I'm a sucker for Michael Critchton novels.
Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain are two of my favorite all-time books. Crichton had a talent for taking a scientific concept, making it tangible, and telling propulsive stories with likeable, intelligent characters who try to solve the problem and avert disaster.
Eruption has the hallmarks of a Michael Crichton novel: an ecological disaster, a determined geologist, a race-against-the-clock narrative, cinematic set pieces, and a rival faction. Crichton died in 2008 at the age of 66, but a few of his books have been posthumously published (Pirate Latitudes, Micro, Dragon Teeth, and Eruption).
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| Image via Indianapolis Public Library |
James Patterson is listed as a coauthor on Eruption (published in 2024), which was a partial manuscript found in Crichton's archives after his death. Basically, one mega-author stepped in to finish the novel started by another mega-author. The results are pretty much what you'd expect, a high-concept thriller ripe for a movie adaptation.
A cataclysmic eruption is set to destroy Hawaii, and only the determined efforts of John "Mac" MacGregor and his team can stop it. You can feel Crichton's fingerprints all over this one: experimental technology, secret government facilities, a resolute protagonist determined to think his way out of trouble.
The book proceeds at a breakneck pace--it's a page-turner--along with hooky, cliffhanging chapters daring you to go, "Okay, just one more and then I'll stop."
It's not perfect. Characters survive unsurvivable situations in the unlikeliest of ways, but that's part of the charm of a Michael Crichton novel. Don't expect deep character work, either, because we all know the characters are really there to drive the plot forward. Expect a fair amount of jargon-heavy exposition because, well, that's part of the deal, too. At least it keeps moving at a good clip.
All in all, it felt like mid-tier Crichton. I would never rank it above Jurassic Park or The Andromeda Strain, but I would personally rank it above the likes of Sphere and Congo. Worth it for most readers, although the diehardest of diehard Crichtonists may be disappointed.
