Halloween Bingo 2024
Oh, the perils of cover art! When I ordered this book, it was the dinosaurs on the cover (and the sale price) that hooked me. The thought of being able to time travel to the Cretaceous was also pleasing and I clicked “buy" without thinking too deeply about the matter. This I regret.
The dinosaurs, when they are encountered, are fabulous. However, this novel is far too people-infested. And they are not very interesting. We have the ice-cold entrepreneur who controls the time machine and his minions (who are crystal clear regarding their status as mere minions). We have the selfish, self-indulgent billionaire, who comes complete with a blonde floozy and a daughter whose affection he is trying to buy. Plus a geology student who has been hired to be tour guide for said daughter, who is judged young and biddable (completely disregarding scientific curiosity).
Off they go, using this mysterious technology, to the Cretaceous. It doesn't take our geology student long to figure out that things are hinky. Apparently our entrepreneur has conked a time traveler over the head and claimed his vehicle, which can only be toggled between the present and the dinosaurs. The site where they are camping was built by future-dude. Entrepreneur needs billionaire to fund the reverse engineering of the tech. Meanwhile, the daughter finds a hidden room, filled with screens and a clock with a mysterious countdown. To the asteroid event that will end the dinosaurs.
The dialogue is dull, the roles of the characters are stereotypes, and I just couldn't find much enthusiasm for the plot. Of course the women must be protected, but not by the fat cats. It'll be the pilot and the geology student who step up. The one brown guy sacrifices himself to comfort the blond floozy, who graciously bestows one (count 'em, one) kiss on this guy she would normally not even acknowledge. Ick. I read to the 52% point, then skipped to the final chapters to see if I was missing anything worthwhile. Let's just say that people from the future are jerks.
I read this book to fulfill the Portal Fantasy square of my Halloween Bingo card.
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