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Mount Dragon
596 pages
A sun-baked, claustrophobic descent into the terrifying consequences of unchecked scientific ambition.
What it feels like
Reading this thriller feels like being trapped in a high-tech pressure cooker set against the unforgiving backdrop of the New Mexico desert. The narrative moves with a propulsive, cinematic energy, hooking you first with the intellectual allure of cutting-edge genetic research before slowly tightening the screws of paranoia. As the isolation of the desert facility sets in, the mood shifts from clinical curiosity to a dread-soaked, claustrophobic nightmare. The prose is sharp and detail-oriented, grounding the terrifying biological stakes in plausible science without ever sacrificing momentum. It is a perfect match for readers who love the hubris-driven catastrophes of classic Michael Crichton, offering a relentless, pulse-pounding experience that makes you look over your shoulder and question the limits of human ambition.
- Mood
- claustrophobic
- dread-soaked
- isolated
- tense
- Tone
- suspenseful
- clinical
- urgent
- ominous
- Pace
- propulsive
- Themes
- scientific hubris · corporate paranoia · playing God · the ethics of discovery · survival against the odds
- The writing
- Cinematic and sharply detailed, seamlessly weaving dense scientific exposition into breathless, high-stakes action.
- The arc
- Begins with the thrill of cutting-edge discovery before plunging into a claustrophobic nightmare of paranoia and desperate survival.
- Who it's for
- Readers who crave the intellectual puzzle of hard science fiction combined with the relentless pacing of a locked-room thriller.
Content notes
- animal cruelty
- medical trauma
- graphic violence
- pandemic themes
About the book
Mount Dragon is a 1996 techno-thriller novel by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. The action primarily follows Guy Carson and Susana Cabeza de Vaca, two researchers employed by the corporation GeneDyne and stationed at the Mount Dragon facility in New Mexico. In attempting to engineer a therapeutic hormone to prevent all forms of influenza, GeneDyne has accidentally created a frighteningly virulent disease. Meanwhile, Carson and Cabeza de Vaca face a much more immediate threat at the Mount Dragon facility—from their own colleagues.
Description from Open Library.
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