Excavation

Rating:
Summary: A Non-stop, fun read
Review: This book is great and I don't really prefer reading. I need a book that keeps my interest throughout. This book sure does that. If Sub-terrainian is better, than I must get that one. I don't know what to say about anyone that rates this book at any less than 3 stars. Please don't let a bad review steer you away from it. Take it from me, this book is great.

Also, don't be fooled by the Indiana Jones comparison. The characters in the book are nothing like Indy...he is in a class by himself. The entire storyline was very inventive and with the mystery surrounding the ancient civilizations of the Incas, it was beleiveable.

Rating:
Summary: A great book
Review: Okay, my first impression: this is a great book. My second, although it's good, the first, Subterranean, is still better.

The book is pretty faced past, has a lot of action and a lot going on. Thankfully, just about every bit of it was interesting. The character development is good too. In fact, it's so good that I wished I could slap the nose off of one of the characters. But, since it's a book, I couldn't.

Aside from action, the book has some romance -- which makes sense and fits well within the book, and suspense. The scenes are vividly described and the dialog is good. It's easy to imagine yourself running along side the characters as they strive to get out of each bad situation. While I still prefer the first book, it's not by much. This is a darned good second book for any author to have written. I recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: A Little Too Similar
Review: I read James Rollins' first book "Subterranean" shortly after reading "The Descent" by Jeff Long and it compared favorably. Both books were very good, however in this his second book, Rollins seems to rely on the same formula as he used in the first. At one point, it seems like he very nearly pulled a section out of "Subterranean" and recycled it. Don't get me wrong, "Excavation" is a good book, but it seems to me that your better off reading one or the other, not both.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Best books I have ever read!
Review: I was in awe while reading this book! Once I started, I was completly lost in the world he had created. The charaters were great (you got to know them without unneeded detail). This book was never boring. The best part was that there was one twist after another, you never knew what was going to happen! After reading this one I went out and baought his first book.

Rating:
Summary: BRAVO
Review: I loved this book. It was better than the first, which I also enjoyed immensely. However, with his second book Rollins has left it all on the court, so to speak. This yarn has everything and does it as good or better then others in the genre. I literally could not put this book down, reading it well into the early morning hours and loving every minute of it. If you like a great story, fantastic characters, adventure, exotic locales and edge of your seat suspense then I highly recommend this book. By the way I do not know the author and I was not paid for this recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: Rollins' Excavation is as fun as it is fascinating!
Review: After reading Subterranean, I was excited to learn that James Rollins had written a new book. I must admit that Excavation isn't as good as the first, and the two are a bit similair, but I still enjoyed it thouroughly!

Rollins' characters are real in that they can be smart, stupid, angry, excited, cunfused, and even romantic at the same time and they're very fun to follow. One thing that was neat was the way that the writing style flowed more like an Indiana Jones film than it did in Subterranean.

If you haven't read any of James Rollins' books (there are only 2), read this first, and save the better for last! This book is filled with questions, answers, excitement, fascination, and much more! Highly reccommended! Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: Haunting
Review: This book makes you wonder about humans as a species, where we are genetically and where we are headed. You may not be able to put this one down, I couldn't, and the ending will leave you speechless and wondering. A definite must read.

Rating:
Summary: You've Seen This Movie Before
Review: Having enjoyed the author's previous novel _Subterranean_, I figured _Excavation_ would be just as good, but it really wasn't. Rather, it tries too hard be the next Indiana Jones movie, complete with the sort of ancient booby traps that were cool in _Raiders of the Lost Ark_ but come off as derivative in this novel. Things eventually degenerate into the standard action-movie cliches, right down to the Exploding Temple and Kiss the Girl happy ending. Yadda yadda. Very disappointing, since the author can clearly do better!

Rating:
Summary: Rollins goes over the top
Review: I bought this "page-turner" after having enjoyed "Thunderhead" by Lincoln Childs and Douglas Preston. I was not seeking Great Literature, but merely another lightweight archaeological thriller appropriate for vacation reading. *Excavation* is indeed an action-packed tale that occurs in an exotic locale, the Peruvian Andes; so far, so good. However, as I compulsively turned those pages, I ultimately found myself more annoyed than entertained by Rollins' saga.

You see, I believe there is such a thing as too much action and too outlandish a plot, and this book represents a perfect example. There are so many Indiana Jones-esque booby-traps, heretofore unknown menacing creatures, blood-curdling screams, and in-the-nick-of-time escapes that the whole thing actually becomes laughable after a while. The last straw for me was not so much the screaming naked ape-bear-cannibals nor the roving killer mob of albino tarantulas. No, it was the inclusion of a gratuitous passage in which a large bat gets tangled in the female protagonist's hair. The bat-in-the-hair bummer is possibly the oldest nature myth around, and yet Rollins actually saw fit to throw it in here. Has he no shame?

Meanwhile, the characters are one-dimensional and wooden, veritable cardboard cutouts about whom I found it difficult to care. The romantic interest aspects of the book are downright corny, with the highly predictable trajectory of the two heroes' love relationships portrayed in formulaic, clichéd fashion.

Overall, I might recommend this book to a very young reader who is attracted to stories composed of frenetic, nonstop 'action' without the necessity of a lot of heart or intelligence. But everyone else beware: this book makes Childs and Preston seem like Faulkner and Hemingway by comparison.

Rating:
Summary: Excavation
Review: I found "Excavation" to be a riveting book. Definitely the type of book that once you start you can't put down. James Rollins is great at capturing your full attention. A great adventure book.