ESAU

Rating:
Summary: Good Science Thriller
Review: "Esau" is about a group of scientist who go deep into the Himalayan Mountains to find Yeti, the AKA the Abdominal Snowman, and prove it is the missing link between man and ape. But along the way they are sabotaged by a rouge CIA man. There really isn't a lot of mystery here, it should be pretty obvious who the spook agent is from the beginning. Also the story is a retelling of other books of it's type (Dean Koontz's "Icebound" and Alister Maclean's "Ice Station Zebra"). But it is really good, well told and exciting with an interesting (if not original) premise. The characters are pretty one dimensional but are well done, none the less. Like I said, not a lot new here, but well done none the less.

Rating:
Summary: Good Science Thriller
Review: "Esau" is about a group of scientist who go deep into the Himalayan Mountains to find Yeti, the AKA the Abdominal Snowman, and prove it is the missing link between man and ape. But along the way they are sabotaged by a rouge CIA man. There really isn't a lot of mystery here, it should be pretty obvious who the spook agent is from the beginning. Also the story is a retelling of other books of it's type (Dean Koontz's "Icebound" and Alister Maclean's "Ice Station Zebra"). But it is really good, well told and exciting with an interesting (if not original) premise. The characters are pretty one dimensional but are well done, none the less. Like I said, not a lot new here, but well done none the less.

Rating:
Summary: Every rule has an exception, and this book is it.
Review: "Never judge a book by its cover" (Except this one)

The first book I read by Mr. Kerr was "The Shot". I enjoyed the book and was impressed by the skill with which he was able to spin a new tale about a subject that has been beaten to death, revived, and beaten again, for almost 40 years. Had 'ESAU" been the first of his works I had read, it most probably would have been the last.

The cover of the hardback does not give away the subject, the paperback is different artwork, and it is pretty blatant in exposing the story. If you are someone who is interested in the "Yeti, Abominable Snowman, Sasquatch, ESAU" you will enjoy the book. As he has done with the subject of "The Shot" he creates a new situation and adds great detail. I cannot stomach the subject so I never would have finished the book but for Mr. Kerr's writing.

I enjoy well-researched reading. Mr. Kerr does his homework and that was what kept me reading. Every time I was going to give up, some detail appeared and it was enough to keep me going. The ending can be anticipated a bit past the halfway mark, but again his style kept me reading.

Mr. Kerr writes some great dialogue. In this work I particularly enjoyed a lecture by a college professor, both for the way he wrote it and the information it contained. On the other end of the character spectrum he had a few CIA types that were awful, not one line of their story/subplot was needed, and the behavior by one at the close of the book was completely out of place, gratuitous, the real low water mark in the book.

So, I have read 2 of his books and it was 1 great read and then this very marginal work. So off I went and read "A Five Year Plan". Best of 3 would decide whether I bought anymore of this Author's work.

I read it and the review should be just behind this one.

Rating:
Summary: better than the early Michael Crichton books!
Review: A excellent blend of science, technology, and suspense, Kerr has written a book which is reminiscent of the earliest Michael Crichton novels -- the good ones. If one has an interest in early man, genetics, or anthropology, the reader will find enough science to intrigue and lend legitimacy without overpowering the philosophical issues raised.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting premise falls to a poor ending
Review: As always, Kerr has done an incredible amount of research for writing a book. The science and political backgrounds presented here make the story very realistic even for those who find the idea of a Yeti far-fetched. Unlike some of his other books, the technical rarely impedes the flow of this story.

However, endings are Kerr's weakness and this book is no exception. We are introduced to two fascinating Yeti characters who are the stars of the story and yet Kerr has them walk out of the story never to be heard from again, and this is significantly before the end of the book.

The ending itself is very contrived and convenient and is of a much lower quality than the rest of the book. This seems to be Kerr's unfortunate hallmark, and it is really too bad.

In sum, I can't recommend this book despite the promise it holds. No one likes a let down after hundreds of pages.

Rating:
Summary: Sophomoric characters but good adventure
Review: ESAU begins with the death of Jack's climbing partner but does Jack show any grief? Hell no, he watches what happens with curiosity. Later on, he drinks too much. The love story between Jack and his lover is equally devoid of convincing emotion. Kerr knows how to build plot and suspence - which is no mean feat in itself, but oh his characters are so stick like, the violence is gratuitous - come on, the CIA guy is psychotic?, and there is no subtlity of human interaction or realistic emotions. It reads like a Chinese meal; half an hour later, you're hungry for substance.

Rating:
Summary: Engrossing and unpredictable
Review: Esau really kept my interest throughout the book and now I want to learn more about mountain climbing. It also gave me a new respect for the people that undertake climbing especially in the Himalyas. Wow, they're nuts! I like a book that teaches me something new and this certainly did. Fast paced adventure and a new twist around every turn. I really enjoyed this book and will read more by Phillip Kerr.

Rating:
Summary: Science fiction without the science
Review: Esau was an O.K. adventure yarn about search for the Yeti in the Himalayas and had enough action to keep you awake. However, I firstly have to say that if all intelligence agents were as stupid as they are depicted in books such as this, America would have been finished a long time ago. Secondly and more importantly, many of us who actually went into the sciences did so because of our fascination with science fiction. Good science fiction starts out with(then goes beyond) real science. This book tossed around outdated as well as patently stupid ideas that no biologist or geologist(or even a grammer school student who watches the Discover Channel)could listen to without shaking his head. Also, the little bit about the swami at the end was about as silly as it comes. It has action, but nothing more....

Rating:
Summary: A fantasy with bad science and mountaineering.
Review: Esau's publishers have sprinkled the back jacket and the first three pages with the usual favorable exerts of reviews. Most of these burble about how the book is a combination of thriller, mountaineering epic, and scientific treatise. Esau does have some exciting moments. The characters of the scientists and the mountaineers sometimes ring true. But anyone who has first-hand experience or even a good, second-hand reading knowledge of ecology, evolution, or technical mountaineering will be constantly distracted and often infuriated by the gross errors. They start on the first page of the first chapter where one of the heroes, a world-class mountaineer, is using his ice axe to cut hand- and footholds up a vertical ice wall on Machhapuchhare in Nepal. Mountaineers almost never cut steps (except on less steep terrain when steps will be used by porters or Sherpas or clients); instead they kick the front points of their crampons into the ice for footholds and flick the ! picks of their axes into the ice for handholds. This part of Kerr's mountaineering information is at least 30 years out of date. Later the hero does an improbable unroped solo ascent of El Capitan, a feat which has never been done in real life, and is left frozen by loss of self-confidence part way up the wall; we are never told how he gets out of this fix. Still later there is repeated reference to the use of laybacking, a technique used by climbers on rock, in a highly improbable situation on glacier ice. The author frequently drops brand names of climbing gear, either in an attempt to make the mountaineering more plausible or because he wants to show Hollywood who to hit up for corporate contributions when they make the movie (which hopefully won't happen).

The science is, if anything, worse. The author repeatedly mentions the immunological approach used by Sarich and Wilson to study the evolution of humans and other animals, often ignoring the fact that this techniq! ue has long-since been superseded by the more accurate meth! ods of analyzing DNA molecules directly. Maybe it is just as well, because when he does discuss the use of these techniques, he garbles it, as if he has got the words but not their meanings. Perhaps the worst science is the basic premise that a tiny band of yetis survives in a miniature shangrai-la that all the Himalayan explorers, mountaineers, and Sherpas have failed to locate. The population of yetis and the plants and animals of their pocket paradise is so small as to guarantee extinction long ago, and the semi-tropical ecosystem somehow manages to exist at an altitude many thousands of feet too high.

Too bad that Kerr, or the publisher, didn't have this book previewed by a molecular anthropologist and a mountaineer before publication. Judging from the reviews in amazon.com and in the book, a lot of people think they are reading about science and mountaineering in a book that should be labeled fantasy.

Rating:
Summary: The Yeti are coming and in a dynamite powerhouse of a book
Review: Expert mountain climber Jack Furness leads a team climbing one of the world's highest mountains, Machhapuchhare in Nepal. The climb, which is illegal since the peak is considered sacred and holy by the natives, is a catastrophic failure as Jack is the lone survivor of a tremendous avalanche. In an ice cave high on the mountain's side, Jack finds a fossilized skull. When he returns to California, he takes his find to his former lover, Dr. Stella Swift, a renowned paleoanthropologist, who realizes that Jack has not unearthed a fossil. It seem that the climber has brought back with him evidence of a different hominoid line, potentially the yeti. ....... Jack and Stella quickly organize an expedition to return to the ice cave. However, unbeknownst to the team leaders, an intruder has entered their academic enclave. The Pentagon, desperate to locate a lost satellite that crashed in the region, has slipped one of their players on the team. The mole's assignment is to find the satellite at any cost. India and Pakistan are ready to open up the nuclear genie at each other. With the homo sapiens world falling apart around them, Jack and Stella plunge into the world of the abominable snowman. ........ This may be the best thriller of the year so far. Not only does a remote section of the Himalayas feel as if the reader is watching the Travel Channel, but the fast-paced, action packed story line speeds faster than an Olympic downhill skier. Philip Kerr has reached the top of the mountain with ESAU, a great tale. ...........Harriet Klausner