12.04.2017

Congo


One of Michael Crichton's earliest entries -- from 1980 -- Congo is the book where the author cemented a formula for all subsequent thrillers. The scientist with book knowledge but not a lot of practical experience, the energetic corporate climber who will stop at nothing to achieve the goal, the wisened older Crichton surrogate to guide the younger upstarts, and of course the talking ape. The what? Yes, Amy, an ape that not only understands human speech, but is adept at using sign language to convey her thoughts and feelings.

How do all these elements come together? An company expedition to the depths of remote Congo ends in tragedy when all its members are killed. Fortunately for the home base team thousands of miles away in Houston, they had a grainy remote video running at the time of the incident. And it looks like they were all killed by gorillas.

Whatever they were looking for is lucrative enough to create a sudden high-stakes, no rules race between corporate hawks to get back to the site first. Sabotage, bribery, and murder are all in play in this breakneck novel.

This is my third reading of the book, the first in about 20 years. To my (mild) surprise, it aged quite well. I would have expected some of the trademark “cutting edge” technology to seem dated but it never felt that way. What did surprise me is how much of a page-turner this book was for me, and some parts of the book, while familiar, inspired the same sense of thrill that I got years ago. Definitely one of my favorite Crichton entries.

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