A crime thriller set in, essentially, Jurassic Park? Say no more, sign me up! Agent in Charge Frances Cash and Sheriff Colcord team up to investigate the case of two hikers who have disappeared in Erebus Resort, situated in a large valley in the Colorado Rockies. The facility is famous for bringing woolly mammoths and other animals back from extinction by genetic manipulation. Are eco-terrorists responsible? A billionaire with an axe to grind? Or something more sinister? I haven’t read one of Douglas Preston’s books before, but I was hooked from the start. The writing is engaging, the setting is intriguing and there’s a diverse cast of characters. Agent Cash is no nonsense and I’d love to read more books with her as the main character. The book is fast paced, and I found it genuinely very hard to put it down in places. It’s heavily into the crime and police procedural side of things, rather than the sci-fi element (the animals aren’t given as much focus as I would have liked), but the setting makes it so unique. I had guessed the twist early on, but it didn’t dampen my enjoyment of the book. One criticism I would have is there is some odd, and often repetitive phrases used at times which jarred me out of the narrative. The obsession with turning torches down to ‘5 lumens’ was strange, and there’s a lot of derogative language towards weight which seemed unnecessary. I really enjoyed the Afterword which spoke of the science behind some of the aspects of the book. This really grounded the story in reality and made me want to research the topic further. Overall, Extinction is a gripping crime thriller with an unusual premise. Thank you to NetGalley & Head of Zeus – Aries for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Douglas Preston is in full throttle techno thriller mode with Extinction, and for any fans of his work with Lincoln Child, or indeed fans of Michael Crichton, this is an absolute blast.Set at a secluded luxury resort catered to the super rich, guests can be pampered or head out to explore the forests and mountains that encircle the estate. The big draw, however, is that the park’s billionaire owner has used his wealth to deextinct a range of ice age animals, including woolly mammoths.The calm is shattered when a series of brutal and grisly murders take place, and a couple of local cops, Cash and Colcord, enter the scene to try and unpick the crimes. Is it the work of a prehistoric animal, a disgruntled employee, or have they not been entirely honest about what they’ve cooked up in their lab?Perfect for readers who tore through Jurassic Park and want that same page turning thrill.

I read an eARC of this book so thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley. I had expected this book to be more sci-fi, but in fact, it was a highly intense thriller. Extinction is set in valley in Colorado where a company has de-extincted a number of massive animals such as woolly mammoth. Tourists can visit to see these creatures roaming the valley. However a couple on their honeymoon are abducted. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation and the Sheriff are brought in to investigate and they start to uncover strange and ritualistic behaviour. The more they investigate the darker and more sinister things become and they worry for their safety and that of the film crew shooting an epic Western in the valley. This was an interesting thriller and raised some thought-provoking points. It leans quite heavily into terror and it does get dark at times. The investigators come up against a case they’ve never seen the likes of before and face challenges from people being deceitful, meddling superiors, the press and billionaires mixing in to protect their own interests and push their own agendas. A gripping thriller with a crime narrative unlike anything I’ve read before.

A book that promises a Jurassic Park esque environment with mammoths is intriguing enough. But when you throw in kidnappings, murders, gruesome crime scenes and a mega corporation that HAS to be hiding something, you have a thriller that you won't be able to put down! Douglas Preston brings his techno-thriller skills to another fantastic standalone novel that raises thought provoking moral dilemmas, as well as the hairs on the back of your neck.

The plot here is okay, but I was disappointed by elements of the book. It promises Jurassic park for megafauna but really the de-extincted animals have little relevance to the story. The main plot centered around the murders of two hikers and whilst the writing and characters are good the book is rather slow to get going after the initial chapter. The revelation of who is behind the killings was fine. But I did find elements silly. Overall this is a well written thriller that is tense once it gets going but the silly elements did spoil it for me. It's set up for a sequel but I doubt I will read another if the author does one.