Book Review: Extinction by Douglas Preston

I remember reading Douglas Preston’s second book (and his first with co-author Lincoln Child) The Relic when I was a teenager in the 90s. That story about a fearsome creature terrorizing New York’s Natural History Museum was a stellar example of what a monster thriller with some grounding in actual science could be, fitting in neatly alongside another recent hit, Michael Crichton’s Jurassic Park. Preston & Child went on to write several long-running crime series, sometimes venturing back into the more incredible subject matter that first made them famous. The latest solo book from Preston sees him firmly back in that realm, this time with his own clever spin on Crichton’s hit formula.

Erebus Resort is an exclusive nature park nestled deep into the Colorado Rockies, where the world’s super-wealthy come to observe woolly mammoths and other ancient herbivores who have been brought back to life and allowed to roam freely through a picturesque valley. The son of a famous billionaire and his new wife are there for their honeymoon and get killed under very suspicious circumstances, leading the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to send in Agent Frances Cash. Erebus had already launched a full-scale search of the valley to try to find the murderer (or more likely murderers) and offer up their full cooperation and assistance, as does county sheriff James Colcord, but Cash feels like the Erebus representatives are withholding information that might put everyone in very real danger.

Extinction makes no secret of the similarities it shares with Jurassic Park, tossing in more than a few sly nods to it throughout. Preston takes a very different approach to the premise however, using it as the launching pad for a crime procedural as opposed to a more straightforward adventure, while also sticking with prehistoric beasts that could more realistically be resurrected from the past.

The story doesn’t go where you’re expecting either, though you will likely be able to piece it together well before any of the characters do. Preston’s writing is simple but effective and the action and suspense build throughout leading to disaster-movie-like chaos that is all built around an eerily plausible idea. Aside from Cash and Colcord the characters are paper thin, existing solely to set up future plot beats and are often also cartoonish jerks. Fortunately, the two leads are far more engaging, and given that the pairing of their names already sounds like a series I would fully expect to see them return. This isn’t going to win any literary awards but it is a propulsive and outlandish bit of pulpy fun that will keep readers turning pages well into the night. It could make for a pretty killer movie too. ★★★★