timeline

Title: Timeline

Author: Michael Crichton

Date Finished: March 29, 2011

Personal Book Count: 9 out of 75

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Genre/ Subject: suspense fiction

First Line: He should never have taken that shortcut.

Why did I pick this book?: was our bookclub pick for this month.

Summary and Review: taken from website-

“In an Arizona desert a man wanders in a daze, speaking words that make no sense. Within twenty-four hours he is dead, his body swiftly cremated by his only known associates. Halfway around the world archaeologists make a shocking discovery at a medieval site.

Suddenly they are swept off to the headquarters of a secretive multinational corporation that has developed an astounding technology. Now this group is about to get a chance not to study the past but to enter it. And with history opened to the present, the dead awakened to the living, these men and women will soon find themselves fighting for their very survival-six hundred years ago. . .”

OK, after my book club meeting, I am kind of questioning the mark I gave this book. Maybe I didn’t really like it that much. I was being generous. I hated the characters. They were two dimensional, and for university educated grad students, they made some of the stupidest decisions ever. Not 10 minutes after being told to say together, no matter what, they all walk off in different directions. To the author’s credit, most of the characters did redeem themselves by the end. With that said, I felt it was a well paced novel that kept moving, and you always wanted to turn the page to see what would happen next, even if it was something that had me rolling my eyes. The science was over explained, and at times frustratingly flawed. I was surprised, I did like the stuff that took place in the past. Normally I am a purely contemporary girl, but I found the details fascinating, and the action fast enough, that I actually enjoyed the ride. And I found the ending satisfying, and it made it worth my time to have read it. But I have to say, unless this author comes up as another bookclub pick, I will not be reading any more.

Agree? Disagree? Recommendations? Any insights, suggestions, or comments on the book or format, or blog at all are most welcome. If you have read this and/ or review it yourself, please let me know. Can you think of any books like this? Give me a recommendation! =D