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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
A solid 3.5 stars. With most of these thriller/mystery novels it takes a bit to get into the meat of it. But once I was in I was all the way in. As the story unraveled I felt that I could not put the book down until I uncovered more right along with Theo.
I enjoyed this book. As a scientist and wildlife biologist, it was refreshing to see a character I could really relate to and how his scientific background enabled him to see that which the professional investigators could not. It was a good change from a lot of the mystery books that we see on the shelves today.
The climax and ending of the book felt a little rushed and stereotypical to me, though. It took a while for the main character to lay the groundwork for his theory and find evidence of the killer, but once he did, things moved quickly and predictably. And, the romantic relationship seemed a little forced and out-of-place in the whole scheme of things.
Overall, it was an enjoyable, quick read for mystery fans who like a little science on the side.
The climax and ending of the book felt a little rushed and stereotypical to me, though. It took a while for the main character to lay the groundwork for his theory and find evidence of the killer, but once he did, things moved quickly and predictably. And, the romantic relationship seemed a little forced and out-of-place in the whole scheme of things.
Overall, it was an enjoyable, quick read for mystery fans who like a little science on the side.
This was the September Kindle First Reads book. A super smart, super socially awkward computer biologist professor gets pulled into a murder investigation of one of his former students, leading him to devise a computer system that discovers dozens or hundreds of unsolved and unknown murders, previously thought to be animal attacks or runaways. Since he is so smart and so awkward and the police departments all happen to be kind of hick people who don’t understand even basic science, no one believes him and he goes about things in the worst way possible. This is the first in a series and would do better as a tv series than a book. The idea of it is good, but somehow it ended up being overdone and hard to get through. I would watch this show, but I doubt I’ll read more of the books.
Worth the read. Fast-paced, thrilling and an interesting protagonist to name a few reasons why I recommend this novel.
Good twists and turns. I loved all of the biology thrown in there. The main character's credentials and character was well established. I can't wait to read more in this series.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Theo Cray is a professor who, for the most part, is minding his own business when one of his former students is found dead in the woods. At first, everyone thinks it is a pretty simple case of wrong place, wrong time, suggesting the poor grad student was mauled by a bear. However, for Theo there is something bugging him about this attack. As he begins to dig he finds evidence that the bear accused of her murder has actually been dead for at least a year... it would have been impossible for the bear in question to have killed her. So what, exactly, is out there?
Theo is one of those smart guys who is annoyingly smart, completely socially out of touch, and therefore finds himself in more trouble than it may be worth. He's brought in for questioning by cops that don't know anything about bear behavior (not that Theo knows much more, but he does know the bear in question is innocent and has been wrongfully killed), then decides to become his own detective, and winds up chasing a serial killer -- that's right. There's a serial killer out there in the woods, lurking, and he will kill again. If Theo can get to the bottom of it, and the cops can take a moment to actually believe him, they may solve several cold cases.
I found this to be predictable in a way that was charming. While listening/reading I would think, "Theo, don't tell the cop that, they're going to think you did it!" only to laugh when he'd get hauled into the slammer and questioned. So are there some predictable moments, absolutely. But they're the good kind that took me for the ride. Once you begin narrowing down the suspects and trying to find the serial killer, well, it becomes quite fun to listen to the stream of scientific jargon that Theo comes up with.
I'm a big fan. Will definitely be looking for the next book.
Theo is one of those smart guys who is annoyingly smart, completely socially out of touch, and therefore finds himself in more trouble than it may be worth. He's brought in for questioning by cops that don't know anything about bear behavior (not that Theo knows much more, but he does know the bear in question is innocent and has been wrongfully killed), then decides to become his own detective, and winds up chasing a serial killer -- that's right. There's a serial killer out there in the woods, lurking, and he will kill again. If Theo can get to the bottom of it, and the cops can take a moment to actually believe him, they may solve several cold cases.
I found this to be predictable in a way that was charming. While listening/reading I would think, "Theo, don't tell the cop that, they're going to think you did it!" only to laugh when he'd get hauled into the slammer and questioned. So are there some predictable moments, absolutely. But they're the good kind that took me for the ride. Once you begin narrowing down the suspects and trying to find the serial killer, well, it becomes quite fun to listen to the stream of scientific jargon that Theo comes up with.
I'm a big fan. Will definitely be looking for the next book.
The Naturalist follows a scientific murder mystery story line avoiding clichés. I enjoyed it and it felt really well researched. The writing was good and exciting.
A thrilling book from cover to cover, I didn’t want to set the book down at any point
This was a fast-paced and entertaining read, but ultimately I found the mechanics of the ending to be very abrupt and the overall plot resolution a bit lackluster— but I think that’s because I saw that the book is classified as paranormal fiction and was hoping for a nonhuman monster.
EDIT: The more I think about this book the less I liked it. There were so many loose ends and nothing was ever properly explained! Very sloppy.
EDIT: The more I think about this book the less I liked it. There were so many loose ends and nothing was ever properly explained! Very sloppy.