Michael Crichton's Timeline

Well here it is!  I finally finished Timeline!  After John (the boyfriend)  suggested I read it, and then bought the book for me to ensure that I did in fact read it, and then HOUNDED me for not reading it while we were in CT, I have finally found time to finish the book.  I must say that John doesn't read a lot, but when he reads and then suggests a book for me to read, it's normally REALLY good.  So here goes, a summary and my thoughts on Timeline.

I have never read any of Michael Crichton's books before. My experience with began and ended with Jurassic Park, the movie.  I knew a lot of people read his  books, but I had never bothered to read anything he had written.  It turns out this book was way good. For some reason I had in my head that Crichton was like Stephen King, only writing scary books.  Timeline was a lot more my style.  More historical than scary.  With just a touch of science in it, which is not my style but better than scary if you ask me.

The book begins in New Mexico with the discovery of a random person in the desert.  He is taken to a local hospital with some unusual symptoms and then dies.  The authorities figure out that he works for company called ITC.  They contact ITC who quickly does whatever they can to cover up the man's death.  While all of this is going on in New Mexico, ITC is also funding an archaeological project in France.  A professor from Yale, professor Johnston and some of his students are uncovering a 14th century castle right on the Dordgone river.  ITC sends one of their employees, Diane Kramer, to check up on the dig and the progress Johnston and his team are making.  When Kramer is disappointed that the team is moving slower than anticipated, she lets slip that ITC knows more than the Archaeologists do about the site.  This raises suspicion with Johnston, who then flies back to New Mexico with Kramer to figure out what ITC is up to.  While Johnston is in New Mexico, the dig continues on in France.  The team, with the key players being Andre Marek, Chris Hughes, David Stern, and Katie Erickson, discover a tower that Kramer had mentioned while visiting the site.  Then the team finds a discovery at an arch on the site that brings their strangest discovery yet.  They unearth a scroll with the Professor's handwriting on it; a note saying "Help Me" with a piece of bifocal lens that matches the Professor's prescription.  After doing lots of testing to see how authentic the scroll is, the team discovers that the scroll is authentic. Somehow the Professor has ended up in the 14th century.  Around this time the owner of ITC contacts Marek and tells him to gather some of his best students to come to New Mexico ASAP.  Marek brings Chris, David, and Katie along with him to see what is going on in New Mexico.  What the team discovers there is quite unusual and makes for a great story!

I don't want to give away too much else.  Seriously read this whenever you get the chance!  I absolutely loved this!  I read it during my lunch break for the past week and a half and couldn't put it down.

I am told there is a movie based on the book, but its not worth watching, especially after reading the book.  Apparently Gerard Butler and Paul Walker are in it though, so maybe its worth checking out? :)   I just checked it out on the good ol' IMDB to discover that a LOT of changes were made to the main characters.  They probably aren't key to the story but it does change the dynamic a bit. If you are interested here is a trailer of the movie.

Up next is The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory.  My sister (the one who STARTED writing on this blog but hasn't done it in months) recommended these books to me so we'll see how good it is.  I might actually read the book for the book club I joined and then have yet to attend as well. I don't even know what the book for Feb. is off the top of my head so we'll see what happens.

Happy Reading!

~Tara