Dragon Teeth
by Michael Crichton
Publisher
HarperCollins Publishers
Retail
Hardcover: $28.99
Paperback: $9.99
Kindle: $12.99
Pages
300
Where to Purchase
Description
The year is 1876. Warring Indian tribes still populate America’s western territories, even as lawless gold-rush towns begin to mark the landscape. While the civilized East debates Mr. Darwin’s heretical new theory called evolution, two monomaniacal paleontologists pillage the Wild West, hunting for dinosaur fossils while surveilling, deceiving, and sabotaging each other in a rivalry that will come to be known as the Bone Wars.
Into this treacherous territory plunges the arrogant and entitled William Johnson, a Yale student with more privilege than sense. Determined to survive a summer in the West to win a bet against his archrival, William has joined world-renowned paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh on his latest expedition. But when the paranoid and secretive Marsh becomes convinced that William is spying for his nemesis, Edward Drinker Cope, he abandons him in Cheyenne, Wyoming, a locus of crime and vice.
His honor at stake, William joins forces with Cope and soon stumbles upon a discovery of historic proportions. With this extraordinary treasure, however, comes exceptional danger, and William’s newfound resilience will be tested in his struggle to protect his cache from some of the West’s most notorious and wily characters.
About the Author
Michael Crichton was born in Chicago in 1942. His novels include Next, State of Fear, Prey, Timeline, Jurassic Park, and The Andromeda Strain. He was also the creator of the television series ER. One of the most popular writers in the world, his books have been made into thirteen films, and translated in thirty-six languages. He died in 2008.
I believe that I was sent a copy of Dragon Teeth to review back in May, which I didn't read it right away, but for some reason or another I never got around to writing my review for it. While setting up this year's Holiday Gift Guide, I decided to include the novel.
Originally written in 1974 and published after the author's death, Dragon Teeth is a historical-fiction novel set during the famous 'Bone Wars' of 1876, a fossil hunting competition between two paleontologists Othniel Charles Marsh and Edward Drinker Cope. The story centers on William Johnson, a Yale student who makes a bet with another student that he would find a way to journey west for the summer. He does find a way west when he joins Marsh's expedition, but things don't go as planned.Marsh believes William is spy for Cope, so he leaves him behind in Wyoming. William quickly joins forces with Cope and joins his expedition, where they discover a historical find.Compared to other Michael Crichton novels, Dragon Teeth is simply written; blending historical facts and a few real characters with fiction. It's a well-written, fast-paced read that I enjoyed reading. It would make a great gift for any reader.
*Note - I received a complimentary copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own.
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