Tyrannosaur Canyon, by Douglas Preston

Tyrannosaur Canyon by Douglas Preston


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I just finished Tyrannosaur Canyon, by Douglas Preston, clearly my favorite book of his so far. I think. I am always excited when I am reading a good book, but I think this was the best yet. My reasons are partially negative ones. There were no gory, gruesome murders in this one, and fewer killings than in the others I've read. However, I think he still describes dying in a lot more detail than is necessary.

The story begins with a murder--just not a terribly gruesome one. Bad enough, of course, but not like in Brimstone and Still Life with Crow. The man who is murdered is a "treasure hunter," secretly looking for the big dinosaur. He is skilled at what he does, and finally, after a lifetime of searching, he has found it, only to be mowed down by someone else who wants the credit of the discovery.

Unlike in previous books, we know who the villains are immediately. But there is no paucity of action and suspense. It, like all of Preston's books, is another page turner.

I like the scientific aspect of it. I like learning about the dinosaurs and geologic history. I take it all with a grain of salt, of course, but I've read enough to have some idea what might be true. I recommend this book to almost anyone, it's the least horrible of all of them so far and very interesting and exciting.

I really like the characters of Tom Broadbent and Wyman Ford. All the characters seem very well rendered to me.

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