Customer Reviews

The Dinosaur Hunter: A Novel

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a store owner, I'm one of those lucky readers who get a book early. Homer Hickam is one of my favorite writers who a lot of times readers miss so that's why I like to review him for my patrons. Don't miss him this time! The author of Rocket Boys, leave it to Hickam to come up with something completely different. He can always be counted on to surprise. I thoroughly enjoyed his new characters, especially Mike Wire, his veggie-loving cowboy and his hard-bitten boss, Jeanette Coulter. I found myself immersed in the Montana ranching world, then in the world of dinosaur hunting and digging. Along the way, there a murder, a hilarious rodeo, lovely but dirty women who dig up dinosaurs better than any man, and a parallel story of a T.rex family fighting for survival. It's different and that's what makes this book a real page-turner. Five stars.

Cowboys and dinosaurs sound like an odd combination, but Homer Hickam pulls it off in his new novel. I have always enjoyed this author's books, but this one is the best so far. The setting is in the wide open spaces of Montana on the ranch of Jeanette Coulter, a tough widow who knows everything about cattle ranching. Her foreman Mike Wire is the narrator. When a paleontologist asks permission to access federal land adjoining Jeannette's ranch, Mike gets the dinosaur hunting "bug." The story contains action, mystery, adventure and lots of science. I really enjoyed this book and I think it was one of the best ones I've read this year. I learned a lot about Montana and dinosaurs. The book has something for everyone. You will enjoy it.

Better carve out some serious reading time guys and gals! Mystery, mayhem, adventure, cowboys, a bit of romance and dinosaurs, all set in Big Sky country Montana... sure to keep even jaded readers turning those pages. As always, this author's words compellingly immerse us into any time and place he is writing about, and this time it is because he has not only researched his subject well, but lived it. The book cover notes reminds us that Hickam is a NY Times #1 writer and National Book Circle Critics award nominee for "Rocket Boys/October Sky", "but also tells us that is he's an accomplished amateur paleontologist with two T.rex find credits to his name. This certainly helps give the book's setting a very true feel and an authentic background. As great as the plot is, it is Hickam's characters that always keep our interest and he does not fail us here. Mike Wire is the narrator, a retired LA cop who has come to the Square C Ranch to escape the rat race. His boss Jeanette and her son's simple rancher's life is tested when the Dinosaur Hunter comes to ask permission to hunt for bones on their land. As many of the ranchers and townspeople get involved, bad things start to happen...and so the story gets complicated and GOOD. Read it, live it, DIG IT!

Wow, was this book written for me? Girls and dinosaurs! What young boy does not like either one? So, when I saw that Homer Hickam was writing about both (in the same story, no less) I was very excited. Unfortunately I'm not a young boy any more. Let's face it, this book will not win any Pulitzer prizes (unlike Rocket Boys which, in my opinion, could have). It's pretty shallow and sophomoric. But, did I enjoy it? Yes, I did. Did I finish it quickly? Yes, I did. I did, because I was a boy once who liked girls and dinosaurs (and, maybe, still do).

With ROCKET BOYS, which was made into the award-winning film October Sky, Homer Hickam proved himself to be not only a terrific storyteller, but someone who had a lot more tales in him to entertain us. His early books were autobiographical, yet filled with adventure, pathos and triumph. His novels have taken us to faraway places in different times, from a futuristic return to the moon, to the Solomon Islands and the East Coast of the United States during World War II.

THE DINOSAUR HUNTER bridges ancient prehistory with modern times through ex-LAPD cop turned cowboy Mike Wire. Mike has ditched the big city hassle as a crime fighter to lead the quiet life of a cowhand on the Square C Ranch in eastern Montana. The big skies of Montana hover over some of the richest fields of ancient dinosaur fossils in the world, and a recent find of the bones of what may be a baby Tyrannosaurus Rex on the Square C has attracted a team of paleontologists who want to search for what could be one of the most important finds yet.

Mike's boss, Jeannette Coulter, grants the permission but directs Mike to work with the group of two young women and their boss, Dr. Pickford, to keep an eye on where they go and what they do. Mike begins to enjoy and appreciate the paleontologists' back-breaking work and joins the dig with enthusiasm. The scientists are looking for not just how the dinosaurs lived but how and why they died. Each find brings them closer to discovering more about these ancient giants.

When two of the local ranchers' cows are found with their throats cut near the dig, the group grows wary yet continues their work. But when a prominent businessman from the nearby small town turns up dead, his throat also cut, Mike's detective skills resurface and he reluctantly turns to hunting for modern-day killers instead of dead dinosaurs.

The independent souls who ranch the vast lands of Montana hold differing opinions of outsiders crossing their lands and digging up the mucky clay soils. Hickam has spent several summers in the region and has captured the pioneering, individualist spirit of the ranchers and some of the people who, like Mike, have left the stresses of the big city behind to live the quiet and very private life of the old West. A rugged family of survivalists are hunkered down with bunkers full of weapons on one ranch, while a reclusive but wealthy former movie director lives at the end of Rancher's Road with a suspicious-looking tattooed Russian who may or may not be his bodyguard. One of the two girls on the paleontology team is also Russian and may be connected somehow to the man at the Hollywood director's ranch. Fossil fuel leases have played an important role in the area's economy, and local businessmen also have a stake in how the lands are used. There are plenty of suspects to go around as Mike digs deeper into the modern-day clues to the murder.

Hickam, now retired from NASA where he was a space scientist, has become a dinosaur hunter in his spare time. The colorful descriptions of the activities on the dig and the fascinating history that continues to unfold as these gigantic fossils are unearthed are not only authentic and accurate, but fascinatingly woven into the story.

Once the grazing and hunting grounds of the giants of our prehistory, Montana continues to yield some of the most exciting finds of skeletons of Tyrannosaurus Rex, Triceratops and other creatures from the Cretaceous period. Much of the research on these giants that lived on earth millions of years before man arrived has been done at The Museum of the Rockies at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. It was my pleasure to visit the museum a year ago and go behind the scenes to observe some of the restoration work done by the paleontologists. Several groups of students from kindergarten through high school could be seen, held in rapt attention as museum docents described the displays. It's not hard to see why people of all ages become so drawn to studying these fascinating ancient creatures. Hickam will further fuel the fires of our imaginations with this adventurous tale.

--- Reviewed by Roz Shea

Hickam is one of my favorite authors and when I saw this new novel I scopped it up. it's a tale of an paleontologist named Dr Pickford shows up on a ranch in Montana asking permission to look for dinosaur bones. Once he is granted permission, his two assistants, both ravishingly beautiful women, join him. Before long, they discover valuable dinosaur remains and the skullduggery begins.

Unlike most murder mysteries, the murder in this one doesn't happen until well into the second half of the book. After the murder there is a multitude of suspicious people in the area including a Russian mobster. I enjoyed reading this novel until the ending.

The ending was a Deus ex Machina ending with the protag sitting on a mountaintop watching someone else solves his problem. In addition, the ending includes the murder of two women and the reason for their deaths is never explained.

Overall assessment: a disappointment. It's a great story with great characters for three quarters of the book then it falls apart.

Zaftan Entrepreneurs: Book 1 of the Zaftan Trilogy

Forget about "Mama Grizzlies" - it's Mama T-Rex who really rules! I just finished Homer Hickam's "The Dinosaur Hunter," and found the book as exciting and rewarding as I hoped it would be. With this novel Hickam, who in past lives has - among numerous other occupations - trained NASA astronauts how to scuba, and has written about going Back to the Moon: A Novel - has traded his diving flippers for cowboy boots, and deep space for "deep time." In addition, and not surprisingly, Hickam proves to be as skillful at portraying the world of dino-diggers in Montana as he is taking us into the coal mines of West Virginia. A sort of comic mystery, thriller, action-love story, the novel moves along at a quick-fire pace that kept me engrossed from beginning to end. Hickam also creates a cadre of characters that are as layered and diverse as the geologic strata where the novel is set. There is Pick, the paleontologist who moves from the Cretaceous through the Quatenary periods with ease, but can't seem to find his way back to camp; Ray and Amelia, the squabbling teenagers-in-love; Brian and Philip, the Green Planet brothers who learn to love the earth in a way they didn't think possible; Cade, the Hollywood porn-producer cum nouveau-riche rancher; Toby, the Hawaiian-shirt-wearing Russian mobster; and the protagonist, Mike - the ex-LA detective turned ranch manager, who doesn't have a clue when it comes to women. And what women! I've not met such capable and courageous, independent and intense, resourceful and resilient, women since Ellen Ripley, especially Jeanette, owner of the Square C ranch where Mike works. The strong, silent type; when she does talk, you know she means it. In fact, all the heroes of the story, based on people Hickam came to know and admire while researching the novel, are as tough and tenacious as the Montana they are trying to measure up to. My only beef? The novel is too short! In the words of Oliver Twist: "More, please!"

I read this book in three days, which is pretty fast for myself. I liked the storyline and the suspense. It is set in Eastern Montana where there are many cattle ranchers. It is very interesting and believable. I thought the ending was a little bit abrupt. If you want to see some of the places where this story really took place, check out the author's video uploads on YouTube.

I have truly enjoyed several books written by Homer Hickam. "Rocket Boys" was such a wonderful memoir that I shared it with my husband and 11 yr old son, both of whom read it quickly and with enthusiasm. Homer's latest novel "The Dinosaur Hunter" draws you quickly into the ranching lands of Montana with its hidden treasures of deep time. Reading the story makes me want to travel in short time to Montana and join in the dinosaur bone hunt! Since I started reading the novel, my husband has picked up my edition, so now we negotiate who gets to read it and when. You too will be drawn into the characters, their daily lives and the twisting path of their stories as the novel unfolds. This would make a great holiday gift for anyone on your list!

Met Homer Hickam Jr at the 2011 Mars society convention in Grape Vine Texas. He was a guest speaker. I instantly liked him ... a real down to Earth guy.I bought and read his Torpedo Junction book...5 stars...see my review. I took a Paleontology course and wrote a paper on the evolution of the horse and have fossil collected in the Peace river Fl., finding many fossilized shark teeth and mammal fossilized bones. Donated my shark teeth collection to The Natural Museum of History ( Sweden) in Stockholm. So it was with great interest I bought The Dinosaur Hunter.

Homer Hickam has wrote a great book. Action packed from beginning to end. I couldn't put it down. Its a page burner 311 pages I read in 2/3s of a day. Remember this is a fictional novel so the "facts" discovered about the nest guarding instincts of the "T Rex", etc. are only supposition and have not been proven. Just go with the flow with this book. Don't try to analyze it; just enjoy it.

Homer is superb with character development. You really get to know the characters and how they think. You empathize with them. The book has a great plot. What could be better...Dino bone hunting,cowboys and cowgirls, a murder, a little sex thrown in ...nothing vulgar or graphic, plus the reader gets a chance to learn a little Paleontology.

I got to empathize so much with the characters I almost shed a tear when the main character Mike sees his girl friend and possible future soul mate Tanya murdered by a Russian mob thug by a bullet to the head with Mike watching.The Russian mob thugs are coming to steal the dinosaur bones and will kill all witnesses. Again great action, character development and a superb plot. A good mystery who done it about the cow killings and first murder of a Russian mob thug,too.

Enjoyed this book so much, I bought Rocket Boys and the October Skies DVD, and more books by Homer Hickam Jr. Will review. The Dinosaur Hunter, a great action packed novel with a little Paleontology to learn too! 5 stars