Congo (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "TEN THOUSAND MILE AWAY, IN THE COLD, WINdowless main data room of Earth Resources Technology Services, Inc., of Houston, Karen Ross sat hunched over a..." (more)
Key Phrases: gray gorillas, stone paddles, good gorilla, Karen Ross, Peter Elliot, Project Amy (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If you saw the 1995 film adaptation of this Crichton thriller, somebody owes you an apology. While you're waiting for that to happen, try reading the vastly more intelligent novel on which the movie was based. The broad lines of the plot remain the same: A research team deep in the jungle disappears after a mysterious and grisly gorilla attack. A subsequent team, including a sign-language-speaking simian named Amy, follows the original team's tracks only to be subjected to more mysterious and grisly gorilla attacks. If you can look past the breathless treatment of '80s technology, like voice-recognition software and 256K RAM modules (the book was written in 1980), you'll find the same smart use of science and edge-of-your-seat suspense shared by Crichton's other work. --Paul Hughes

Review

"Thrilling".

-- The New York Times Book Review

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; First Thus edition (November 23, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345378490
• ISBN-13: 978-0345378491
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (247 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,633,581 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Most Entertaining Novel Since "Jurassic Park", October 19, 1999

By A Customer

This novel kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time I read. Michael Crichton does a good job displaying realism in this realistic science fiction novel. He creates a story in the darkest region of the Congo, near the Lost City of Zinj,where an eight-person expedition dies brutally in a matter of seconds. At the home base back in Houston, supervisors watch a gruesome video transmission of the ill-fated team: dead bodies, tents crushed, and a blurred dark moving image. A new expedition is sent to the Congo. Some are in search for diamonds while a primatologist is taking his gorilla Amy, who knows sign language, back to her home in the Congo. During the expedition they encounter trouble with the native tribes and man-eating gorillas. Many people die and there is a lot of action in this thriller. Life threatening creatures and jungle weather creates a setting which makes this book so entertaining. This book can be compared to "Jurassic Park." Both display great action scenes and interesting stories by the same author. I recommend this book greatly if you are either a science-fiction or suspense thriller fan.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bring home Congo, bring home the fun!!!, October 26, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Congo (Mass Market Paperback)

In Houston, Texas, a shocking video from the Congo appears before the eyes of Karen Ross, a scientist of the company ERTS. She sees the campsite of ERTS' current expedition destroyed and its members dead. Karen Ross is sent to the Congo to find out what happened with the help of a primatologist by the name of Peter Elliot, Peter's gorilla that is fluent in sign language, Amy, and an experienced guide named Munro with his crew of porters. Karen discovers that she must race to the Congo against German and Japanese scientists to find a specific diamond that may hold the key to the future, and she is driven to succeed at any cost. They must face bellicose hippos and tribes of fierce cannibals. As the expedition progresses, a vicious new species may tamper with the success of the expedition, and with the crew's lives.

I would have to say this is one of Michael Crichton's finest works. The book gives plenty of background information, making it easy to understand the plot and what's going on. After awhile, it is impossible to put the book down for its extravagant details and stunning scenes. The action is well described and sucks you into the book. The characters are very three dimensional and many have such great personalities that make the book's slower parts fun and interesting. One of the most interesting characters would have to be Amy, the gorilla fluent in sign language. She makes even the most fearsome scenes hilarious. The only reason I didn't give this book five stars is because it is not incisive enough, for it takes about 150 pages for the book to really draw you in.

I highly recommend this book, for it is one of the best books I've read in years.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Crichton ahead of official science yet again, November 15, 2005

By	H.L. Preston (Colorado USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Congo (Mass Market Paperback)

Paying attention to anecdotes and rumours can get you a long way - not just in developing fictional plots, but in anticipating by decades "discoveries" in science, such as the finding of the mysterious deadly hunting great apes of Congo near Bili, "found" and reported by actual scientists in 2004. The similarities to what was described in Crichton's book are notable.
Cite is from BBC Science News 12 Oct 2004 (based on an article in New Scientist):
"Primatologist Shelly Williams is thought to be the only scientist to have seen the apes.

During her visit to DR Congo two years ago, she says she captured them on video and located their nests.

She describes her encounter with them: "Four suddenly came rushing out of the bush towards me," she told New Scientist.

"If this had been a bluff charge, they would have been screaming to intimidate us. These guys were quiet. And they were huge. They were coming in for the kill. I was directly in front of them, and as soon as they saw my face, they stopped and disappeared." "

She also mentioned that some of them had gone gray, apparently fairly early in life, and completely gray rather than the gray-and-black of known gorilla species. The locals say they are very deadly, hunt cooperatively and silently, and will kill lions.

That doesn't mean they talk -- just thought Crichton's research abilities should be commemorated with some clips from this discovery.