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Summary
Summary
With Extinction , #1 New York Times bestselling author Douglas Preston has written a page-turning thriller in the Michael Crichton mode that explores the possible and unintended dangers of the very real efforts to resurrect the woolly mammoth and other long-extinct animals.
Erebus Resort, occupying a magnificent, hundred-thousand acre valley deep in the Colorado Rockies, offers guests the experience of viewing woolly mammoths, Irish Elk, and giant ground sloths in their native habitat, brought back from extinction through the magic of genetic manipulation. When a billionaire's son and his new wife are kidnapped and murdered in the Erebus back country by what is assumed to be a gang of eco-terrorists, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Frances Cash partners with county sheriff James Colcord to track down the perpetrators.
As killings mount and the valley is evacuated, Cash and Colcord must confront an ancient, intelligent, and malevolent presence at Erebus, bent not on resurrection--but extinction.
Author Notes
Douglas Jerome Preston was born on May 20, 1956 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He received a B.A. in English literature from Pomona College in 1978. His career began at the American Museum of Natural History, where he worked as an editor and writer from 1978 to 1985. He also was a lecturer in English at Princeton University.
He became a full-time writer of both fiction and nonfiction books in 1986. Many of his fiction works are co-written with Lincoln Child including Relic, Riptide, Thunderhead, The Wheel of Darkness, Cemetery Dance, and Gideon's Corpse. His nonfiction works include Dinosaurs in the Attic; Cities of Gold: A Journey Across the American Southwest in Pursuit of Coronado; Talking to the Ground; and The Royal Road. He has written for numerous magazines including The New Yorker; Natural History; Harper's; Smithsonian; National Geographic; and Travel and Leisure. He became a New York Times Best Selling author with his titles Two Graves and Crimson Shores which he co-wrote with Lincoln Child, and his titles White Fire, The Lost Island Blue Labyrinth and The Lost City of the Monkey God.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Correction: An earlier version of this review used the wrong pronouns for one of the characters.
Kirkus Review
Bloody murder spoils folks' fun while megafauna return from extinction. What a glorious way to spend a honeymoon: Mark and Olivia Gunnerson go backpacking through the vast Erebus Resort in the mountains of Colorado, where scientists have "de-extincted" species like the woolly mammoth and other Pleistocene megafauna. Just watch the peaceful beasts at their watering holes. Behold the giant armadillos, and the indricothere that make mammoths look like dwarfs. The scientists have removed genes for aggression in these re-creations, so humans will be safe unless they're accidentally stepped on. And yet, someone doesn't want the newlyweds camping there, made evident by their disappearance without a trace, save only a copious amount of blood outside their tent. Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent in Charge Frankie Cash takes the case. What happened to Mark and Olivia, and why? The park has no predators, so humans must be responsible. But where are the bodies? A doctor suggests that due to the amount of blood found, the victims may have--gasp!--been decapitated. The matter gathers national attention, and things only get worse as more people die. The late groom's aggrieved billionaire father demands immediate answers, and of course he interferes with the investigation: "You'll see me now, you son of a bitch, and tell me what the fuck you're doing to find my son!" And speaking of F-bombs, surely it is possible to write a thriller with fewer--maybe use one or two to establish a character and then move on to more creative language? Anyway, the investigators are doing a lot. The action seldom lets up, and readers will feel the mounting tension and excitement. The setting itself is a scientific wonder, and it must tie into the murders somehow. Meanwhile, Hollywood is filming an action movie in the park, and the pièce de résistance will be the spectacular explosion of a train. But wouldn't you know, Preston has other plans. Imagine Jurassic Park with the timeline brought forward to the Pleistocene, and you have the Erebus Resort. Science, imagination, storytelling, and action are all here. Fast-moving fun and a highly creative plot. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
As one-half of a writing team with Lincoln Child, Preston is known for the splendid Special Agent Pendergast novels. On his own, he's written some excellent thrillers, including The Codex (2003) and Blasphemy (2008). His new one has echoes of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park. In a resort park, extinct animals are brought back to life using cutting-edge science, but in no way is this a retread. In fact, for quite a while, it's a murder mystery. A billionaire's son and wife are murdered inside the resort by ecoterrorists, or so it seems. But, as Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent Frances Cash and sheriff James Colcord will discover, there may be other, frighteningly nonhuman forces at work. Preston's novels are a lot of fun because he really commits to the stories. He might be writing about ordinary people in a fantastic situation, but he isn't writing a fantasy. The villain of the story, as out-of-this-world as it might be, is presented as realistically as any human villain, which gives the story an unsettlingly plausible atmosphere. Highly recommendable.
