Archeological Adventure in 1960's Egypt

It is easy to see the flashes of Chrichton brilliance in these early stories. His research into history is remarkable, the characters are believable, and often funny, and the story is tight and loaded with enough suspense to keep the reader interested. Very well done and thoroughly enjoyable. Also Christopher Lane is one of the best narrators I've had the pleasure of listening to.

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Wonderful Throwback!

Loved hearing this great story! Reminded me of being a kid in the sixties and loving stories of Egypt.

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Solid Archaeological Caper Story

Crichton would go on to write more interesting, compelling novels but this simple caper tale from 1966 is an entertaining way to pass an afternoon or two. It's a straightforward, well-paced adventure with fun characters and a few genuinely memorable moments, well read by Christopher Lane.

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Great Storyline - Very Interesting!

Love Crichton! Well worth the time.

Would have loved to listen to it with the kids, but it was too sexually suggestive (and sometimes no so suggestive). Profanity is nearly non-existent.

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A great short read!!

I am ashamed with myself for not having read Crichton’s earlier work. This was honestly a well done book and the narrator did one heck of a job. Made the characters easy to notice and more entertaining. Alan Conway in particular. Highly recommend this book.

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Good Listen

This was my first Michael Crichton novel and didn't find it as adventurous as I'd hoped (not like the movie Jurassic Park based on his book). The beginning got off to a slow start for me. However, I loved the details about the Egyptian tomb and wound up engrossed in the story. I kept waiting for one of the characters to betray another and it never happened, which was a nice change of pace. The ending was pleasantly unexpected and I ended the novel with a smile. I enjoyed it enough to try another.

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About what you’d expect

Entertaining and easy read, but not as thoughtful as later work. Good performance. Recommend if you’ve read the rest of his catalogue.

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Good early Crichton novel

While the ending could have been better, you can start to see the mature Crichton here. The story was interesting and reasonably fast paced. The characters were generally believable. Overall this was an enjoyable listen.

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Disappointed

I was disappointed with this work. The designated protagonist is the least interesting member of the cast save perhaps for his designated love interest, and their relationship was so uninteresting that it detracted from those parts of the book that showed great promise. Everybody but those two showed some sign of personality, even unnamed cameo characters who never returned once their scene was up. Early on there was a great deal of evidence of plot developments which would never come to pass. If it were subverting expectations, that would be one thing, but it felt like so many unfired Checkov's Guns littering the scenery. In all it showed signs of the skill that would emerge after further efforts had refined it in the following decades, but the shortcomings of the novice storyteller still plagued this early volume. It didn't help my impression any that it had such a downer ending.

The audio performance was fine. I didn't particularly notice it, so I can't complain.

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Fun story

Any additional comments?

I thought I'd try this early effort by Michael Crichton, writing as John Lange, and was pleasantly surprised by how it kept my interest. The characters are really fun and enjoyable. I loved the story of a group of misfits secretly excavating a undiscovered pharaoh's tomb in Egypt. The details were well done and believable. Of course, the real plus was the narrator, Christopher Lane, who always brings the characters to life. His portrayal of the wealthy, but kooky English benefactor sounded like Michael Caine which fit the character perfectly. Great twist at the end and a fun adventure throughout.

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