sort of spoilers ahead but, only in the effort to save you from wasting time reading this book that you could be using to read the phone book...
Let me just say that I was all in for a book about a T. Rex. Murder? Okay. Shady scientist in cahoots with a ex-con? Ummm, I guess? Secret government organization? Not really what I wanted but I can work with this if I have to... But I draw the line when the author has a geophysical chemist making monumental microbiological discoveries and successfully culturing a virus in an immensely complex cell cultures (overnight, btw) without even the aid of an assistant.
The book was just awful. The whole "black-ops" plot twist was ludicrous but, several thousand brain cells spontaneously combusted when a geophysicist with a sudden expertise in virology becomes a assistant director of paleontology.
*****Sort of spoilers ahead but, only in the effort to save you from wasting time reading this book that you could be using to read the phone book...
Let me just say that I was all in for a book about a T. Rex. Murder? Okay. Shady scientist in cahoots with a ex-con? Ummm, I guess? Secret government organization? Not really what I wanted but I can work with this if I have to... But I draw the line when the author has a geophysical chemist making monumental microbiological discoveries and successfully culturing a virus in an immensely complex cell cultures (overnight, btw) without even the aid of an assistant.
The book was just awful. The whole "black-ops" plot twist was ludicrous but, several thousand brain cells spontaneously combusted when a geophysicist with a sudden expertise in virology becomes a assistant director of paleontology.
January 17, 2014
This was a very action packed book and I loved every moment. The plot was clear and I loved the story. I definitely recommend it.
June 12, 2020
Recht simpler Thriller - nicht mein Fall
March 26, 2017
Another misleadingly-titled story that has nothing to do with dinosaurs (see Dinosaur Beach), this got off to a good-enough start. But when one New Mexico rancher says to another, "you remember hearing about a guy up there who used to be a code breaker for the CIA, but gave it all up to become a monk?", that's never a good sign...
(MILD SPOILER ALERT): And okay, so dinosaurs do play into this after about 100 pages – or at least a dinosaur skeleton – so that’s cool. But the overall problem so far is just that – the overall coolness of everything in this story. The CIA/monk has a way-cool backstory, including a tragic but easily disposable wife and child killed in a Cambodian car bomb. The main hero isn’t just a rancher/vet, he’s a way-cool super rich rancher/vet who despite his $90 million is still working and living in a dumpy ranch because…well, because he’s that cool. And his wife (“a knockout” or “a real honey-haired beauty,” as we’re frequently reminded) is real cool in her own mysterious way, as alluded to in otherwise throwaway comments like her husband noting that “I know you’re lethal with a gun – you proved that in Honduras.” The villain’s also got a really cool back tattoo that rivals that other supercool back tattoo in Red Dragon.
Plus, there’s the dinosaur itself. It’s not only (of course) a T. Rex – the coolest dinosaur ever, as we’re also frequently reminded – but this particular fossil is the largest and most complete T. Rex ever, and will also turn everything we know about dinosaurs on its head! Cool cool cool!! And the fact that it’s actually found in a place called “Tyrannosaur Canyon” – named for a dino-shaped rock outcropping, not because any T. Rex’s had ever been found there (again, frequently noted) – well, that’s not really cool as much as just lazy plotting…but you get the picture.
On the up side, it’s certainly not a bad story, and Preston is a pretty decent writer – realistic dialogue, nice descriptions and some good scientific research. Unfortunately, along with the general character coolness, he also throws in some otherwise unnecessarily bizarre physical descriptions, just (as far as I can tell) to try to differentiate the different players. The CIA/monk (who is in fact the Wyman Ford mentioned in this being the “Wyman Ford #1” adventure), is introduced as a gigantic, “strikingly ugly man…who looked like a cross between Abraham Lincoln and Herman Munster,” but then is never described again; nor does his appearance have anything to do with the story itself. An incidental fossil broker is “a grossly fat man embedded in an overstuffed armchair of flowered chintz,” who of course takes his tea “English style” and so the rest of the chapter is important dialogue mixed in with unnecessary scones, crumpets, éclairs and brioches. And most offensively, there’s the PhD lab worker, a truly nice and apparently brilliant young lady who’s easily manipulated by our top-level baddie because of apparent low self-esteem – “(she) looked down at her miserably small breasts, her thin hands, her bitten nails, her ugly freckled arms”…too bad she wasn’t also a knockout married to a multi-millionaire cool rancher dude.
So…well past the halfway point, and the jury’s still out. I usually don’t write mid-book reviews like this, but this book is a conundrum – I’m enjoying it in spite of myself, like a crumpet spread with clotted cream!
Wow...and then it got really silly. The next hundred pages involved an unnecessary kidnapping and then a verrryy lengthy escape that added nothing to the story except...a hundred pages. Then the government got involved with literal black helicopters and rough intelligence outfits - or "Black Dets," as those in the know apparently call them - and your obligatory Japanese-American psycho bastard who "might have been Asian, if it weren't for his piercing blue eyes," (another unnecessary caricature). But boy, is he cool too! (Worth noting here, however, that the other psycho with the cool tattoo dies in a way that makes Boba Fett's swan dive into the Sarlacc pit look pretty badass.)
Still, this gets two stars, since it was still infinitely better than Extinction Game, which I also just finished, and which was just awful!
(MILD SPOILER ALERT): And okay, so dinosaurs do play into this after about 100 pages – or at least a dinosaur skeleton – so that’s cool. But the overall problem so far is just that – the overall coolness of everything in this story. The CIA/monk has a way-cool backstory, including a tragic but easily disposable wife and child killed in a Cambodian car bomb. The main hero isn’t just a rancher/vet, he’s a way-cool super rich rancher/vet who despite his $90 million is still working and living in a dumpy ranch because…well, because he’s that cool. And his wife (“a knockout” or “a real honey-haired beauty,” as we’re frequently reminded) is real cool in her own mysterious way, as alluded to in otherwise throwaway comments like her husband noting that “I know you’re lethal with a gun – you proved that in Honduras.” The villain’s also got a really cool back tattoo that rivals that other supercool back tattoo in Red Dragon.
Plus, there’s the dinosaur itself. It’s not only (of course) a T. Rex – the coolest dinosaur ever, as we’re also frequently reminded – but this particular fossil is the largest and most complete T. Rex ever, and will also turn everything we know about dinosaurs on its head! Cool cool cool!! And the fact that it’s actually found in a place called “Tyrannosaur Canyon” – named for a dino-shaped rock outcropping, not because any T. Rex’s had ever been found there (again, frequently noted) – well, that’s not really cool as much as just lazy plotting…but you get the picture.
On the up side, it’s certainly not a bad story, and Preston is a pretty decent writer – realistic dialogue, nice descriptions and some good scientific research. Unfortunately, along with the general character coolness, he also throws in some otherwise unnecessarily bizarre physical descriptions, just (as far as I can tell) to try to differentiate the different players. The CIA/monk (who is in fact the Wyman Ford mentioned in this being the “Wyman Ford #1” adventure), is introduced as a gigantic, “strikingly ugly man…who looked like a cross between Abraham Lincoln and Herman Munster,” but then is never described again; nor does his appearance have anything to do with the story itself. An incidental fossil broker is “a grossly fat man embedded in an overstuffed armchair of flowered chintz,” who of course takes his tea “English style” and so the rest of the chapter is important dialogue mixed in with unnecessary scones, crumpets, éclairs and brioches. And most offensively, there’s the PhD lab worker, a truly nice and apparently brilliant young lady who’s easily manipulated by our top-level baddie because of apparent low self-esteem – “(she) looked down at her miserably small breasts, her thin hands, her bitten nails, her ugly freckled arms”…too bad she wasn’t also a knockout married to a multi-millionaire cool rancher dude.
So…well past the halfway point, and the jury’s still out. I usually don’t write mid-book reviews like this, but this book is a conundrum – I’m enjoying it in spite of myself, like a crumpet spread with clotted cream!
Wow...and then it got really silly. The next hundred pages involved an unnecessary kidnapping and then a verrryy lengthy escape that added nothing to the story except...a hundred pages. Then the government got involved with literal black helicopters and rough intelligence outfits - or "Black Dets," as those in the know apparently call them - and your obligatory Japanese-American psycho bastard who "might have been Asian, if it weren't for his piercing blue eyes," (another unnecessary caricature). But boy, is he cool too! (Worth noting here, however, that the other psycho with the cool tattoo dies in a way that makes Boba Fett's swan dive into the Sarlacc pit look pretty badass.)
Still, this gets two stars, since it was still infinitely better than Extinction Game, which I also just finished, and which was just awful!
March 21, 2023
_______________________________________________
It’s a crooked piece of time that we live in. —John Prine
This is not just another version of Jurassic Park or Mysterious Island. There are no T-Rexes being created. There are no T-Rexes living under volcanic islands. There are no 1960s rock bands calling themselves T-Rex.
However, child, there are more wicked things in the world than giant carnivorous lizards. There are PhD dinosaur hunters, and they are mean buggers. They want to get ahead in their field, and they will have YOU for lunch if you get in their way.
Tyrannosaur Canyon is not a science fiction story. It is a thriller, and it follows many of the tropes for that genre. There is a vicious killer, a beautiful female who is in danger, a handsome hero, a rouge government agency, detailed descriptions of various high-tech weapons, and of course, a monk who used to be a CIA agent. And OK, there may be T-Rex of sorts.
Over the years, I have grown weary of thrillers, but I enjoyed this one immensely. Loads of fun. There is some violence, of course, as mandated by thriller regulations, but no vivid descriptions of sadistic brutality.
It’s a crooked piece of time that we live in. —John Prine
This is not just another version of Jurassic Park or Mysterious Island. There are no T-Rexes being created. There are no T-Rexes living under volcanic islands. There are no 1960s rock bands calling themselves T-Rex.
However, child, there are more wicked things in the world than giant carnivorous lizards. There are PhD dinosaur hunters, and they are mean buggers. They want to get ahead in their field, and they will have YOU for lunch if you get in their way.
Tyrannosaur Canyon is not a science fiction story. It is a thriller, and it follows many of the tropes for that genre. There is a vicious killer, a beautiful female who is in danger, a handsome hero, a rouge government agency, detailed descriptions of various high-tech weapons, and of course, a monk who used to be a CIA agent. And OK, there may be T-Rex of sorts.
Over the years, I have grown weary of thrillers, but I enjoyed this one immensely. Loads of fun. There is some violence, of course, as mandated by thriller regulations, but no vivid descriptions of sadistic brutality.
July 16, 2024
This book has everything: an ex CIA monk, women in stem, a shoot out in a triceratops skeleton, a scientifically accurate prison tattoo of a tyrannosaurus rex
Long story shot, Jurassic Park had a wait on Libby and my dad said "I have another dinosaur book you could check out"; he apparently read this like 10 years ago and remembered it being "good". This is truly one of the most ridiculous books I've ever read. At some point aliens get brought up and when I reminded my Dad of this he tried to deny that this happens ("i don't believe that happened in the book" as if it's up for debate & as if I did not read this recently and he read it 10 years ago???). Anyway, enough about my Dad, thanks for truly the weirdest recommendation known to mankind. This book left me speechless and also unable to shut up about it (shout out Whitney for letting me tell her every plot point). If you go into this and just simply call it camp, it's a work of art. If you remember that someone earnestly wrote this, it makes your brain hurt.
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I truly have no words. More in depth review to come but what do you mean the aliens killed the dinosaurs on purpose????
Long story shot, Jurassic Park had a wait on Libby and my dad said "I have another dinosaur book you could check out"; he apparently read this like 10 years ago and remembered it being "good". This is truly one of the most ridiculous books I've ever read. At some point aliens get brought up and when I reminded my Dad of this he tried to deny that this happens ("i don't believe that happened in the book" as if it's up for debate & as if I did not read this recently and he read it 10 years ago???). Anyway, enough about my Dad, thanks for truly the weirdest recommendation known to mankind. This book left me speechless and also unable to shut up about it (shout out Whitney for letting me tell her every plot point). If you go into this and just simply call it camp, it's a work of art. If you remember that someone earnestly wrote this, it makes your brain hurt.
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I truly have no words. More in depth review to come but what do you mean the aliens killed the dinosaurs on purpose????
August 23, 2016
I am a major dinosaur freak, so of course I'm going to love this book. I also love Preston and his style of writing. I really do not think he gets the credit he deserves (or his writing partner, Lincoln Child, who didn't write this particular book.) His descriptions are spot-on; his characters are true to life; the scenarios he comes up with are creative, yet grounded in real science. (He can go off from the real science into horror and sci-fi, but not in this book.) He is one of those writers who I read sloooowly, because once I read all his books...
This story is set in New Mexico and I have no problem imagining the scenes he describes: the canyons and mesas; the dusty corrals; the horses and even the descriptions of a body being pulled (rolled?) out of its sandy grave. And the descriptions of the tyrannosaur? (All in the distant past when she was alive.) Amazing.
Love this book.
This story is set in New Mexico and I have no problem imagining the scenes he describes: the canyons and mesas; the dusty corrals; the horses and even the descriptions of a body being pulled (rolled?) out of its sandy grave. And the descriptions of the tyrannosaur? (All in the distant past when she was alive.) Amazing.
Love this book.
March 26, 2009
Wanted this to be like a Michael Crichton. It wasn't. Not even close.
September 30, 2017
I just read Preston's 2017 non-fiction "Lost City of the Monkey God" and someone mentioned "Tyrannosaur Canyon" in a review. I recall being on the disappointed side with "Canyon", as I was expecting something like a combination of Preston's great "Relic" and Crichton's great "Jurrassic Park". But no, this is a rather weak outing by this author. Best to stick to Preston's Pendergast work and his latest aforementioned "Monkey God."
September 23, 2020
Quien busque una de dinosaurios que vaya a leer las novelas de Michael Crichton (me gustaron Parque Jurásico y El mundo perdido). Aquí, en Tiranosaurio, hablamos de fósiles, de arqueología y de suspense en una historia que me mantuvo entretenido hasta el final.
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