My Goodreads review: Extinction

[ankh_hpl]

Extinction by Douglas Preston

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


[Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advance e-copy in exchange for an honest review.]


This well-crafted, science-forward thriller offers a full helping of everything Douglas Preston's readers (also Preston/Child readers) have come to expect. Set in the high finance altitudes of Colorado, at the kind of resort mostly found in thrillers and Bond movies, it quickly escalates from a Jurassic Park riff with "de-extincted" mammoths to a grisly double homicide.

And then it gets weirder.

When Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Frances Cash is made agent-in-charge of the investigation, she's not sure whether she's been given a promotion or a big chance to fail. Fortunately, she and local county sheriff James Colcord manage to leave the corporate breadcrumb trail laid for them and actually find information. Lost mine maps, disregarded scientists, and a ticked-off movie producer all contribute to a series of discoveries neither of them want to make, but can't avoid.

It's hard to get more specific than that without dropping spoilers, but suffice it to say that this is a highly effective cautionary tale. Combined with Preston's short, POV-switching chapters, this allows the plot to barrel along without getting bogged down in what is actually a lot of speculative science. For curious readers, Preston also provides a chilling Afterword about that science.

Characterization isn't really the point of thrillers, but I was impressed by Frankie Cash (an actual grownup female, possibly over 40!) and the not-quite-a-good-ol'-boy Sheriff Colcord. The big-money, morals-optional villains were more stereotypical, though sadly quite believable. The depth of entertaining scientific detail was impressive. If this is the first of a new series -- which is hinted at the end -- I'll be preordering the next.




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