Rating: 
Summary: Very exciting medical thriller
Review: This book is very, very cool. It was hard to put it down, because I just wanted to know whether all would end up in a world-wide epidemic or not. I think that anyone who enjoyed 'Outbreak' or 'the Hot Zone' by Richard Preston will love this book.
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting book with a few beginning author mistakes
Review: Preston and Child have decided to move from big monsters to little ones. In Mount Dragon, they tackle the it's-been-done-before thriller plot of the killer plague. The story takes place in a specialized genetics lab in the Southwest, smack in the middle of the U.S. government's military testing site. It's a very hush-hush operation. Although I was pleased to see Preston and Child return to their science-based thriller style, this book suffered from some rookie author mistakes. First of all, there were too many subplots with not enough substance in this novel. If the number of subplots were reduced in half and their importance doubled, it would have helped to balance the book. Also, the existance of the love scene about 3/4 of the way through the book reads like a 15-year old boy's bedroom fantasy. It happens too quickly to have any grounding in reality, and takes away from the rest of the story. Also, the constant heritage references were cheesy at best, especially when attempting to integrate some Spanish into the dialog -- it was as if Preston and Child had learned four words of Spanish and then used them over and over. If you are willing to overlook some of the silly mass-media writing lab decisions made in this book, it is still an enjoyable read. My only real disappointment is that the novel's potential was greater than its actual performance. Pick this one up in paperback rather than hardback -- it remains a great airport book. As for what Preston and Child will do next, we can only hope that it will be as impressive as their best effort, "The Relic."
Rating: 
Summary: An interesting idea hampered by B-Movie plot.
Review: The idea here has been seen before--germ warfare, secret desert testing sites, and the like--and Preston and Child do little with it that hasn't been done before. The best thing about this novel is the sub-plot--a tete-a-tete between an old professor and a Bill Gates-ish computer tycoon that has a much better plot, much better execution, and much better resolution than anything in the main storyline (which you can get from Crichton's ANDROMEDA STRAIN, Mezrich's THRESHHOLD, and a dozen other "plague of the month" thrillers). Not up to par with RELIC or RELIQUARY.
Rating: 
Summary: subplots are bad!
Review: A promising idea, combining so many of todays fears about technology, all wrapedup in about, oh say 20 subplots! okay, not that many, but enough to make me forget the plot in the first place. Preston and Child have more talent than what they gave us here, and it's painful to look at their far superior "Relic" and believe that it came from the same people. Lets hope that they brush up on their basic writing skills before they attempt another novel.
Rating:
Summary: A cross genre escapade
Review: Mount Dragon could be a collaboration between Michael Crichton and Louis L'Amour. Take equal parts of secret underground biological research station (Andromeda Strain), virtual reality mega-business (Disclosure), and Southwestern desert chase (Riders of the Purple Sage), and you have the basis for Mount Dragon. Mix in a bit of academic malfeasence, medical mayhem, and a few really bad guys, and you wind up with a great read. Preston & Child showed us in "Relic" that they could create a chillingly gothic suspense tableau, and have carried this technique into new ground with "Mount Dragon." They have clearly adapted their techniques from some of the best writers that have populated the best seller lists for decades, and have done so admirably. "Mount Dragon" can truly be cliched as a page turner that provides plenty of techo jargon. But what makes this book stand out, is that it creates some of the most truly detestable villians of recent literary yarns. Kudos to this team.
Rating:
Summary: Terrifying and plausible
Review: I don't know if there is a bio-research centre in the desert in the Southwest. But it sounds plausible. You would want a place like that to be as far away as possible. But is it far enough? I don't know if this kind of research goes on this very minute. But it sounds plausible. This is big money and - really - the research aims at a better life for us all. Isn't that okay? I mean - they know what they are doing. Don't they? I don't know. I really don't know. Preston and Child ask the question. Does anyone have the answer? I don't know if a single man-made virus could wipe out the human race. But it sounds plausible.
I do know that this is one of the most scaring books I've read. Because it is all so plausible.
Rating:
Summary: Excelent Book
Review: I read this book about a month ago. I loved it. The part that made the book so frieghtening was the fact that what takes place in the book could actually happen. If you havent read it yet, I strongly suggest you do.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book I Ever Read!
Review: This is by far the best book I ever read. It has just enough gory details to really inspire fears. It was very well written and it had colorful beleiveable charecters. This book is not for the week hearted!
Rating:
Summary: Mount Dragon was a great techno-thriller that'll scare you
Review: Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have done it again. They have written a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat. They have also written a tale that will make you wonder about the world we live in in which the governments of our world and rich, private industry play with our well being, supposing that they are doing us the greater good with their research and wheeling and dealing with deadly viruses and "weapons of war". This book will take you into the realms of just such a world where the rich want to get richer at the risk of others lives. It will take you into a world where technology is so realistic as to make you feel you are a part of the whole picture. This book is a good read, as long as you are a good wader through technological mumbo-jumbo and can get to the heart of the story.
Rating:
Summary: These guys own their genre
Review: After having read Relic, I highly anticapated the author's next novel. Mount Dragon did not scare me like Relic did but it showed that these guys have an amazing knack for describing future technology. Their ideas are so authentic and convincing, comparable to Tom Clancy's techno-proficiency. But one thing they have that Clancy doesn't is the ability to write a true thriller. You almost want to skip pages to find out the outcome. Hopefully this book will not be made into a movie as bad as Relic was.
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