SOURCE: "Terrible T. Rex and Other Dinosaur Daydreams," in The Christian Science Monitor, November 21, 1990, p. 12.

In the following review of Jurassic Park, Preston praises Crichton's ability to present technical material clearly and provocatively but faults his poorly developed characters and trite plot.

"Soon to be a major motion picture," brays the cover of Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park. Dr. Crichton's books have become films before. The Great Train Robbery and The Andromeda Strain come to mind. But this time the book anticipates the production. This is a screenplay frilled for publication.

Master-of-the universe financier bamboozles Japanese into underwriting a zoo for dinosaurs on a remote, beclouded isle (shades of King Kong). Biotechnologists conjure up the beasts by splicing dinosaur genes gotten from blood sucked by prehistoric gnats and preserved in amber. Multinational corporation divides island into dinosaur habitats with massive works of concrete, steel, and failsafe automation run from...