Rating: 
Summary: Good read, but silly at the end.
Review: I liked the premise of this book, with it being set in a theme park. I also liked the way the theme park was designed, it did seem to be very revolutionary and interesting. However, I thought that some of the descriptions of the park conflicted with each other. Such as the idea of it being a one-day total immersion experience, and therefore not having on-site hotels, but then several times in the story describing situations where people would want to return for more than a single day. If people are willing to come back, then the park is going to make that as easy as possible for them, especially if Nightengale's vision was corrupted by corporate "bean-counters" greedy for profits, as is described in the story.The only major thing that I didn't like about the story is it didn't seem to me that the Metanet really had much of a purpose at all, except to bring Warne into the story. And the bad guys seemed so concerned with Warne, when they had absolutely no reason to be. Even the things that he discoveered about them could have easily been discovered by Terri or anyone else, and even though Warne dd figure things out, the bad guys had no way of knowing that he did, and therefore shouldn't have been any more concerned with him than anyone else. Actually, Poole seemed to make a bigger difference as far as being a random element interfering with thir plans. Finally, the ending of this story just seemed to grow more ridiculous by the page. I realize that this is the case with a lot of thrillers to keep you on the edge of your seat, but some of the things in this story were just too much. There were also too many things where a convenient solution was just written in with no logical explanation as to why these solutions would be available. I enjoyed the book, and it was interesting the entire time, but be prepared for some silly situations.
Rating: 
Summary: A Must Read
Review: Utopia is the new Westworld! Not to be confused with the classic of the same name, Utopia is a white-knuckle thrill ride from beginning to end.
Rating: 
Summary: A fast paced rollercoaster of a read
Review: Lincoln Child's solo effort is a roaring virtual rollercoaster ride that offers thrills and spills of the literal and imaginative kind. From the opening crash on the Notting Hill to the explosive armoured car finale Utopia offers the kind of fast, exciting read that makes it perfect for that train or plane journey. Hard to put down, hard to not enjoy.
The premise is simple, a vastly futuristic theme park in the Nevada desert starts to experience what seems to be phantom failures but turns out to be humanly created as the entire park is held hostage whilst the unknowing public enjoy their day out. So, we join Utopia's metanet creator, Warne and his daughter Georgia as they are brought in to offline his lifetime work by the Utopia management team, headed by Warne's old flame, Sarah Boatwright who is now with the Chief Systems Officer, the Shakespeare-quoting Barksdale. Rather than offlining the system, Warne and the sole Robotics engineer, Terri, decide to investigate what's going on and are quickly brought into the confidences of Sarah who explains that a mysterious John Doe is terrorising the park with a small team. Each world experiences an act of sabotage and pick ups go awry. Inevitably, the casualty count grows and we learn of a senior placed operative who has dreamt up the entire plan but it has been hijacked by John Doe. A too late stab at conscience has a soliloquy from the instigator of the entire plan, but by then chaos has set in and the dome is set to explode leading to our climatic showdown. Throughout our mild-mannered professor becomes a hero to all as he races through the park to avert disaster with Terri and the military-trained Poole, who just happens to want to help.
Admittedly, Lincoln Child's first solo effort has a plot that is cliche-ridden and it is written as a screen play, though it would take a blockbuster film to do it justice visually. The premise, as the Amazon comments on the jacket proclaim, is pure 'Die Hard in a theme park' and for all John Doe's crowing about the genius of his plan, the reader can spot who and what and when well ahead of the actual events. Nevertheless, if you want a fast paced action novel that is truly twenty-first century reality then Utopia's for you. Hopefully, Child will produce more.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Adventure!
Review: Utopia is a real departure from his collaboration novels with Douglas Preston, less mystery, more action, but great nonetheless. The characters are ALL very well realized. Utopia paints a vivid and fascinating fantasy world (think Epcot, Universal, Disney World) on the surface while underneath it all there is a fast paced, life and death chess match, between cold-hearted villains and the men and women that rise to the occasion to confront them. Lincoln Child proves that he is excellent in his own right. I look forward to his next novel.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but too contrived for its' own good.
Review: I've read all of the Douglas Preston/Lincoln Child books with the exception of "Still Life of Crows" and have loved or liked all of them. Thunderhead, Relic, and The Ice Limit are 3 of the best thrillers to come out in a while. Since I love amusement parks anyway, I couldn't wait to see what kind of havoc the terrorists would unleash in Utopia. Even though the body count nears triple digits by the end due to multiple "accidents", there just is a lack of urgency brought on by the fact that nearly all of the park's guest are in the dark through the whole book. There is never a mass panic and while the final countdown to destruction is taking place, only about 10 people, including the terrorists, even know it. I just never felt my heart racing until the last few pages.
My only major problem was how almost everything was based on coincidence. Certain people and things in the park, coupled with their function and circumstances are used to keep the story going in an almost unbelievable fashion. Guns jam at inopportune moments, witnesses to events happen to be ex-military, in a park with no weapons an alternative is presented that on any other day would not be available, etc. The book is good fun and the ending makes up for most of its' problems but the story is so reliant on contrivance it gets damn silly by the end.
Still it's a good summer read but in this rare case I think a movie version would be more fulfilling.
Rating:
Summary: More entertainment-per-page than 'Still Life With Crows'...
Review: I've been a MAJOR fan of Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child ever since I finished 'Relic', still to this day one of the most exciting thrillers I've come across, so when I saw 'Utopia' I figured I couldn't go wrong -- and I was right. Together, these two authors are incredible, so I began the novel wondering if Mr. Child could fill the gap left by Douglas Preston, and I have to say he did a mighty fine job going solo. Many have called this Die Hard in a Theme Park, and that pretty much describes the story in a nutshell -- but only on the simplest of terms. There is much more to this novel than just terrorists attempting to kill for money. I could say that this was an above-average formula novel which never really seeks to develop anything new or revolutionary, but I just enjoyed it way too much to be anything but happy about having picked it up at the bookstore. In fact, I enjoyed 'Utopia' quite a bit more than the most recent release by Preston & Child together, 'Still Life With Crows'. While I have yet to read a bad novel by these talented authors, the most recent wasn't nearly as entertaining as this book was. Besides, I don't have a problem with 'formula' novels, especially if they are done RIGHT. Clive Cussler has used pretty much the same formula for 30 years and it hasn't hurt him, same with Michael Crichton (although 'Prey' was way too close to Jurassic Park & Timeline). One thing I WOULD really like to see is a REAL version of 'Utopia' built outside of Vegas as in this tale. It is very obvious that Mr. Child spent a great deal of time mapping out this fictional theme park down to the smallest of details and it shows. What do the terrorists want? What will the repercussions be if their demands aren't met? Will the hero save the day?? I think the answer to that is obvious, but yet again, the journey through the pages to find out exactly HOW it all ends up is one well worth taking. I have to say that if Lincoln Child is considering breaking off to write more solo novels, I for one will be sure to pick them up without a moments hesitation. Oh, and this in NO WAY suggests I believe he should stop writing with Douglas Preston -- on the contrary, I am already looking forward to their next thriller. For fans of fine brain candy, 'Utopia' ought to fit in with your reading schedule no problem.
Rating:
Summary: All Nighter
Review: Utopia was fantastic. I stayed up almost all night reading it because I couldn't put it down. The way Lincoln Child described the park stretched my imagination and it was all I could think about for the next few days after I finished it. Utopia would make a great screenplay.
Rating:
Summary: The thrill of one day
Review: I've never written a review before, so let me first set a few things straight: I love Preston/Child books; I found RipTide to be the slowest of all their works and Ice Limit was my second least favorite, though I enjoyed both thoroughly. ALL their other books (including Still Life) were amazing and perfect in every way. Needless to say, I was more than excited at learning that Child had just (at the time) come out with a solo book. It begins with the formulaic "first chapter attack" that grabs you and makes you want to read what the heck happened. I know many of Preston/Child books begin this way, but something was different this time. Child then naturally introduces the main character, his daughter, and the park. But the story seemed much too dependent on the park, the attraction of it. And what no one else has written here is that the writing is somewhat slowly paced, almost too much so for myself. In my first reading, I only read about a third of it and moved on to other books which were less than impressive (has anyone tried Prey? The book was simply LACKING, and quite unfortunately). But in my second reading of Utopia, I found that not only was I in the mood for the story (it's like watching a movie; you need to be in the right mood for it), it reminded me somewhat of my adventures in Las Vegas when I was younger. The book does, in fact, pick up speed, and, in what I thought was a revelationary move, takes place in just one day! That said, there is a lot of exposition that has to be expounded upon at times, so the reader can be as up-to-date as Andrew Warne and his daughter. With the release of Still Life, I know that Child and Preston are perfect. Utopia, I think, is a brilliant effort into the thriller realm and I can't wait for his second solo effort to really see what Mr. Child can do. His ideas are, by the way, extremely original. What's really neat is to see Mr. Child's idioms (he likes the term "bean counters"; e.g. see his photograph online ...) and, at some points, he will use easy-to-miss expressions that are similar to his co-writing efforts. Keep an eye out for references to past books as well. All this makes for superb, inter-connected reading that is really tenfold the amount of fun if their other books have been read (and paid attention to).
Rating:
Summary: top-notch
Review: I read this book a little while after it came out. While I not a rabid fun of the time(I have read all there books.) That this book was awesome. The story goes like this some evil people take over the park. If you are a fan of these two, it is a must read
Rating:
Summary: Utopia rules
Review: This book is almost by far the most fantastic thriller and suspence book writien. The elaborency and twisting tail of this book kept me reading this book from the day I bought it . If I were you I eould imeadeatly syop reading this review and buy this book!
|
