Certainly not up to the high standards that most people have for Crichton, but, I went into this knowing full well that it was unpolished and most likely one of the first drafts. I can certainly see how he would have fleshed out more of the characters and made the story flow better (it was a bit clunky and rushed at times). The afterword (written by Crichton's wife) even mentions how he had started this before Jurassic Park even, so he was still honing his craft.

All that being said, I really enjoyed this book. I loved the science and the intrigue and the coming of age story. Even though I'm a huge dinosaur fanatic, I particularly enjoyed the time Johnson spent in Deadwood, which has the least amount of dino talk in the book.

Read this book, just don't go into it with expectations that it's going to be like any of Crichton's finished and polished novels or my guess is you'll be disappointed.