Extinction by Douglas Preston

Review by Jordan S.

Extinction by Douglas Preston

Those of you who know me IRL will know that I love the works of Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child and have been reading them pretty much non-stop since I was in high school. I remember finding Relic in my high school library, being utterly drawn into it and its mysterious protagonist, Agent Pendergast. Nearly twenty years later, I think I’ve read every nonfiction book that the duo has written together and most that they’ve written separately. I’ve continued to enjoy most of my time reading their books but as the years have gone on some of their books have had diminishing returns, especially in the Pendergast series, and especially as the plots have become more and more outlandish. This all being said, imagine my surprise to be saying that I think that not only is Douglas Preston’s Extinction a fantastic book but it might in fact be one of the best books of his career and definitely is the best solo book he’s ever written.

Extinction is a deceptively simple concept: There is a resort in Colorado for the super rich where scientists and venture capitalists have resurrected extinct megafauna like wooly mammoths and giant sloths. When a honeymooning couple go missing, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is brought in, led by Agent Frankie Cash, alongside the local sheriff, Sheriff Jim Colcord to try and track down the couple. Secrets and technothriller shenanigans ensue.  Insert Jeff Goldblum saying “Life finds a way” GIF.

I can hear you already saying, “Woah, Gnome! Is this just Jurassic Park with giant mammals?” I shared that concern. Honestly, if this book didn’t have a wooly mammoth on the front I probably wouldn’t have put a hold on the book in Libby but I did and boy was I pleasantly surprised. This book wowed me in a way that not many books have this year and also got me out of a slump of two-star reads.

First off, this book took the Crichton model and brought it forward into the 2020s. When Crichton wrote Jurassic Park it was a lot of hypotheticals. Now, science has caught up, and some of the things that Crichton was only imagining are actually possible. Preston provides a wonderful afterword about the science behind this book but it’s spoiler filled so definitely don’t read it before the book. He provides a compelling argument for why some elements of this book, specifically the de-extinction of megafauna, are probably not more than three or four years out from us. This grounding in some plausible science is an obvious source of confidence for Preston as he takes that and weaves one of the most thrilling books I’ve read recently.

It can also be seen in his deft character work in this book. Cash and Colcord are great protagonists and are easy to root for. They bring a groundedness to the book and act as a wonderful observer into the strange tale Preston is weaving. Honestly, if there wasn’t a reference to Preston & Child’s other book series existing as books in the world of this novel,  I could have imagined the characters in this book especially getting along with Nora Kelly and Corrie Swanson. The supporting cast is fantastic as well. From the forensics guy who provides the scientific background to the small army representing Erebus, the company bringing the megafauna back from extinction, all of them are given life and even the ones that we know we shouldn’t trust are painted as compelling characters. The villains are also surprisingly well-crafted and especially a conversation towards the very end of the book was a remarkable example of the mustache twirling villain speech.

Grounding the plot in a simple kidnapping mystery story also lets Preston do a lot and makes the twists creep up on you even faster. What starts as something pretty simple, quickly becomes more and more riveting. While some of those twists I saw coming, some surprised even me and I was amazed by that. I’d grown to find Preston & Child’s books to be predictable and you can imagine my shock when several got by me. It also accomplishes something that feels like a less libertarian mash-up of Yellowstone and Jurassic Park and I can only imagine that somewhere out there people are thinking about how to adapt this movie to film.

Overall, I will say this book has been one of my favorite books this year and I highly recommend it. If you’ve never read a book by Preston or Child, I think you should definitely start here. If you’re an old fan who has fallen away, I definitely recommend this to you too. I think you’ll come away from it surprised by it.