Douglas Preston's "Extinction" is a gripping thriller that marries cutting-edge science with relentless suspense. Set in the awe-inspiring Erebus Resort in the Colorado Rockies, the novel plunges readers into a world where woolly mammoths and other prehistoric creatures roam once more, thanks to advanced genetic engineering.

When the son of a billionaire and his new wife are brutally murdered, Agent Frances Cash and Sheriff James Colcord are tasked with uncovering the truth. What begins as a hunt for eco-terrorists soon reveals something far more sinister lurking in the shadows of Erebus. Preston masterfully builds tension as the body count rises, and the true threat becomes chillingly clear.

"Extinction" is not just a nod to Michael Crichton's "Jurassic Park" but a thrilling exploration of its own unique horrors. Preston's meticulous research and vivid storytelling create a narrative that is as intellectually stimulating as it is entertaining. While some elements may feel slightly implausible, the fast-paced action and well-crafted suspense make this a compelling read. A solid 4-star thriller that will leave you both entertained and thoughtful about the potential consequences of genetic manipulation.

As always Preston has written a firecracker of a book. I love his breathtaking adventures. Highly recommend.

Absolutely loved this one!

When campers go missing in the Colorado wilds, Agent Cash is brought in to investigate. Along with the sheriff, they begin to uncover something more than just a wild park with prehistoric creatures. There is something dark going on, and they are determined to figure it out.

As the case begins to develop, Cash realizes they are dealing with something a lot more dangerous than ordinary killers. They are literally being hunted to extinction...

Fantastic read! I was hooked from the beginning and could not put the book down! I look forward to seeing more in this series. Douglas Preston is one of my top authors.

This book was an adventure. Douglas Preston revisits the ideas behind Jurassic Park and takes the de-extinction further. This book sets your imagination on fire and is a rollicking read. It is so action-packed and fast-paced, you will race your way to the end and be left with a feeling of wonder.

The blurb was giving big "Jurassic Park" energy, so I downloaded this and read it pretty quickly. It's something that's an easy recommended library purchase, and will find tons of happy readers who're looking for thrillers with high-tech overtones, and the concept is great. There is nothing wrong with the execution--this is content from a seasoned author who knows how to pace a book--but it may not stand the test of time. That is okay. It is the literary equivalent of a nice big bag of Doritos. I enjoyed it while reading, but it wasn't terribly nutritious. Take it to the beach!

The book is a gripping thriller that explores genetic manipulation and murder at an exclusive resort where extinct animals are brought back to life. The story follows Agent Frankie Cash and Sheriff James Colcord as they investigate the brutal murder of a billionaire's son and his bride. The plot is intricate and suspenseful, with unexpected twists and turns that keep the reader guessing. The author's use of factual background information on genetic manipulation adds realism to the story, making it even more chilling. While some parts of the story feel slightly implausible, the book is a masterfully crafted thriller that will appeal to fans of the genre. The author's writing style is engaging, and the pacing is expertly managed, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat. Overall, this book is a thought-provoking and suspenseful read that will keep you up past your bedtime. Thank you both Tor publishing group and NetGalley for providing this amazing ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group as well as the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
#NetGalley #TorPublishingGroup #Extinction #DouglasPreston

Title: Extinction
Author: Douglas Preston
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Tor Publishing Group
Publication Date: April 24, 2024

Themes: paleontology, biologic/genetic horror, genetic engineering, thriller, crime, police procedural, science fiction
Trigger Warnings: gore, murder, animal death, death of a pregnant woman, cannibalism, genetic engineering/cloning

It never ceases to amaze that Douglas Preston hasn’t run out of ideas yet. He puts out amazing book after amazing book andI can’t get enough. I’m thrilled to say that this holds true with “Extinction” as well. Actually, it may even be better!

Erebus Resort has done the impossible! Through cutting edge technology and genetic engineering, it has managed to bring back mammoths and some other animals from extinction. (Does no one learn?! Have they not seen Jurassic Park?!) Also, a wealthy man and his son have been kidnapped and gruesome murders are taking place in the valley. Enter FBI agent Frances Cash, and county sheriff, James Colcord. They form an alliance to solve these crimes before another occurs.

This is a fast paced book. I loved every second of it. I love learning about genetics and paleontology. I love the gore and horrifying murders! I LOVED Cash and Colcord! I hope this book marks the start of a new series featuring these two characters. Cash’s rough-around-the-edges personality fits perfectly with quiet, polite, easy-going Colcord. Together, these two people face a lot of grisly and nausea-inducing scenes.

I loved the main storyline, of course, but I enjoyed the side plots and fluff bits just as much. I loved reading about the animals, particularly the mammoths, and I loved the imagery that the author created. I felt this book was cinematic in its imagery. There was so much going on that it almost could have been two books.

Overall, this book was compelling, fast-paced, interesting and fun. I can’t help but hope for another in this vein.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Publishing and Douglas Preston for the opportunity to read an ARC of Extinction. This is my honest and unpaid review of the book. This book was a great read for when you want a bit of action to pull you out of a reading slump. It would be an awesome summer read, but maybe not while you're camping in the forest or mountains. You'll see why. There were some great twists and turns and some very suspenseful moments that made this book hard to put down! I did enjoy exploring the thoughts the book brings up about the de-extinction of species and the repercussions of that process.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hmm.... 3.25-3.5 stars out of 5 so rounding up to 3.5 then rounding up to four. I don't know why this rating system is so dang hard for me.

I have been a fan of Douglas Preston for a while. His collabs with Lincoln Child in the Agent Pendergast series were some of my favorite books in my 20s. I adore Lincoln Child’s solo books, also. I believe this might be the first solo Douglas book I have read, though don’t quote me on that.

Extinction begins with a newlywed couple in the Colorado Rockies at a place called Erebus Resort. They have hired a guide, but they are both experienced hikers. In the middle of the night, though, something slashes through their tent. The husband goes out to investigate, and the sounds that the wife hears prompt her to follow. Her screams wake the guide, who is a little ways off to give them privacy, but by the time he arrives, there is nothing but two rather large puddles of blood.

In her first venture as Agent in Charge, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Cash initially assumes this will be an open and shut case. Erebus Resort has been de-extincting creatures from the Pleistocene period and editing out their aggressive traits. Erebus has been getting threats and complaints from persons unhappy with their ventures.

But the more layers Cash and local Sheriff Colcord peel off, the more curious and disturbing the case becomes.

I liked the book. I didn’t love it like I thought I would, but it was definitely interesting. The one thing that irked me was the book’s insistence that it was NOT JURASSIC PARK!!

Extinction by Douglas Preston is thrilling sci-fi novel with a female protagonist. When Colorado Bureau of Investigation agent Frankie Cash is assigned to find the perpetrator of an especially heinous murder, she falls into a nightmare of genetic manipulation. Readers follow her into the Erebus Resort in the Colorado Rockies, where woolly mammoths and other prehistoric creatures have been brought back from extinction. Frankie and the county sheriff band together to evacuate the area and stop the killings by a band of suspected eco-terrorists. Will they be time? Will they even survive! Read on and hang on through the suspense to find out!

EXTINCTION – by Douglas Preston

‘Erebus Resort, occupying a magnificent, hundred-thousand-acre valley deep in the Colorado Rockies, offers guests the experience of viewing woolly mammoths, Irish Elk, and giant ground sloths in their native habitat, brought back from extinction through the magic of genetic manipulation.’

Oh, the magic of genetic manipulation—what could possibly go wrong—right?!

EXTINCTION is a definite nod to Crichton’s novel, JURASSIC PARK (Yes, I love the book and the movie! : ), and is mentioned in the book a few times.

I have to admit, I was a little leery as to how the storyline would play out upon the first reveal, but I have to say, I enjoyed the ending. Except for Tom Thumb—My Heart!

Recommend!

Thank you, NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group (Forge Books), for providing me with an eBook of EXTINCTION at the request of an honest review.

Extinction by Douglas Preston is a great thriller, but it is more than that. It is science fiction at it’s best. And it has a female protagonist!
Frankie Cash is the agent in charge of a particularly crazy killing. A young couple is camping out in the mountain wilderness of the Erebus resort in Colorado; they have disappeared under suspicious circumstances and are presumed dead. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation takes on the case, but the challenge to figure out what happened to the young couple is overwhelming to say the least.

I really had no idea where this book was going when I started reading it, but I just kept turning page after page, completely overwhelmed. Author Lee Child said, “it’s meaty and thought-provoking and tells us a lot about our distant past—and our immediate future. Spectacular!”
I learned a great deal about neanderthals—and I knew absolutely nothing before beginning the book. Also about gene editing. Oops, am I giving too much away.

This is a great read. Highly recommended with star reviews from the major book reviewers.

I love Jurassic Park and came into Extinction with some big “hold on to your butts!” energy. Unfortunately, the execution just didn’t work for me. The initial setup was intriguing - a resort where they have brought back the woolly mammoth and other long extinct animals. Two visitors to the park go missing. The CBI is brought in to investigate. I am here for all of that!! Unfortunately from there it all fell a little flat for me. At moments that should have felt tense, instead I just felt sort of bored. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the free ebook to review, I also purchased the audiobook.

Erebus Resort is one of the premier places in Colorado, a hundred-thousand-acre valley deep in the Colorado Rookies and where guests can watch the newly de-extinct creatures such as woolly mammoths, Irish Elk and others. But when a millionaire’s son and his new wife are murdered while out in the Erebus back country, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation sends Agent Frances ‘Frankie’ Cash to see what is going on and to capture the killers. But what Frankie, alongside Sheriff James Colcord find is more than an open and shut case but one filled with secrets that threaten not just the lives of everyone at the Erebus Resort but also the world.

Douglas Preston’s newest single title, EXTINCTION, is a wonder and a horror all at once within its pages. Filled with twists and turns the reader doesn’t anticipate and characters that you can cheer on, EXTINCTION is a story filled with Jurassic Park-like creatures from long ago that you only see in museums and captures the reader’s attention from the very first page to the last. This is truly a marvel that will delight readers who love this author’s work like I do with its real-world issues converging on long ago issues that create the perfect storm. This is truly a fun read though I have to admit I am really hoping this never happens in real life because the chaos it will create is even more than I can imagine.

EXTINCTION by Douglas Preston is filled with intriguing and at times some really awful characters that had me glued to the pages as each secret was revealed as I couldn’t put this down. His lush description of the Colorado Rocky setting had me wishing to go visit (and hope I come out alive). With each page I flipped I was drawn more and more into the story he crafted and by the end of EXTINCTION, I was horrified as well as intrigued by the science that it was based on as well as the question ‘What if…?’. EXTINCTION is one of those thrillers that will haunt you afterwards and I know I am not the only one who found the horror of what happened within its pages as one that in many (and many more) years to come that might come true as science advances at an alarming pace. The characters are extremely well written and complex, giving me different personality traits at times that had me grinning and eager to see what happens to them next within the book.

EXTINCTION delivers a thrill ride from the beginning and if there is one book of his, notwithstanding his Pendergast series with Lincoln Child, to read I really recommend this one to give you a glimpse into his writing and mind. Now I am off to see if I can see what other works by this author has done so that I can devour it next.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement.

Erebus Resort, occupying a magnificent, hundred-thousand acre valley deep in the Colorado Rockies, offers guests the experience of viewing woolly mammoths, Irish Elk, and giant ground sloths in their native habitat, brought back from extinction through the magic of genetic manipulation. When a billionaire's son and his new wife are kidnapped and murdered in the Erebus back country by what is assumed to be a gang of eco-terrorists, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Frances Cash partners with county sheriff James Colcord to track down the perpetrators. As killings mount and the valley is evacuated, Cash and Colcord must confront an ancient, intelligent, and malevolent presence at Erebus, bent not on resurrection—but extinction. I loved this book! I could not put it down and I can see this as a movie. I highly recommend this thriller!

This is a great thriller where science vs nature has a big role. Lots of action and a nice pacing of the plot unfolding.. great ending.

"Extinction" by Douglas Preston is a thrilling page-turner that masterfully combines cutting-edge science with relentless suspense. Preston's meticulous research and vivid storytelling create a gripping narrative that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Fans of techno-thrillers will find this book both intellectually stimulating and thoroughly entertaining.

Douglas Preston's Extinction takes a page from Michael Crichton in exploring the possible and unintended dangers of the very real efforts to resurrect the woolly mammoth and other long-extinct animals. Erebus Resort, occupying a magnificent, hundred-thousand acre valley deep in the Colorado Rockies, offers guests the experience of viewing woolly mammoths, Irish Elk, and giant ground sloths in their native habitat, brought back from extinction through the magic of genetic manipulation.

Not to steal anyone's thunder, but don't call it Jurassic Park. There are no dinosaurs, but there is something much, much more dangerous involved. When a billionaire's son and his new wife (Olivia and Mark Gunnerson) disappear without a trace, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Frances Cash partners with county sheriff James Colcord to track down the perpetrators. Could it be eco-terrorists, or environmental protesters, or could it be animal liberation protesters, or maybe a foreign government who wants what Erebus offers.

As evidence is collected and analyzed, Cash and Colcord conclude that a good deal of lying and deception is occurring by major players at Erebus. When Cash & Colcord search the woods they sense silent shapes flitting through the trees and hear hideous yowling. Cash and Colcord realize cryptic creatures are scurrying around the resort, which is made even more evident by additional frightening occurrences. The investigators probe into events more deeply, and shocking secrets are revealed.

Meanwhile, a film crew is making a movie on the resort property, directed by Slavomir Doyle. Doyle tells Cash and Colcord the film is about a herd of mammoths that get caught in a time warp and appear in the 1880s. Cowboys then tame the mammoths and ride them into town to save the residents from a robber baron. Doyle and his crew soon find out that Erebus isn't what they imagined or paid for when dynamite they are using for a stunt goes missing, and later are attacked by strange looking humans.

*Preston is not a new to me author. I have read several of his series, as well as standalone novels. Extinction weaves together elements of thriller, mystery, suspense, police procedural, science fiction, and adventure. Readers were left with unanswered questions as to Cash's past in Maine, and how she ended up in Colorado. The only thing that maybe can be equated to Jurassic Park is that scientists need to learn to not mess with things that will eventually come back and eat them. After reading the ending, there is little doubt that the author plans to continue the Cash & Colcord partnership.

For Michael Crichton lovers desperately seeking to fill that void, get this book now. While it mixes police procedural in, which Crichton didn’t do, I really enjoyed this element. Call this Jurassic noir.

Title: Extinction
Author: Douglas Preston
Genre: Thriller
Rating: 4 out of 5

Erebus Resort, occupying a magnificent, hundred-thousand acre valley deep in the Colorado Rockies, offers guests the experience of viewing woolly mammoths, Irish Elk, and giant ground sloths in their native habitat, brought back from extinction through the magic of genetic manipulation. When a billionaire's son and his new wife are kidnapped and murdered in the Erebus back country by what is assumed to be a gang of eco-terrorists, Colorado Bureau of Investigation Agent Frances Cash partners with county sheriff James Colcord to track down the perpetrators.

As killings mount and the valley is evacuated, Cash and Colcord must confront an ancient, intelligent, and malevolent presence at Erebus, bent not on resurrection—but extinction.

I remember reading Relic years ago and being absolutely terrified. I’ve read a couple of other Preston books since then, so I knew this would be a solid read. I did not end up terrified, thankfully. I did find this creepy in parts, and I didn’t really care much for any of the characters. Interesting concept. I loved the prehistoric mammals. That would be so cool to see! I think this is a fun, fast read, if you’re looking for something to binge on the weekend.

Douglas Preston is a bestselling author. Extinction is his newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Tor/Forge Books in exchange for an honest review.)