Paul Jennings – Google

As a major Crichton fan I approached this with some trepidation. I enjoyed the premise although the global apocalyptic meltdown that was teetered on was somewhat far fetched. The build up to the main event was excellent. Some of the characters were a little wooden such as the media hotshot who can materialise planes and helicopters at the drop of a hat but putting that to one side i thoroughly enjoyed reading this.

A solid book. Read it in a couple of days whilst on holiday. It was my first Michael Connelly and it won’t be my last. I felt it was well written, a tight plot and a carefully constructed ending. It left me feeling satisfied at the end and I have no troubles recommending this to others. Note I am still rebounding from Terry Hayes (Year of the Locust) dross and it was good to see a genre maintained from beginning to end.

Where to begin? For the first 204 pages (just shy of part 2 chapter 18) I was thoroughly invested and enjoying a tight, tense thrilling read. I had seen some of the scathing reviews which focused on the latter stages of the book but hoped they were unfounded. Part 3 began to meander a little but there was a side story involving a man hunt which could quite easily have been a novel in itself. Unfortunately however part 4 threw all plausibility out of the window and led us on a farcical sci-fi step into the beyond. It was poorly explained, lacked any basis and ruined what for the first 204 pages had been an excellent read. The ending was formulaic with the main character becoming more super human by the second. I persevered to the end but cannot believe this was a follow up to one of the best books I have ever read. Should you read I am Pilgrim? Wholeheartedly. Should you read Year of the Locust. Stop after page 204 and reflect and what should come next. The reality is unfulfilling.