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A review by enter_the_phantom
The Paleontologist by Luke Dumas
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Oh, how I desperately wanted to love this book.
Dinosaur horror is a micro-genre that is woefully small. So while I'm not generally a lover of ghost stories, the wholly original premise sounded like a winner. A museum haunted by a vengeful dinosaur ghost? A dinosaur character that isn't a T. rex? Sign me up.
Unfortunately, the writing isn't strong enough to support the story, and it becomes so convoluted and hard to follow that no angry dinosaur ghosts can save it from being anything more than "meh."
This book is slow. Painfully slow. Dumas likes to explain things to readers as if they are ten years old. I lost track of how often a joke was explained or a clue or mystery was obnoxiously spelled out for the reader. I'm aware that most readers won't understand the nuances of paleontological practices and terms, but they don't need to because this isn't a field guide or textbook; it's a novel. So when the story comes to a grinding halt so that Dumas can explain in exacting detail the process of sediment deposition or the anatomical structure of a late Cretaceous theropod, it's more tedious than it is interesting. The same goes for the jarring and out-of-place social commentary on privilege and patriarchy randomly shoehorned in any time a female character talks about their job. While we appreciate the sentiment, this isn't the book for it, and it just doesn't work and comes across as hamfisted and insincere.
The characters aren't particularly strong and some of them just come across as tired rehashes of half-developed archetypes from other mystery works (looking at you, Fran). The villain is obvious from his first appearance. There's just nothing new here in terms of characters.
The story, on the other hand, is actually quite good and had me excited for some cool new ideas in the first half. The extinction of the dinosaurs is a tragedy that often isn't portrayed as such, so a museum haunted by the spirits of tortured saurian souls forced to suffer in their post-asteroid-collision agony for all eternity is a fascinating and heartbreaking concept. There's even a murderous dino ghost villain out for blood.
Of course, Dumas has to ruin it with a terrible mystery reveal involving a convoluted and trite voodoo ritual. Less black magick, more bloody albino theropods, please.
This is a fun read if you need something silly and entertaining and have no experience with better, more effective horror novels. I personally just want more dinosaur books that explore all the genre can be and don't tap out halfway through with cheesy and unbelievable human characters who talk like Batman villains. If I sound jaded, it's because I am.
Dinosaur horror is a micro-genre that is woefully small. So while I'm not generally a lover of ghost stories, the wholly original premise sounded like a winner. A museum haunted by a vengeful dinosaur ghost? A dinosaur character that isn't a T. rex? Sign me up.
Unfortunately, the writing isn't strong enough to support the story, and it becomes so convoluted and hard to follow that no angry dinosaur ghosts can save it from being anything more than "meh."
This book is slow. Painfully slow. Dumas likes to explain things to readers as if they are ten years old. I lost track of how often a joke was explained or a clue or mystery was obnoxiously spelled out for the reader. I'm aware that most readers won't understand the nuances of paleontological practices and terms, but they don't need to because this isn't a field guide or textbook; it's a novel. So when the story comes to a grinding halt so that Dumas can explain in exacting detail the process of sediment deposition or the anatomical structure of a late Cretaceous theropod, it's more tedious than it is interesting. The same goes for the jarring and out-of-place social commentary on privilege and patriarchy randomly shoehorned in any time a female character talks about their job. While we appreciate the sentiment, this isn't the book for it, and it just doesn't work and comes across as hamfisted and insincere.
The characters aren't particularly strong and some of them just come across as tired rehashes of half-developed archetypes from other mystery works (looking at you, Fran). The villain is obvious from his first appearance. There's just nothing new here in terms of characters.
The story, on the other hand, is actually quite good and had me excited for some cool new ideas in the first half. The extinction of the dinosaurs is a tragedy that often isn't portrayed as such, so a museum haunted by the spirits of tortured saurian souls forced to suffer in their post-asteroid-collision agony for all eternity is a fascinating and heartbreaking concept. There's even a murderous dino ghost villain out for blood.
Of course, Dumas has to ruin it with a terrible mystery reveal involving a convoluted and trite voodoo ritual. Less black magick, more bloody albino theropods, please.
This is a fun read if you need something silly and entertaining and have no experience with better, more effective horror novels. I personally just want more dinosaur books that explore all the genre can be and don't tap out halfway through with cheesy and unbelievable human characters who talk like Batman villains. If I sound jaded, it's because I am.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Moderate: Child abuse and Child death
Minor: Homophobia and Sexual violence