The Dinosaur Hunter

When fossils are discovered on a Montana ranch, a dinosaur hunter and his crew arrive to excavate. Amazing discoveries are made, followed by murder, deception, and the involvement of a Russian mob. The story is told in the first person by Mike Wire, a former California investigator, now a cowhand on the ranch. Unfortunately, the grizzled cowboy voice used by narrator Michael Kramer is more distracting than effective. The listener is constantly drawn out of the story by the forced, unnatural style as cowboy Mike relays details of Montana history, dinosaur science, and complex environmental issues. Imagine John Wayne as a college professor--way too tedious. While Kramer sometimes gets his secondary characters' voices confused, he's gifted with the Russian accents and strong female voices. M.M.G. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

September 6, 2010
Dinosaur bones and the people who covet them take center stage in Hickam's uncharacteristically bland latest, which plays out in Montana, where hardworking ranchers are hemmed in by the Bureau of Land Management, ecoterrorists, and neighbors with a bunker mentality. Retired L.A. homicide detective Mike Wire is now the foreman of the Square C Ranch, where the widowed owner, Jeanette Coulter, is the steely, unobtainable object of his affection. After paleontologist Dr. Norman "Pick" Pickford works out a deal to dig for fossils on Jeanette's property, Mike assists Pick's team, among whom is a sexy Russian Mike soon begins an affair with. Soon after Pick happens on a discovery that could prove to be revolutionary, a menacing visitor is murdered and Mike realizes that the fossils may be worth killing for. Unfortunately, it takes a very long time for the mystery to kick in, and Hickam (Rocket Boys) reserves all the action for the story's climax. In the end, the science fascinates more than the characters or the leisurely plot.