Michael Crichton

Armed with the latest gifts of advanced technology, a California scientist, a ruthless corporation agent, and a mercenary hunter face the dangers of the Congo jungle in search of the diamonds of the lost city of Zinj. Reprint.

Congo

Deep in the darkest region of the congo, a field expedition dies mysteriously and brutally in a matter of minutes...
(back cover)

megan 

Sooner or later, scientists came to believe that the outside world was just as controllable as their laboratories. Even though they knew better, the shock of discovering that the natural world followed its own rules and was indifferent to them represented a harsh psychic blow. 

Kelsey Lynn

Crichton is my palette cleanser. I've had this in my collection for years and finally read it and I enjoyed it. I honestly like how unlikable all the characters are. Characterization is often secondary in Crichton books so it was refreshing to see a little depth, and having them be imperfect and selfish. There was suspense and I learned a ton about the Congo and gorillas haha.

 The story follows a team as they enter the Congo rainforest, looking to secure a drilling claim before another country does for blue diamonds, the key to future tech. Their first expedition ended in destruction and the whole team being wiped out. So it's a race against the clock to get to the location first and secure it against whatever destroyed the first team. Lead by a single minded, ruthless scientest, a mercenary for hire, a doctor whose trained a gorilla to sign and said gorilla, a long with guides. They enter the Congo with other countries vying for the claim close behind, civil and political unrest in the region and a screenshot of a mysterious white gorilla on scene of the previous expeditions destruction.

 Fun, interesting and read like a movie, it was true to Crichton's style.

 I made the mistake of watching the movie right after, which I hadn't seen since I was a kid, and boy did they destroy everything that made this book good.

This book was so well written a little bit darker than some of his other stories but definitely worth the read! I’m usually not into this type of book but the writing style kept me hooked.

Kindal Comeaux

Earth Resources Technology Services have sent a geological project into the deep, dark regions of the Congo. Their mission is to discover an ancient lost city known to be the last source of the precious blue diamond. The area is said to have a cursor it, a curse no-one believes until the entire party are mysteriously killed one night, Back at the project's base in Houston through a satellite link-up with the wrecked the camera, something that looks almost like a gorilla, almost like a man...

Karen Ross, is the young, nightly intelligent scientist sent to the Congo to discover what caused the untimely death of her colleagues. She has joined forces with Peter Elliot, an innovative primatologist who is desperate to bring his own project to the jungle - Amy - a gorilla fluent in sign language who has been having bizarre dreams about her past in the lost city...

Together, they enter a world lost to man for centuries where only primitive instincts for survival can save them from the dangers ahead.
--back cover

Fraser Simons

Admittedly, what brought this up from a 3 star for me was that I was just really interested in the science and history packed into this. It’s like a snapshot of computer science and a bit of spec fiction coupled with interesting stuff about primates and diamonds. The actual structure and plot is pretty basic, but I found it to be fun.

Congo

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