December 27, 2006: A Non-Recommended Book

At an airport newsstand, I bought Douglas Preston's Tyrannosaur Canyon to read on the plane. You will note that the title is not a link. Normally, when I talk about a book, I link to Amazon, to make it easier for you to buy it and to take a commission for the business. But in this case, I hope you don't buy the book, and if you do, I don't want any of your money.

The front cover says it's a New York Times bestseller, and has a Tyrannosaurus-skull motif. The back cover has glowing quotes from Library Journal and the Washington Post. The pages inside have . . . a leaden series of events without enough causal connection to dignify with the term "plot," acted out by a cast of two-dimensional loons who do pointless things for pointless reasons. Occasionally someone dies messily, to qualify for the "thriller" label.

The publisher is Forge, a Tom Doherty imprint. Looks like Tom Doherty, the Times, and the Library Journal are all very happy to see a weak, incoherent imitation of Michael Crichton. I am not happy, and I recommend that you give this book a wide berth and be cautious about those who praised it!
-- Steve Jackson

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