Deep in the African rain forest, near the legendary ruins of the Lost City of Zinj, an expedition of eight American geologists is mysteriously and brutally killed in a matter of minutes.
Ten thousand miles away, Karen Ross, the Congo Project Supervisor, watches a gruesome video transmission of the aftermath: a camp destroyed, tents crushed and torn, equipment scattered in the mud alongside dead bodies -- all motionless except for one moving image -- a grainy, dark, man-shaped blur.
In San Francisco, primatologist Peter Elliot works with Amy, a gorilla with an extraordinary vocabulary of 620 "signs," the most ever learned by a primate, and she likes to fingerpaint. But recently, her behavior has been erratic and her drawings match, with stunning accuracy, the brittle pages of a Portuguese print dating back to 1642 . . . a drawing of an ancient lost city. A new expedition -- along with Amy -- is sent into the Congo where they enter a secret world, and the only way out may be through a horrifying death . . .
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
Scared the heck out of me and made me think I have to admit: I'm now a full-on Michael Crichton junkie, since he and Robin Cook have really nailed the one type of book that I think scares adults consistently, which is the techno-thriller. There's something out there we don't understand... our technology has failed... we're going to have to understand the science before we can destroy it and life can resume as normal. It's a little bit too serious for some, but Crichton makes it palatable. You will need read for depth of characters, as these characters are like animated cutouts motivated entirely by the synopsis of their characters presented at the start of their first appearance in the book, but the scenarios are terrifying and the writing gripping because it is sparse, to the point, and scientifically informed. In this case, the book not only handles mystery well, but makes some pointed investigations into where humans and apes are the same, and where we differ. This may be my favorite Crichton since "The Andromeda Strain."
Great story As an Anthroplogy student I have a particular fondness to this book. I love the story and the action is intense. The book is lengthy but you will finish it in a few sittings, it's that good!
A little slower for my tastes. I remember reading this and thinking "when is the action going to start." Still it is well written and I would recommend any Crichton book.
Congo Con The plot line was written well, along with the charater discriptions and overall flow to the story. UNFORTUNATELY there seems to be a misunderstanding within the cover about if the author is part of the story or not. One paragraph he will be talking in the 1st person then the next paragraph its in the 3rd person. I was confused but definately a good book to read.
Not Free SF Reader Backup Lost City expedition, with gorilla.
An archaeological and exploitative expedition gets wiped out, and the company this happened to wants to find out why. A young primate expert and her star pupil: a rather intelligent gorilla included, they take what they hope are enough high tech toys for them to survive their monster encounter.
An ordinary sort of scary adventure story, really.
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