Reviews

The Naturalist by Andrew Mayne

paullangevin1942's review against another edition

3.0

Great plot, except

I liked the main character but a couple of plot twists were just not believable especially the demand of the killer and Theo's responses.

susanatherly's review against another edition

4.0

It's a decent summer read. I liked it but didn't love it.

jamiezaccaria's review against another edition

3.0

This was good but only if you're willing to suspend your disbelief a bit. The main character was pretty annoying although he got better and once I was really into the story, I was definitely invested.

donnamallery's review against another edition

5.0

Best I’ve read in a while!

This is a very interesting book that reads much differently than your average mystery/thriller. The main character is a scientist, and therefore the plot describes fascinating details that aren’t typical of any book I’ve read. It starts with a death that is puzzling . Is it a wild animal or something else? You are then carried on a wild ride that will leave you reading deep into the night!

mccanizales's review against another edition

2.0

As a biology major and a true crime lover, the premise of this book sounded amazing and I couldn’t wait pick it up! But I hated it!! I was SO annoyed at the main character by the end of the book. Although the biology aspects were really cool to read about!
*Spoiler!*
And the killer being a mega-human hulk man that somehow can take out an entire police station?? Come on! How unrealistic! For a science-based book, it had a fantasy-like ending, I could not finish this book fast enough.

catchsonu24's review against another edition

4.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Great read! Haven’t read many books which involved bioinformatics so it was a good change. Quick paced and no boring descriptions. Would recommend to fellow mystery lovers who like forensics and bioinformatics ☺️

thebeardedpoet's review against another edition

5.0

Professor Theo Cray, biologist and professor, starts out as a suspect in the murder of a former student. But then it appears the woman was killed by a bear. Cray puts his science knowledge to work to analyze whether this really was a bear killing or a murder made to look like it. The later is right and the cops are blind to the fact they have a serial killer on their hands. So Dr. Theo Cray obsessively sets out the uncover the truth and almost single-handedly hunts the serial killer. Our amateur detective is socially inept and he's especially terrible at navigating interactions with law enforcement. Basically the cops suspect him, pity him, and manhandle him because he is working against all their assumptions about what is really going on. The science aspects are fascinating, particularly his computer program MAAT used to create models of the serial killers path and where the bodies are hidden. The tension builds throughout, leading to an exciting and quite violent ending. My wife Christi was so tense hearing me read the last quarter of the book she insisted I pause before each chapter and sing her a happy song!

tanya_the_spack's review against another edition

4.0

Not great literature, but it held my interest and was entertaining.

jess_fv's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

alley's review against another edition

4.0

Suspension of belief is required, but it was an entertaining read. I thoroughly enjoyed it.