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je7emiah's review against another edition
3.0
Michael Crichton before he was Michael Crichton! I liked this book, full of interesting turns with bits of math and history lessons thrown in amongst the gunplay and doublecross.
holgerhaase's review against another edition
3.0
Before he struck it rich with novels, movies and TV series under his real name, Michael Crichton had published a range of thrillers under the nom-de-plume John Lange. The original editions of those are now commanding impressive sums on the second hand market, so it is good to see that these are now being reprinted by Hard Case Crime.
Love the cover of ZERO COOL! Look closely and you will see that the book the girl is reading is actually another John Lange reprint (GRAVE DESCEND).
This is a very fast and very silly read...... but enjoyable if you are able to stomach some of the 1960s pulp fiction head scratch moments that come with the terrain such as [spoiler alert!!!] when the hero does not spot that his romantic partner was replaced by a cross dressing henchman of one of the book's major king pins of Crime. [spoiler over]
It's a globe-trotting piece of mindless fun. So mindless that Crichton penned a new prologue and epilogue for this edition that has the hero (Dr Ross - any relation to his ER character?) narrate this adventure to his grandson who - young as he may be - remains in utter disbelief over the exploits. Nice touch. :-)
Love the cover of ZERO COOL! Look closely and you will see that the book the girl is reading is actually another John Lange reprint (GRAVE DESCEND).
This is a very fast and very silly read...... but enjoyable if you are able to stomach some of the 1960s pulp fiction head scratch moments that come with the terrain such as [spoiler alert!!!] when the hero does not spot that his romantic partner was replaced by a cross dressing henchman of one of the book's major king pins of Crime. [spoiler over]
It's a globe-trotting piece of mindless fun. So mindless that Crichton penned a new prologue and epilogue for this edition that has the hero (Dr Ross - any relation to his ER character?) narrate this adventure to his grandson who - young as he may be - remains in utter disbelief over the exploits. Nice touch. :-)
kelleieio's review against another edition
3.0
Insane plot
Love these fun little mysteries from Michael Crichton. Get a little history and medical lesson, plus there's always a twist you didn't see coming.
Love these fun little mysteries from Michael Crichton. Get a little history and medical lesson, plus there's always a twist you didn't see coming.
mysteriousnorse's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the start; then, it gets very twisty, and by the end, it barely makes sense.
rwgabbard's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
sarah984's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
This is a popcorn book for sure. Fast pace, characters flat as cardboard cutouts, wild but nonsensical plot twists. The second star is for the murder weapon, which was at least original.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Racism, Sexual content, Xenophobia, and Car accident
evdark's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
One step forward, two steps back. This book was awful. Not as bad as his first book, but super boring and contrived and the way he writes women is the worst. I love Michael Crichton, but this book had me questioning if he was even a good human let alone a good writer. The hero gets dragged and tortured through generic action set piece after generic action set piece. There is no action in this book and the plot makes zero sense. When he goes into history, that is when the book gets interesting. I love the way he does research and conveys that beautifully, even if the rest of the book is garbage. He has such a unique mind and you can tell he is a genius but he is wasting it on a book like this. It makes me really appreciate his later works to see how far he came.