I read over some of the other reviews, and was somewhat surprised by the diversity of ratings and reviews. I have liked listening to Homer Hickam's memories of an earlier time in Rocket Boys and Sky of Stone, but this novel was definitely not up to his previous works. I believe he wrote the novel based on his own interest and knowledge in the field of dinosaur fossil hunting, but that was certainly not enough to carry what turned out to be a weak story.If you like violent stories, this novel qualifies. If you like gratuitous sex, there was a little of that. If you like your hero / anti-hero to summarize what you just heard/read, from the perspective of "a year later," you'll find that, too. I thought the characters were not believable. While the main characters were mostly ranchers from and in Montana, there were enough vapid Californians to make me ask -- huh? The Russian mob? An extremely rich, Illegal buyer of antiquities from Mexico? Ex-LA cop, turned cowboy, turned dinosaur hunter, amateur paleontologist?I was disappointed. I did think this book was going to be a little more into the dinosaurs rather than the people. But, Hickam pulled it off really well. We got to know the people and some of their reasons behind taking an interest in the dinosaurs. I did really enjoy how Hickam was able to provide some technical details on the dinosaurs without getting too caught up in the jargon. Very well done and quite a fun story!Hmmm, makes me want to go into paleontology now. At least a little bit!
What do You think about The Dinosaur Hunter (2010)?
Interesting mystery surrounding dinosaur bone grave in Montana.
—Ember
The book had me at dinosaurs but lost me at human drama.
—maryjayne530
Not quite what I expected but very entertaining.
—sugabeet04
Now I want to visit the Badlands in Montana!
—Kristi
