A capable western in the vein of McMurtry, not L’Amour. Well suited to those who like their historical fiction more...
Restless Indians meet hard-bitten pioneers, bluecoats, and bureaucrats.
The hero is again Doc McGillycuddy, introduced in O’Brien’s The Contract Surgeon (1999). He’s been roaming the Great Plains for a few years and seen his fair share of battle and scrapes, including the fresh aftermath of Little Bighorn. Now, he’s ready for a regular salary in order to provide for his ailing wife, so he heads back to Washington to apply for the medical corps of the regular army—and gets more than he bargained for. Having issued his opinions on the need to turn the conquered Plains Indians into good citizens of the United States (“most Sioux . . . would like to put the past behind them and move, as they say, down the white man’s road”), he’s pressed into service as the Indian agent for the newly created Pine Ridge Reservation—formerly the Red Cloud Agency, so named after a particularly troubling leader, who lately has been up to his plotting again. O’Brien peppers his narrative with useful bits of history and anthropology, and his story moves easily along a course fraught with peril for most of the principals as Red Cloud’s followers begin to drift northward to start a new war against the whites, who have been pouring into the Black Hills in search of gold. After McGillycuddy has armed a band of Sioux policemen to serve as his lieutenants, O’Brien writes that “There were a thousand possible sparks in this wild landscape, and McGillycuddy, who . . . was entrusted to predict where those sparks might be and to douse them quickly, wondered if he had not fanned one instead.” A great prairie fire does indeed ensue, the product of contemporary politics and no end of cultural misunderstanding, all of which O’Brien does a good job of explaining.
A capable western in the vein of McMurtry, not L’Amour. Well suited to those who like their historical fiction more historical than fictitious.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2004
ISBN: 1-59228-244-X
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Lyons Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2004
Genetically engineered dinosaurs run amok in Crichton's new, vastly entertaining science thriller. From the introduction alone—a classically Crichton-clear discussion of the implications of biotechnological research—it's evident that the Harvard M.D. has bounced back from the science-fantasy silliness of Sphere (1987) for another taut reworking of the Frankenstein theme, as in The Andromeda Strain and The Terminal Man. Here, Dr. Frankenstein is aging billionaire John Hammond, whose monster is a manmade ecosystem based on a Costa Rican island. Designed as the world's ultimate theme park, the ecosystem boasts climate and flora of the Jurassic Age and—most spectacularly—15 varieties of dinosaurs, created by elaborate genetic engineering that Crichton explains in fascinating detail, rich with dino-lore and complete with graphics. Into the park, for a safety check before its opening, comes the novel's band of characters—who, though well drawn, double as symbolic types in this unsubtle morality play. Among them are hero Alan Grant, noble paleontologist; Hammond, venal and obsessed; amoral dino-designer Henry Wu; Hammond's two innocent grandchildren; and mathematician Ian Malcolm, who in long diatribes serves as Crichton's mouthpiece to lament the folly of science. Upon arrival, the visitors tour the park; meanwhile, an industrial spy steals some dino embryos by shutting down the island's power—and its security grid, allowing the beasts to run loose. The bulk of the remaining narrative consists of dinos—ferocious T. Rex's, voracious velociraptors, venom-spitting dilophosaurs—stalking, ripping, and eating the cast in fast, furious, and suspenseful set-pieces as the ecosystem spins apart. And can Grant prevent the dinos from escaping to the mainland to create unchecked havoc? Though intrusive, the moralizing rarely slows this tornado-paced tale, a slick package of info-thrills that's Crichton's most clever since Congo (1980)—and easily the most exciting dinosaur novel ever written. A sure-fire best-seller.
Pub Date: Nov. 7, 1990
ISBN: 0394588169
Page Count: 424
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1990
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an...
True love flares between two people, but they find that circumstances always impede it.
On a winter day in London, Laurie spots Jack from her bus home and he sparks a feeling in her so deep that she spends the next year searching for him. Her roommate and best friend, Sarah, is the perfect wing-woman but ultimately—and unknowingly—ends the search by finding Jack and falling for him herself. Laurie’s hasty decision not to tell Sarah is the second painful missed opportunity (after not getting off the bus), but Sarah’s happiness is so important to Laurie that she dedicates ample energy into retraining her heart not to love Jack. Laurie is misguided, but her effort and loyalty spring from a true heart, and she considers her project mostly successful. Perhaps she would have total success, but the fact of the matter is that Jack feels the same deep connection to Laurie. His reasons for not acting on them are less admirable: He likes Sarah and she’s the total package; why would he give that up just because every time he and Laurie have enough time together (and just enough alcohol) they nearly fall into each other’s arms? Laurie finally begins to move on, creating a mostly satisfying life for herself, whereas Jack’s inability to be genuine tortures him and turns him into an ever bigger jerk. Patriarchy—it hurts men, too! There’s no question where the book is going, but the pacing is just right, the tone warm, and the characters sympathetic, even when making dumb decisions.
Anyone who believes in true love or is simply willing to accept it as the premise of a winding tale will find this debut an emotional, satisfying read.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-57468-2
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: July 30, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
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