I miss Michael Crichton! He had the ability to write books that made us all feel like scientists. I recently picked two off my shelves to have a mini-Michael marathon.

My first read was “Timeline“, which was also made into a movie (haven’t seen it, so can’t say how good it is).  A professor travels back in time and send a message to his current day students asking for help. They have to travel back to try and save him and quickly end up in over their heads in a medieval world few of them understand.

It is fun to see how Crichton paints academics struggling to translate their book learning into real life. It’s a fun read with plenty of suspense and drama (even a little love). I thought the ending (particularly the “punishment” of the main antagonist) left a bit to be desired.

Then I followed that with “Airframe“, about an executive at a jet company whose asked to investigate a horrific air accident. Is there a problem with the plane? Along the way her life is threatened, company politics explode around her and an investigative reporter tests the limits of the truth.

Perhaps my favorite Crichton novel is “Jurassic Park“. The book is WAY better than the movie (and much scarier, are there Raptors in your closet?).